Brown v. Dep't of Pub. Safety & Corr. Servs.

• Decision Date: 13 May 2019
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. RDB-16-0945
• Citation: 383 F.Supp.3d 519
• Parties: Steven BROWN, et al., Plaintiffs, v. DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY AND CORRECTIONAL SERVICES, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Maryland

383 F.Supp.3d 519

Steven BROWN, et al., Plaintiffs,

v.DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY AND CORRECTIONAL SERVICES, et al., Defendants.

Civil Action No. RDB-16-0945

United States District Court, D. Maryland.

Signed May 13, 2019

Stephen Z. Meehan, Damien Dorsey, Prisoner Rights Information System of Maryland, Inc., Chestertown, MD, Abigail Graber, Daniel Frank Goldstein, Eve Lynne Hill, James T. Fetter, Jessica Paulie Weber, Joshua R. Treem, Brown Goldstein & Levy, LLP, Baltimore, MD, for Plaintiffs.

Lisa O. Mara Arnquist, Maryland Office of the Attorney General Department of Public Safety, Towson, MD, Teresa Marie Kelly, Stephanie Judith Lane Weber, State of Maryland Office of the Attorney General, Baltimore, MD, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Richard D. Bennett, United States District Judge

In these consolidated cases, nine blind or visually impaired inmates formerly or presently housed in correctional facilities maintained by the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services have challenged the conditions of their confinement. (Consolidation Order, ECF No. 2.) Together, Plaintiffs Steven Brown ("Brown"), Wilbert M. Delano ("Delano"), Gregory Hammond ("Hammond"), Sedric Holley ("Holley"), Russell Hopkins ("Hopkins"), Johnny James ("James"), Tyrell Polley ("Polley"), Maynard Snead ("Snead"), and Robert Wilson ("Wilson") (collectively, "Plaintiffs") allege that Defendants Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (the "Department"), Dayena Corcoran ("Corcoran"), Richard Miller ("Miller"), and Stephen Moyer ("Moyer")¹ have deprived them of their right to access the courts, subjected them to cruel and unusual punishment, and discriminated against them on the basis of their disabilities. Their Amended Complaint (ECF No. 23) brings two Counts pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Counts I and II), a third Count under the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101, et seq. (Count III), and a fourth Count invoking Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. § 794 (Count IV).

Currently pending before this Court are Defendants' Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 100); Plaintiffs' Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (ECF No. 172); Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 178); Plaintiffs' Motion for Leave to File a Surreply (ECF No. 207); and Plaintiffs' Motion for Substitution or for Judicial Notice of Substitution under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 25(d) (ECF No. 208). On April 24, 2019 this Court conducted a Motions Hearing and heard argument on the pending motions. See Local Rule 105.6 (D. Md. 2018). For the reasons stated below, Defendants' Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 100) is DENIED AS MOOT; Plaintiffs' Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (ECF No. 172) is DENIED; and Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 178) is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART; Plaintiffs' Motion for Leave to File a Surreply (ECF No. 207) is GRANTED;² and Plaintiffs' Motion for Substitution or for Judicial Notice of Substitution under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 25(d) (ECF No. 208) is GRANTED. Summary Judgment IS ENTERED in favor of all Defendants on Counts I and II. Counts III and IV will proceed as to the Department and Robert L. Green in his official capacity, commencing on Monday, June 17, 2019.

BACKGROUND

In ruling on the pending motions for summary judgment, this Court reviews the facts and all reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Scott v. Harris , 550 U.S. 372, 378, 127 S.Ct. 1769, 167 L.Ed.2d 686 (2007) ; see also Hardwick ex rel. Hardwick v. Heyward , 711 F.3d 426, 433 (4th Cir. 2013). Plaintiffs allege that Defendants have subjected them to constitutional deprivations and discriminated against them on the basis of their disabilities. All nine Plaintiffs suffer from varying degrees of visual impairment. (Am. Compl. ¶¶ 13-21; PSJ³ Ex. 1.) When Plaintiffs commenced this action by filing nine pro se Complaints in March 2016, all Plaintiffs were incarcerated at the Roxbury Correctional Institution ("RCI"). Some Plaintiffs have also been housed at other institutions like Eastern Correctional Institution ("ECI"), Patuxent Institution, and the Maryland Reception, Diagnostic and Classification Center ("MRDCC"). (ECF Nos. 1, 3.) Since the filing of this case, five Plaintiffs (Delano, Hammond, Holley, Hopkins, and Polley) have been released.

I. Structure of the Department.

The Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services is overseen by the Department Secretary. (PSJ Ex. 16.) Within the Department, the Commissioner of Correction supervises the wardens at each prison. (PSJ Ex. B, Corcoran Dep. 46:13-20.) Roxbury Correctional Institution ("RCI") and Eastern Correctional Institution ("ECI") are facilities within the Division of Correction, each of which is managed by a Warden or Acting Warden. (PSJ Ex. C, Campbell 30(b)(6) Dep.; Ex. D, West 30(b)(6) Dep.)

Defendant Stephen Moyer was the Secretary of the Department since January 2015. (DSJ Ex. 11, Moyer Dep. 18:5-16.) In this position, he managed approximately 10,000 employees and a $ 1.4 billion budget. (Id. at 32:9-33:15.) He was heavily involved in coordination efforts between his Department and other Maryland political bodies and had little involvement in the day-to-day operations at Department facilities: his work included preparing and participating in budgetary hearings and meetings with the Governor's Office and the Department of Legislative Affairs, monitoring pending bills, and meeting with other cabinet members. (Id. at 32:2-34:5, 36:2-38:1.) On March 7, 2019, Moyer announced his departure from state service effective at the end of that month. (Defs.' Mot. Summ. J. 5, n.4.) While this case was pending, Robert L. Green ("Green") became the Secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.

Defendant Dayena Corcoran was the Commissioner of Correction for the Department from 2016 until September 2018. (DSJ Ex. 12, Corcoran Dep. 46:10-12, 48:2-10.) In that role, she was responsible for implementing and enforcing Division of Correction policies and managed the wardens. (Id. at 46:10-47:14, 99:3-20.) Defendant Richard Miller was the Warden of RCI from April 2015 to November 2017. (DSJ Ex. 13, Miller Dep. 25:10-16.) His job required him to manage the operations of the entire RCI facility, including over 400 employees and 1,800 inmates. (Id. at 57:2-58:2.)

The Department contracts with the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation ("Department of Labor") to provide educational, vocational shop, and library programs, services, and activities at RCI and ECI. (PSJ Ex. 17; Ex. E, Reid 30(b)(6) Dep. 172:7–10, 190:4–8, 192:5–11.) The Department also contracts or otherwise arranges with third-party entities to provide medical services and other programs, services, and opportunities to inmates at RCI. (PSJ. Ex. F, Baucom 30(b)(6) Dep. 37:10– 38:9; Ex. E, Reid 30(b)(6) Dep. 291:4–292:11.)

II. Services Provided at RCI.

Plaintiffs generally complain that Defendants have provided inadequate aids and services to permit them to conduct their affairs in prison privately and independently. Because they have been denied adequate training or other services, they complain that they have been forced to rely on other inmates to complete various tasks like filing grievances and court complaints, reading and writing correspondence, and navigating prison facilities. They also complain that they have been forced to share prison cells with other inmates, a practice the parties refer to as "double-celling" (as opposed to being celled alone, or "single-celling") and that they have been excluded from various programs on the basis of their visual impairments, including desirable jobs. The net effect of all this, Plaintiffs complain, is that they have been rendered vulnerable to violence and extortion at the hands of sighted inmates and they have been denied benefits accorded to other inmates, including additional diminution credits.⁴ In the following pages, these grievances are discussed in greater detail.

A. Housing Blind Inmates at RCI and ECI.

Defendants admit that RCI, a medium security facility, was and continues to be the designated Department facility for blind inmates, regardless of their security classification. (PSJ Ex. E, Reid 30(b)(6) Dep. 37:15–18; Ex. C, Campbell 30(b)(6) Dep. 29:16–17, 194:5–7, 414:18–20; Ex. K, Baker Dep. 103:21–104:14; Ex. M, Gelsinger Dep. 122:5–7; Ex. N, Hershberger Dep. 19:14–16.) Although some inmates with visual impairments have been housed at ECI, once an inmate's visual impairment becomes sufficiently severe, they are sent to RCI because ECI does not "have the accommodations that Roxbury Correctional Institution has" for the blind. (PSJ Ex. D, West 30(b)(6) Dep. 60:7–61:5.) With the exception of a few days spent at other facilities, all Plaintiffs have spent all or the majority of their incarceration at RCI, with some Plaintiffs (Hammond and Wilson) also housed at ECI for significant periods. (PSJ Ex. 27; Ex. 28; Ex. 29; Ex. 30; Ex. 31; Ex. 32, at 1676; Ex. 33, at 183; Ex. 12, at 1084–85; Ex. J-78, at POLLEY 420–21; Ex. 14; Ex. 34.3.) Plaintiffs Brown, James, Snead, and Wilson remain incarcerated at RCI. (See PSJ Ex. 35; Ex. 12, at 1084–85; Ex. 14; Ex. D, West 30(b)(6) Dep. 44:8–20.)

B. Communications with Blind Inmates.

The Department provides access to many of its programs, activities, and services through reading and writing but does not provide documents in alternative formats that blind inmates can access independently, such as large print, audio, Braille, or accessible electronic formats that could be accessed on a computer with the use of a screen reader or screen magnification software. (PSJ Ex. E, Reid 30(b)(6) Dep. 116:19–117:19, 201:11–16; Ex. C, Campbell 30(b)(6) Dep. 128:14–21; Ex. M, Gelsinger Dep. 108:11–109:18; Ex. D, West 30(b)(6) Dep. 51:15–52:15; see Ex. 19, Olivero Rpt. 6, 20–27 (discussing alternative formats for print usable by blind people)...