Askins v. District of Columbia

• Decision Date: 09 June 1989
• Docket Number: No. 87-7232,87-7232
• Citation: 877 F.2d 94
• Parties: Robert E. ASKINS, Appellant v. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, et al.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit

Page 94

877 F.2d 94

278 U.S.App.D.C. 159

Robert E. ASKINS, Appellant v. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, et al.

No. 87-7232.

United States Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit.

Argued Feb. 13, 1989.

Decided June 9, 1989.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (Civil Action No. 87-02110).

David Orentlicher, for appellant. Margaret L. Tobey and Kurt Wimmer, Washington, D.C., also entered appearances, for appellant.

Mary L. Wilson, with whom Frederick D. Cooke, Jr., Corp. Counsel, Dist. of Col., and Charles L. Reischel, Deputy Corp. Counsel, Washington, D.C., Dist. of Col., were on the brief, for appellees.

Before ROBINSON, EDWARDS and SENTELLE, Circuit Judges.

Opinion for the Court filed by Circuit Judge EDWARDS.

Dissenting opinion filed by Circuit Judge SENTELLE.

HARRY T. EDWARDS, Circuit Judge:

Appellant Robert E. Askins is an inmate at the Maximum Security Facility of the Lorton Reformatory. He brought this action in District Court, under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 (1982), and the First and Eighth Amendments, ¹ to enjoin the D.C. Government and prison officials from transferring him to Lorton's Central Facility and from punishing him for refusing to cooperate with the proposed transfer. Askins complains that his life will be endangered if he is transferred to Central because two inmates incarcerated there have threatened to kill him. Prison officials doubt the veracity of these charges and, in any event, they assert that Askins' complaint is groundless because no final decision has been made on his transfer.

The District Court dismissed Askins' suit in its entirety. The trial court found the Eighth Amendment claim unripe because prison officials had yet to decide whether to transfer Askins; the court also dismissed the First Amendment claim for lack of ripeness, holding that its viability depended upon the validity of the Eighth Amendment claim. Although finding no ripe dispute to adjudicate, the District Court nevertheless granted the Government's motion for summary judgment and dismissed the case with prejudice. See Askins v. District of Columbia, No. 87-2110, slip op. (D.D.C. Nov. 13, 1987).

We affirm the judgment of the District Court dismissing Askins' Eighth Amendment claim as unripe; however, we reverse the trial court's judgment on the merits in favor of the Government. If Askins' Eighth Amendment claim is unripe because no decision has been made on his transfer, then the trial court has no authority at this juncture to resolve the claim on the merits. There was therefore no basis for dismissal with prejudice on the merits. Moreover, because it appears that Askins' First and Eighth Amendment claims raise independent causes of action, and that his First Amendment claim is not unripe for review, we reverse the District Court's dismissal of this issue and remand for consideration on the merits.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Summary of Facts

Askins, who is 69 years old, has been an inmate at Lorton's Maximum Security Facility since his imprisonment on December 14, 1978. He is serving a term of 25 years to life for rape while armed, sodomy, assault with a dangerous weapon, and kidnapping. He was initially assigned to the Maximum Security Facility because of the severity of his sentence. It is undisputed that he is hard of hearing, claustrophobic, and suffers from numerous stress-related ailments. Id. at 2.

Until now, prison officials have seen no need to move Askins out of Maximum Security. However, as a result of litigation brought by other prisoners, the D.C. Government is currently under court order to renovate portions of the Maximum Security Facility. This will require about 100 of the 536 prisoners housed in Maximum Security to be relocated to one of the other eight Lorton facilities. Because he is not an escape risk or a threat to himself or others, Askins is one of the inmates being considered for transfer to the less secure Central Facility. Before a final transfer decision can be made, however, prisoners must undergo a diagnostic examination both to determine their suitability for transfer and to help design appropriate placement.

On July 7, 1987, Askins was ordered to submit to a diagnostic examination. He refused, claiming that he had enemies at the Central Facility who would harm him if he were transferred. Because of his "lack of cooperation," prison officials committed Askins to fourteen days in punitive segregation. On July 20, Askins again refused to submit to the examination, and he again was made the subject of a disciplinary report.

Askins contends that his fear of being transferred to Central is attributable to alleged altercations at Maximum Security with two prisoners who have subsequently been transferred to Central. According to Askins, the first incident involved an inmate named William Terry, who, several years ago, showed Askins a hollowed-out book with a homemade knife hidden inside. Askins reported the incident to the prison's Catholic chaplain. A search was conducted, resulting in the seizure of the weapon and the transfer of one of Terry's friends to a federal prison. Terry was later transferred to Central. Askins believes that Central will be a dangerous place for him because of Terry's presence and influence there; Askins is particularly concerned about being transferred to a facility where he will be labelled an "informant." Id. at 4-5.

The second alleged incident to which Askins refers involved inmate James Fisher. During 1983, Askins was a leader of the Catholic-Protestant community at Maximum Security, and Fisher was a leader of the Seventh Day Adventist community. At the time, it was customary for religious leaders to invite other leaders to "family day" worship services, where family and friends from outside the prison could visit in a relatively unsupervised environment. A disagreement purportedly arose between Fisher and Askins over invitations to family day services. According to Askins, a heated argument ensued in the prison chapel just before Fisher was transferred to Central, during which Fisher warned Askins that he was "living on borrowed time." Id. at 5-6.

Prison officials, however, doubt whether these events and threats actually occurred. Instead, prison officials assert that Askins' descriptions of these incidents were prompted by his desire to avoid being transferred out of Maximum Security. Prison officials believe that Askins does not truly fear for his safety, but merely feels that a move would be upsetting and stressful. Id. at 7. In short, they view Askins' claims as a smokescreen to protect the life to which he has grown accustomed at the Maximum Security Facility. Id. at 3. Nevertheless, prison officials claim that they have made no final decision on Askins' transfer because none can be made until Askins undergoes the required testing.

B. Proceedings Below

Askins filed suit on July 30, 1987, and a temporary restraining order ("TRO") was issued prohibiting the prison from transferring him. On August 10, 1987, counsel for the prison represented in open court that Askins would not be transferred or punished pending a consolidated hearing on the parties' cross-motions for summary judgment and Askins' application for a preliminary injunction. Thus, the status quo has been maintained throughout the litigation despite the expiration of the TRO.

Askins brought both of his constitutional claims under section 1983 of the Civil Rights Act of 1871, which provides a remedy for a citizen deprived of his constitutional rights by another person acting under color of state law. See 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 (1982); see also Pub.L. No. 96-170, 93 Stat. 1284 (1979) (extending coverage of section 1983 to citizens of the District of Columbia). First, Askins claimed that the proposed transfer would violate his Eighth Amendment right to be free of cruel and unusual punishments, U.S. CONST. amend. VIII; see also Whitley v. Albers, 475 U.S. 312, 106 S.Ct. 1078, 89 L.Ed.2d 251 (1986). Specifically, he alleged that requiring him to live in a lower-security facility with Fisher and/or Terry would subject him to an unreasonable threat of violence by fellow inmates in violation of the Eighth Amendment. See Murphy v. United States, 653 F.2d 637, 644-45 (D.C.Cir.1981). Second, Askins claimed that the First Amendment protects him from being punished for refusing to undergo the diagnostic testing, because he had a legal right to refuse. In support of this claim, Askins asserts that he would have been immediately transferred to Central upon completion of the testing, before he could pursue any legal challenge to the transfer. He therefore refused to take the examination because he believed that it was the only way he could preserve his right to challenge his transfer, and thereby preserve his alleged First Amendment right of access to the courts. Thus, according to Askins, his refusal was a valid exercise of this First Amendment right, for which he cannot lawfully be punished.

The District Court dismissed Askins' Eighth Amendment claim as "not ripe" because "no decision has been made to transfer him." Askins, slip op. at 8. The trial judge also found Askins' First Amendment claim unripe, because its viability was deemed to depend upon the legal validity of the Eighth Amendment claim.

Although finding no ripe case or controversy, the District Court nevertheless went ahead and decided the case on the merits. The court first noted the heavy burden Askins carried, because " 'deliberate indifference' to inmates' security" must be shown in order to establish a violation of a prisoner's Eighth Amendment rights. Id. at 9 (citing Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 104, 97 S.Ct. 285, 291, 50 L.Ed.2d 251 (1976); Morgan v. District of Columbia, 824 F.2d 1049, 1058 (D.C.Cir.1987)). Doubting that Askins "could carry his burden if the case were ripe," slip op. at 10, because "the only evidence of threats made [by Terry and Fisher] is in plaintiff's own...