Bills v. Henderson
| Citation | 446 F. Supp. 967 |
| Decision Date | 24 February 1978 |
| Docket Number | Civ. No. 3-77-165. |
| Parties | Wendell BILLS, Michael Doyle, Bobby Howard, Hastie Eugene Love, George Scanlow, Billy Ray Smith, Wayne Teasley, Jerry Ward, Donald Wheeler, Jr., James Wingard v. Murray HENDERSON, Commissioner of Corrections, Stonney Lane, Warden, Brushy Mountain Penitentiary, and the Tennessee Department of Corrections. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Tennessee |
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Carol S. Nickle, U. T. Legal Clinic Community Office, Knoxville, Tenn., for plaintiffs.
Patricia Cottrell, Nashville, Tenn., for defendants.
This is an action brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiffs seek injunctive and declaratory relief as well as compensatory and punitive damages for alleged violation of their constitutional rights to due process in prison disciplinary proceedings. The named plaintiffs were, at all pertinent times, inmates at the Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary. At all relevant times, defendant Murray Henderson was Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Correction and defendant Stonney Lane was Warden of Brushy Mountain.
In accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(2), upon the agreement of the parties, the Court submitted this case to the United States Magistrate, sitting as a special master, for trial. Trial was held without a jury on September 20, 1977. The report of the Magistrate was filed on December 14, 1977. Before the Court presently are objections to the Magistrate's report filed by both sides.
The relevant, undisputed facts are as follows. On January 25, 1977, eight of the plaintiffs: Wendell Bills, Bobby Howard, Hastie Love, George Scanlow, Billy Ray Smith, Charles Teasley, Jerry Ward and Donald Wheeler were confined in administrative segregation.1 Plaintiffs requested that they be permitted to meet with the defendant, Warden Lane. The request was denied. Partially as a result of this request and partially as a result of information pertaining to some of the plaintiffs given to Warden Lane by an informant, Warden Lane directed that the plaintiffs be placed in segregated confinement in "D" block. On January 25, after being placed in segregated confinement, each named plaintiff received the following written notice:
"As authorized in Section 4-601-5 of the disciplinary procedures, the resident's institutional record indicates sufficient cause to believe that his presence in the general population would constitute a threat to the welfare of other residents and to the good of the institution."
Plaintiffs remained in segregated confinement until January 27, 1977, at which time the plaintiffs as a group were given a hearing by the disciplinary board. Warden Lane submitted to the board in writing his reasons for placing the plaintiffs in segregated confinement. The reasons given concerned an alleged conspiracy to take hostages and alleged defiant comments directed against the Warden. Warden Lane was not available for direct testimony nor for cross-examination. After the hearings, the disciplinary board found each plaintiff guilty, based upon Warden Lane's written testimony, and ordered that each plaintiff be placed in administrative segregation. This order was to be reviewed in thirty days. The disciplinary board did not give to any of the plaintiffs a written statement containing either the reasons for the board's action or the evidence upon which it relied.
On April 2, 1977, plaintiffs Howard, Scanlow and Bills, all of whom were involved in the previous disciplinary proceeding, along with plaintiffs James Wingard and Michael Doyle, were placed in punitive segregation. On the same date, each of these plaintiffs was presented with a form whereby he was to indicate, inter alia, whether he requested the presence of the accusing official at his hearing. At least one plaintiff did so request.
A disciplinary hearing was held on April 5, 1977.2 The accusing guards were not present at the hearing. Plaintiffs did not attempt to introduce any other witnesses. No other oral evidence was presented. Each of the plaintiffs charged was found guilty by the disciplinary board and placed in punitive segregation3 for a period of thirty days. The disciplinary board also recommended that each plaintiff be stripped of all accrued good and honor time. This recommendation was approved by Warden Lane on April 5, 1977, and by the Commissioner of Correction on April 14, 1977. The disciplinary board did not give to any of the plaintiffs charged a written statement containing either the reasons for the board's action, or the evidence upon which it relied. On April 27, 1977, the five plaintiffs were transferred from punitive segregation back to administrative segregation.
Plaintiffs have sought certification of this suit as a class action. The proposed class is to consist of:
"all individuals incarcerated in correctional institutions under the control of the Tennessee Department of Corrections who are now, have been, or will be locked in segregated confinement by procedures which violate the Department's rules and regulations as set forth in Section 4.600 et seq. of the Manual of Adult Service Policies and Procedures for the Department of Corrections." ("the Guidelines").
By far the largest part of the proposed class, those who "will be" subject to segregation, may lack standing to sue in their own right. Each individual seeking to sue as a member of this subclass will have to show sufficient likelihood of injury to demonstrate a personal stake in the outcome of the suit. See Laird v. Tatum, 408 U.S. 1, 13, 92 S.Ct. 2318, 33 L.Ed.2d 154 (1972). On the other hand, the standing of the representative plaintiffs to maintain this action is clear since they have suffered serious consequences as a result of allegedly unconstitutional actions. Because of this difference in the standing to sue, the representative plaintiffs need not prove all the necessary elements of this subclass' claim in proving their own claim. Accordingly, the claim of the representative plaintiffs is not "typical" of this part of the proposed class. See Amswiss International Corp. v. Heublin, Inc., 69 F.R.D. 663, 667 (N.D.Ga.1975).
Insofar as the remainder of the proposed class is concerned, plaintiffs have failed to show that those who are or have been segregated by procedures violative of department regulations constitute a class "so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable." Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(a). The Court also notes that because of the many procedural rights set forth in the Guidelines, the claims of the named plaintiffs in all likelihood would prove to be "typical" of only a small part of those claims which might be raised by inmates who are or have been subject to disciplinary proceedings. Accordingly, the Court denies plaintiffs' request for class certification.
The Magistrate concluded that defendant Henderson should not remain as a defendant, but that a basis for liability had been stated against defendant Lane. The Court is of the opinion that the Magistrate's conclusion is correct.
This is not a suit in which an attempt is made to hold a supervisor merely because he failed to prevent actions acknowledged to be constitutional violations. Cf. Rizzo v. Goode, 423 U.S. 362, 96 S.Ct. 598, 46 L.Ed.2d 561 (1976). Rather the allegation here is that the accepted policies of the institution, as applied by the disciplinary board, violated the Constitution. Under such a theory, it is proper to sue the official, here defendant Lane, who had authority over the daily administration of these institutional policies. In the prison setting, the warden has been repeatedly held as a proper party defendant without an affirmative showing that the warden had explicitly approved the procedures used in specific instances at issue. See e.g., Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539, 94 S.Ct. 2963, 41 L.Ed.2d 935 (1974); Meachum v. Fano, 427 U.S. 215, 96 S.Ct. 2532, 49 L.Ed.2d 451 (1976); Walker v. Hughes, 558 F.2d 1247 (6th Cir. 1977).
While this analysis applies in stating a potential claim against defendant Lane, defendant Henderson is responsible only for the Guidelines as adopted. His control over the day-to-day operations of the disciplinary board is too remote to attribute to him acquiescence in the Guidelines as applied by the board. In the light of the relief ultimately granted by the Court, the dismissal of defendant Henderson does not affect the outcome of this suit.
The Fourteenth Amendment prohibits a State from depriving a person of life, liberty or property without due process of law. Therefore, before the protections of the due process clause apply, plaintiffs must show that an interest, in this case a "liberty" interest, has been infringed by the State.
The plaintiffs argue that the State has infringed a liberty interest by: (1) withdrawing their accrued good and honor time; (2) confining them in punitive segregation; and (3) confining them in administrative segregation. The plaintiffs also assert that they have a liberty interest in the procedures mandated in the Guidelines, specifically the rights of confrontation and cross-examination, which were not provided to them at the April hearing.
The Supreme Court in Wolff v. McDonnell, supra, held that there was a liberty interest in the retention of good time credits under Nebraska law. The Court notes that Tennessee law also creates a clear "statutory right to good time." 418 U.S. at 557, 94 S.Ct. 2963. See Tenn.Code Ann. § 41-3324 and § 41-335.5 Under these provisions, accrued good time may be rescinded only upon a finding that the inmate has "demeaned himself improperly." Tenn.Code Ann. § 41-335. Thus, the Tennessee statutes do provide a basis for a liberty interest in retention of accrued good time. See Meachum v. Fano, supra, 427 U.S. at 228, 96 S.Ct....
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Bills v. Henderson
...its own procedural regulations in connection with the transfer of prisoners to punitive or administrative segregation. Bills v. Henderson, 446 F.Supp. 967 (E.D.Tenn.1978). I. We first address the question of whether plaintiffs have a protected liberty interest that requires certain due proc......
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Stringer v. Rowe
...segregation absent proof of a serious rule violation. See Walker v. Hughes, 558 F.2d 1247 (6th Cir. 1977); Bills v. Henderson, 446 F.Supp. 967 (E.D.Tenn.1978). When plaintiff's complaint is given a liberal reading, Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 92 S.Ct. 594, 30 L.Ed.2d 652 (1972), we conc......
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Williams v. Franzen
...935 (1974) (Nebraska regulation); Walker v. Hughes, 558 F.2d 1247, 1255-56 (6th Cir. 1977) (federal regulation); Bills v. Henderson, 446 F.Supp. 967, 973 (E.D.Tenn. 1978) (Tennessee regulation). Since the Supreme Court has noted that a liberty interest may be created by a state regulation, ......
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Bureau of Prisons—Involuntary Transfers of Prisoners to Segregation—Due Process Safeguards in Administrative and Disciplinary Segregation
... ... the Sixth Circuit also found no liberty interest, absent ... statute or rule, in remaining in the general prison ... population. Bills v. Henderson, 446 F.Supp. 967 ... (E.D. Tenn. 1978). Under the rationale of these cases prison ... officials could impose disciplinary or ... ...