Baraldini v. Meese

• Decision Date: 19 July 1988
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 88-0764.
• Parties: Silvia BARALDINI, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Edwin MEESE, Attorney General of the United States of America, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Columbia

691 F. Supp. 432

Silvia BARALDINI, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Edwin MEESE, Attorney General of the United States of America, et al., Defendants.

Civ. A. No. 88-0764.

United States District Court, District of Columbia.

July 19, 1988.

Adjoa A. Aiyetoro, Alexa P. Freeman, Nat. Prison Project, ACLU Foundation, Washington, D.C., Jan Susler, Michael Deutsch, People's Law Office, Chicago, Ill., Elizabeth Fink, Brooklyn, N.Y., Mary K. O'Melveny, Lubell and Lubell, Margaret L. Ratner, Joan Gibbs, David Cole, New York City, for plaintiffs.

John D. Bates, John C. Cleary, Asst. U.S. Attys., Washington, D.C., for defendants; Harlan Penn, Atty. Advisor, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Washington, D.C., of counsel.

SUPERSEDING MEMORANDUM OPINION^*

BARRINGTON D. PARKER, Senior District Judge:

Plaintiffs Silvia Baraldini, Sylvia Brown, and Susan Rosenberg are prisoners in the Female High Security Unit ("Unit" or "HSU"). The Unit, designed for women who present serious security problems is located at the Lexington, Kentucky, Federal Correctional Institution ("FCI"). In a complaint that presents serious constitutional questions, plaintiffs charge that the United States Attorney General, several officials of the Federal Bureau of Prisons ("Bureau" or "BOP") and certain officials of Federal Correctional Institutions¹ have violated their First, Eighth, and Fifth Amendment rights. They claim that because of defendants' involvement in various decisions to assign them to the Female High Security Unit, they have been subjected to unlawful deprivations which violate their fundamental constitutional rights. Their counsel seek injunctive relief, preliminary and permanent, as well as declaratory relief.

Immediately after the complaint was filed, the government moved to transfer the proceeding to the Eastern District of Kentucky. The motion was denied. Plaintiffs then requested and were granted expedited discovery. Schedules were approved calling for depositions of the defendants, several expert witnesses, and plaintiff Silvia Baraldini. An endless number of exhibits and documents was also generated.

Meanwhile, in opposing plaintiffs' motion for preliminary injunctive relief, the government countered with a motion to dismiss, or alternatively, for summary judgment. Thereafter, the preliminary injunction hearing and the government's motions were consolidated into a trial proceeding on the merits. Fed.R.Civ.P. 65(a)(2). Jurisdiction of this Court was invoked under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1361.

The testimony of the witnesses, the depositions proffered by the parties in support of their claims and defenses, the numerous exhibits and documents admitted into evidence, the legal memoranda and the final arguments of counsel have been fully considered. For the reasons set forth below, the Court finds that while plaintiffs have clearly shown that they are entitled to relief on First Amendment grounds, their Eighth and Fifth Amendment claims are less persuasive and are denied.

I. FINDINGS

The High Security Unit

The High Security Unit was opened in October 1986. Twenty months later, by July 1, 1988, only seven women have been assigned to the Unit. Ms. Rosenberg was transferred in October, 1986; Ms. Baraldini and Ms. Brown were transferred between January and May, 1987. As of March 1, 1988, the plaintiffs and two other prisoners were the only women confined in the facility. Two additional prisoners have since been assigned — one in late March 1988, one in early June 1988. The Unit has always had a high vacancy rate even though it has a limited capacity of 16 women.

Prior to the opening of the Unit, the executive staff of the Bureau recognized that the security needs of their female population were slowly outpacing the security features of the then available institutions for women. (Px. 79 at 6-7, 12-13; Px. 83 at 14-15, 19.)² Indeed, before 1980, a relatively small number of high security female offenders was committed. The Bureau had not built a high security penitentiary for women, nor had it provided for high security complements at any existing women's facility. Because the only federal institutions for women were designated as minimum security, they were considered vulnerable to all types of escapes.

As the number of women prisoners considered capable of sophisticated and unusual means of escape increased, the Bureau staff began to seek an appropriate facility. In 1985, the U.S. Public Health Service vacated its occupancy of a portion of the Lexington, Kentucky FCI. The Bureau then remodeled the vacated space and built an accommodation for 16 women who posed potential security problems.

The Bureau's Assignment Policy

On September 2, 1986, G.L. Ingram, Assistant Director, Federal Bureau of Prisons, addressed a memorandum to the several Regional Directors describing the type of inmate who should be considered for placement in the Unit.

Candidates for placement in this unit are those females whose confinement raises a serious threat of external assault for the purpose of aiding the offender's escape. Other females who have serious histories of assaultive, escape-prone or disruptive activity may be considered on a space available basis.

* * * * * *

Inmates in the unit can be only one custody: maximum. Prior to transferring an inmate to the unit, staff at the originating institution are to increase the inmate's custody to maximum.

(Px. 50.) He further noted "consideration for transfer from the unit should be given when the original factors for placement in the unit no longer apply and when placement in a less secure facility becomes appropriate." Id.

The wardens of the several women's facilities sent candidate referrals to their respective regional offices. If the Regional Director concurred with the warden, the prisoner's official folder would be forwarded to the Southeast Regional Office which oversees the Lexington FCI. After the Regional Director reviewed the material, he referred the matter to the Bureau Director who made the final decision to transfer the prisoner.

Shortly after a prisoner's arrival at the Unit, she met with the "Unit Team," a committee which included the Unit Manager, Case Manager, Unit Counselor, Psychologist, and other correctional specialists. The committee was charged with the general responsibility of conducting a post-transfer review where the women were shown documentation from their official prison folder and they received some indication of the reasons why they were assigned to the Unit. The Unit Team also performed quarterly reviews of each prisoner's adjustment to the Unit and their assignment status. Unit Manager Robert Figlestahler gave deposition testimony about a typical review session:

The unit manager chairs the team,.... the counselor provides a summary of the individual's work record. The case manager will discuss any major changes in one's case.... the psychologist will ... bring up any pertinent information which he feels the team should be aware of. At that point ... the inmate may also discuss whatever ... is appropriate sic to make a request of the team.... The team will then consider the request.... Those are briefly summarized ... and copy is given to the inmate and a copy is placed in the central file.

(Px. 81 at 134-35.) As detailed as this procedure appeared, it is misleading. The written report produced after each review session is a mere one-page form with the inmate's name, the date, a few checked boxes, and occasional cryptic comments such as: "Requests transfer — no change in criteria for placement." (Px. 43 (Rosenberg's Review of 9/8/87); see also, Px. 12; Px. 23.) Nor is there an indication, after a review of plaintiffs' quarterly reports, that any serious consideration was ever given to the matter.

For a prisoner to be transferred out of the High Security Unit, guidelines set out in an "Institutional Supplement" developed on December 3, 1986 provided that:

When the unit team considers that the original factors which required placement of an inmate into the unit no longer apply and when placement in a less secure facility is deemed appropriate, they will forward a transfer packet to the Warden through the Associate Warden (Programs). If the Warden concurs, he will forward the packet to the Southeast Regional Director for review. The Southeast Regional Director after reviewing the case will forward the transfer packet to the Director, ... for final redesignation approval.

(Px. 59 at 7-8.) Interestingly enough, since its opening in October 1986, no prisoner has been transferred out of the Unit.

The Plaintiffs

Silvia Baraldini

Silvia Baraldini was transferred to the High Security Unit in January 1987. She was convicted of racketeering, conspiracy, armed robbery, and criminal contempt in 1984 and sentenced to 43 years in prison. Initially she served two years at the New York City Federal Metropolitan Correctional Center, and was then transferred to the Pleasanton, California, FCI.

At both facilities, she was always housed among the general prison population and her incarceration presented no unusual problems to prison officials. It was without incident. However, when she was selected for transfer to the High Security Unit, and in accordance with recently promulgated guidelines, her status was automatically increased to maximum. Before then, she had a lower classification at both the New York City and Pleasanton units.

Prior to Baraldini's assignment to the Unit, her transfer papers from the Pleasanton FCI included the following reference:

Ms. Baraldini is a member of the May 19th Communist Party which is sympathetic to other radical groups including the New African Freedom Front and the FALN. She participated in the successful 1978 escape of Jo Anne Chesamire sic from the New Jersey State Women's Prison. Members of her group have participated in numerous armed robberies where police officers were wounded or killed.

(Px. 6.) Additional references noted that she was a member...