Bordeaux v. Bicknase
| Decision Date | 08 August 2022 |
| Docket Number | 4:18CV3122 |
| Parties | CHRISTINE BORDEAUX, Plaintiff, v. CHERYL BICKNASE, in her individual capacity; JEANIE GOLLIDAY, in her individual capacity; DENISE DAVIDSON, in her individual capacity; ANGELA FOLTS-OBERLE, in her individual capacity; and DOES 1-9, in their official and individual capacities; Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Nebraska |
On September 24, 2016, Christine Bordeaux (“Bordeaux”) was assaulted at the Nebraska Correctional Center for Women (“NCCW”) by her cellmate and second cousin, Erica Jenkins (“Jenkins”). She seeks damages under 42 U.S.C § 1983 against Cheryl Bicknase (“Bicknase”) Jeanie Golliday (“Golliday”), Angela Folts-Oberle (“Folts-Oberle”), and Denise Davidson (“Davidson” and collectively, “the defendants”) for allegedly violating her rights under the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution by failing to protect her from the assault and being deliberately indifferent about her safety. See Farmer v Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 831 (1994) (). She also claims the defendants followed unconstitutional policies and customs and were improperly trained to protect her rights.
Now before the Court is a Joint Motion for Summary Judgment filed by Golliday, Folts-Oberle, and Davidson (Filing No. 138) and a separate Motion for Summary Judgment filed by Bicknase (Filing No. 142). For the reasons explained below, the defendants' motions are granted.
In August 2013, Bordeaux and Jenkins lured two men into a park in Omaha, Nebraska, and attempted to rob them. Jenkins's brother, Nikko Jenkins (“Nikko”), murdered both men. Shortly thereafter, Bordeaux was involved with a carjacking where she witnessed Nikko murder again. All three were eventually arrested.
Nikko was charged with three counts of murder. He pleaded no contest and was sentenced to death. Jenkins went to trial and was found guilty of one count of first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated assault, and one count of using a firearm to commit a felony. Bordeaux testified against Jenkins at trail.
Bordeaux pleaded guilty to attempted robbery and criminal conspiracy. She received a prison sentence of twenty years. Bordeaux and Jenkins were sent to NCCW to serve their time.
The defendants are NCCW staff members. Davidson was the warden for NCCW. Part of her job was to disseminate important information to her employees. One of her employees was Steve Hunzeker (“Hunzeker”). He was a unit administrator for NCCW when Bordeaux arrived. He supervised inmate classifications and housing. Folts-Oberle took over Hunzeker's position a few months later when he left NCCW. Golliday was a unit manager and completed new inmate assessments for both Bordeaux and Jenkins. Bicknase was the case manager for the building where Bordeaux and Jenkins lived and managed room assignments as part of her duties. Finally, David Buls (“Buls”) was the caseworker who supervised Jenkins moving into Bordeaux's cell.
In March of 2016, a few weeks before Bordeaux arrived at NCCW, Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine (“Kleine”), traveled to the prison to meet with Davidson about Bordeaux's pending arrival. Kleine had prosecuted Jenkins with Bordeaux's testimony. He stressed the need to separate Bordeaux and Jenkins within the prison for Bordeaux's safety. Davidson relayed this information to her staff who in turn discussed possible solutions. Davidson initially requested that Bordeaux be sent to another facility, but the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services (“NDCS”) Central Office denied the request. NCCW staff then made plans to house Bordeaux and Jenkins separately.
On March 16, 2016, Bordeaux arrived at NCCW and began the Initial Inmate Classification Process with Golliday. This thirty-day process is designed to identify each inmates' criminal and medical histories; social, occupational, and religious interests; and risk factors regarding other inmates. The Initial Classification Committee (“ICC”) uses that information to classify and sort prisoners to avoid conflicts. Before Bordeaux arrived at NCCW, Davidson advised Golliday about Kleine's visit and directed her to thoroughly question Bordeaux about any safety concerns and about Jenkins in particular.
When questioned, Bordeaux told Golliday, “I have no problems with Erica Jenkins, but I can't talk for Jenkins.” Bordeaux rejected NCCW's offer to be placed in protective custody (a separate but restrictive housing unit that offers safety from other prisoners). She read and signed a document acknowledging that the staff could not guarantee her safety, reiterated to the security division that she had no safety concerns and knew of no conflicts between her and Jenkins. Bordeaux also signed Golliday's classification report designating her as a low risk of becoming a victim. Finally, she submitted a handwritten note certifying that she did not fear for her safety.
At other times, Bordeaux indicated some concern for her safety. On April 12, 2016, Bordeaux told NCCW's psychologist, Dr. Johnna Williams (“Dr. Williams”), that she was worried about Jenkins possibly retaliating against her. A meeting with the ICC brought this statement to Golliday's attention. After considering Dr. Williams's report, Kleine's information, and Bordeaux's apparent lack of concern in other statements, the ICC disagreed on how to value the information.
In the face of conflicting information, Davidson viewed Bordeaux and Jenkins's history as a safety issue and told her staff to separate the two for the time being. Davidson directed Hunzeker to complete a Central Monitoring (“Central Monitoring”) investigation on Bordeaux and Jenkins.
Central Monitoring is NDCS's system for recording inmate conflicts and communicating them to the staff. Inmates on Central Monitoring may still be housed in the general population but can be separated by building, wing, cell, and occupation. When the warden requests Central Monitoring, the unit administrator usually supervises an investigation of the applicable inmates. The unit administrator submits a report to the warden outlining the conflict and recommending a degree of separation. The warden then sends this report to the NDCS Central Office which makes the final decision.
Miscommunication derailed Central Monitoring protection for Bordeaux. After Davidson requested a Central Monitoring investigation on Bordeaux and Jenkins, Hunzeker told Golliday he would take responsibility for interviewing the inmates and completing the report. In his report, Hunzeker recommended Bordeaux and Jenkins be housed in separate cells and assigned different occupations. According to Hunzeker, he placed his completed report in Bordeaux's file and put that file in Davidson's mailbox. According to Davidson this report was lost, and she never received the recommendation.
According to Davidson, she continued to regularly communicate her expectation that Bordeaux and Jenkins be separated and expected her staff to follow her orders. Her ongoing conversations yielded some administrative protections. The head of NCCW's security division, Major Shaun Settles (“Settles”), frequently discussed the issue with Davidson. Settles placed Bordeaux and Jenkins on their major watch list so the security staff would specifically monitor their interactions to avoid conflicts.
At the end of Bordeaux's intake process, Golliday submitted an Initial Classification Report (“ICR”) to Davidson for approval. The report relied on Bordeaux's statements and labeled her as a low risk of becoming a victim of prison violence. The reporting software also automatically marked “no” for Central Monitoring because the NDCS Central Office had not yet approved an investigation report for Bordeaux and Jenkins. According to Davidson, she signed off on Golliday's report, believing Hunzeker was still investigating Central Monitoring and that his pending report would correct Bordeaux's classification. Hunzeker resigned his position as a unit administrator on April 27, 2016, thinking that Davidson had seen his investigation. NCCW was without a unit administrator for a month.
Bordeaux was originally assigned to a separate cell from Jenkins. Bordeaux lived in the C Wing of the North Hall. Jenkins lived in the B Wing. Since inmates in the North Hall are confined to their wing, this was deemed to be an appropriate level of separation.
For the next six months, the separation measures worked effectively. Bordeaux and Jenkins only crossed paths on three occasions. None of their interactions caused the NCCW staff concern. The security division reported no concerns regarding Bordeaux and Jenkins. Many on the unit staff were unaware of any issues between them.
In September of 2016, NCCW remodeled the B Wing. This remodel caused many inmates, including Jenkins, to be transferred to other locations. Bicknase was tasked with making the new housing assignments. She made decisions by considering her knowledge about inmate relationships, medical accommodations and the professional opinions of her coworkers. She especially valued the opinion of the former North Hall case manager, Damon Gruber (“Gruber”). In addition, Bicknase checked Central Monitoring for critical inmate conflict information. According to Bicknase, neither she nor Gruber were aware of any history of conflict between Bordeaux and Jenkins. Bicknase was not party to any conversations suggesting that there might be problems between the two. Relying on her own knowledge, Gruber's input, and the Central Monitoring records, Bicknase created new housing assignments and...
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