Bundy v. Cannon

• Decision Date: 26 May 1971
• Docket Number: 70-1363.,Civ. No. 70-486
• Citation: 328 F. Supp. 165
• Parties: William BUNDY et al. v. Joseph CANNON et al. Johnny E. ADAMS et al. v. Joseph CANNON et al.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Maryland

328 F. Supp. 165

William BUNDY et al. v. Joseph CANNON et al.

Johnny E. ADAMS et al. v. Joseph CANNON et al.

Civ. Nos. 70-486, 70-1363.

United States District Court, D. Maryland.

May 26, 1971.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Joseph Matera, Michael Millemann and Stephen H. Sachs, Baltimore, Md. (John Rupp and Stanley A. Bass, New York City, of counsel), for plaintiffs.

Francis B. Burch, Atty. Gen., of State of Md., Alfred J. O'Ferrall, III, and Henry J. Frankel, Asst. Attys. Gen., Baltimore, Md., for defendants.

Herbert J. Belgrad and Benjamin R. Civiletti, Baltimore, Md., amici curiae.

This opinion supersedes the interim opinion filed herein on March 2, 1971.

THOMSEN, District Judge.

In these cases, which have been consolidated for trial, 82 plaintiffs contend that the procedures under which they were transferred to the Maryland Penitentiary from the Sykesville Laundry Camp and the Maryland House of Correction and were kept in "segregated confinement"¹ and suffered other penalties, do not meet the due process standards guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.²

There are two principal suits: (1) Bundy et al. v. Cannon et al., filed in April 1970 by ten plaintiffs against (a) the Commissioner of the Division of Correction of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services; (b) the Director of the Maryland Correctional Camp System; (c) the Captain of the Central Laundry Correctional Camp; and (d) the Warden of the Maryland Penitentiary, who recently resigned. (2) Adams et al. v. Cannon et al., filed in December 1970 by 72 plaintiffs against (a) the Commissioner; (b) the Deputy Commissioner; (c) the Warden of the Maryland House of Correction; and (d) the former Warden of the Penitentiary.³

In each case plaintiffs seek: (1) a declaratory judgment that the procedures followed violated their constitutional rights; (2) injunctive relief (a) releasing them from maximum security quarters, returning them to the institutions from which they were transferred to the Penitentiary, restoring to them all good time that was revoked, and placing them in the same status and position as they occupied prior to their transfer; (b) requiring defendants to follow specified procedures in all future disciplinary proceedings; and (c) other relief.⁴ In their complaints plaintiffs also alleged that they had been subjected to cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment, but pursuant to a stipulation of the parties filed herein on May 7, 1971, that issue has been dismissed without prejudice.

In each case plaintiffs state that they are suing on their own behalf and on behalf of others similarly situated. No effort to comply with the provisions of Rule 23(c), F.R.Civ.P., was made or suggested. It is clear, however, that the declaratory relief granted will benefit all persons similarly situated even though they are not made parties to these cases.

The same counsel represent all the plaintiffs, and two Assistant Attorneys General represent all the defendants. With the approval of counsel for all parties, the Court appointed Herbert J. Belgrad, Esq., and Benjamin R. Civiletti, Esq., as amici curiae.

A trial on the issue of procedural due process was held, at which many facts were stipulated, a representative number of the plaintiffs testified, and other evidence was received. Based thereon, the Court has made the following findings.

Facts

The Correctional Camp Center is a minimum security institution. It is the headquarters for four satellite camps, including the Sykesville Laundry Camp. Work release and educational programs are available to inmates at these camp centers, and a weekend furlough program allows some prisoners to visit their homes.

The House of Correction is a medium security institution, with about 1,500 inmates. It has several industrial shops and training programs.⁵

The Maryland Penitentiary is a maximum security institution, which houses about 1,200 inmates.⁶

The south wing cell block of the Penitentiary, a 280 cell unit, is sometimes referred to as the "segregated confinement unit", sometimes as "maximum security quarters", and often simply as "the south wing". Confinement therein will be referred to as segregated confinement.⁷ It is used to house men from the general Penitentiary population and men from other institutions who have been guilty of infractions of prison rules or are considered disciplinary problems. In a few instances men are transferred to segregated confinement for their own safety.

In segregated confinement the inmate is in a cell by himself, has little or no opportunity to communicate with other inmates, is issued distinctive clothing, receives his meals in his cell, has limited exercise and bathing opportunities, is more restricted in his visitation privileges than other inmates, and cannot participate in the work programs, education programs, job training programs, self-help groups, recreation programs and religious services available to the general population of the Penitentiary. The fact that men in segregated confinement are not allowed to work results in their inability to earn money and "industrial good time", which is credited at the rate of five days a month to inmates who work.

Bundy case. On January 29, 1970, eight of the ten plaintiffs in the Bundy case were transferred from the minimum security Laundry Camp to segregated confinement quarters at the Penitentiary as a result of their claimed participation in a work stoppage which had occurred at the Laundry Camp on that day. On the next day, January 30, a disciplinary hearing was held before (1) a correctional officer at the Laundry Camp who had been involved in the incident and the resulting transfer, and (2) a classification officer in the correctional camp system. The eight plaintiffs were found to have incited and participated in a work stoppage. As a result of that finding substantial amounts of "good conduct time" which the several plaintiffs had earned were forfeited,⁸ and they were placed on segregated confinement in the south wing of the Penitentiary for an indefinite period. Each of those plaintiffs served more than thirty days in segregated confinement and some as much as four months.

The disciplinary hearings were presided over by a correctional officer at the Laundry Camp who had been directly involved in the initial disturbance and was the officer who had recommended the removal of eight of the plaintiffs from the Camp to the Penitentiary.

None of the plaintiffs was given notice of the charges against him before the disciplinary hearings, nor notice of the time of his hearing until a few hours before it took place. They were not allowed representation or assistance at the hearings, nor were they allowed to present witnesses or other evidence except their own statements. They had no opportunity to question their accusers, since the only evidence presented at the hearings consisted of the written reports of correctional personnel.

Plaintiffs Robert Roberts and Robert White were not involved in the incidents at the Sykesville Laundry Camp. They were accused of forming an unauthorized inmate association at the Penitentiary and were found to have committed that violation in disciplinary proceedings held on March 5, 1970. As a result they were transferred from the general population of the Penitentiary to segregated confinement, and served substantial periods there. Their hearing was held before three correctional officers. The facts with respect to the hearing set out in the preceding paragraph apply also to their hearing.

Adams case. On October 1, 1970, 68 inmates were transferred from the House of Correction to the Penitentiary. On October 2 four more inmates were transferred from the House of Correction to the Penitentiary. The 72 inmates were transferred because their names appeared on a list compiled by authorities at the House of Correction as a result of a series of work stoppages which had occurred there on September 29 and 30 and October 1. During the late hours of September 28, many inmates of J dormitory had become concerned about another inmate of that dormitory who was ill and who they believed was not receiving proper medical attention. Their dissatisfaction resulted in an excited dialogue with Warden Williams about midnight on that date, and the taking of the ill man to a hospital where he was examined and returned to the House of Correction. Work stoppages on the three consecutive days occurred when punishment was meted out to eight inmates of J dormitory as a result of the September 28 incident. The inmates involved in the work stoppages were employed in the industrial compound, where the vocational shops are located. There was no attempt by the Warden or the Correctional Officer involved to determine specifically what conduct of the plaintiffs necessitated or justified the transfer of the individual men to the Penitentiary under the highly charged atmosphere caused by the work stoppages.

On arrival at the Penitentiary the men were stripped, searched and issued standard clothing for use in the segregated confinement cells to which they were then taken.

Within two or three days the 68 men, as well as four other men who had been subsequently transferred to the Penitentiary, were brought before an Adjustment Committee composed of one of the correctional officers who had compiled the lists, a classification supervisor and a counselor, all of whom were employed at the House of Correction. Of the 72 inmates, 17 were accused of specific acts of misconduct. The other 55 were told by the Adjustment Committee that they were transferred because they were "not amenable to the program security level of the Maryland House of Correction". The procedures followed at the Adjustment Committee hearings were the same in all cases. The charge was read to the inmate or, where there were no charges, the reason for the transfer was read. The inmate was...