Capps v. Atiyeh

• Decision Date: 25 February 1983
• Docket Number: Civ. No. 80-141BU,80-6014BU.
• Citation: 559 F. Supp. 894
• Parties: Tom CAPPS, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Victor ATIYEH, et al., Defendants. Joe WEST, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Victor ATIYEH, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Oregon

559 F. Supp. 894

Tom CAPPS, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Victor ATIYEH, et al., Defendants.

Joe WEST, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Victor ATIYEH, et al., Defendants.

Civ. Nos. 80-141BU, 80-6014BU.

United States District Court, D. Oregon.

December 30, 1982.

Supplemental Opinion and Order February 25, 1983.

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Robert A. Stalker, Jr., Patricia DeLessio, Prisoners' Legal Services of Oregon, Salem, Or., for plaintiffs.

David Frohnmayer, Atty. Gen., Stanton F. Long, Deputy Atty. Gen., J. Scott McAlister, Virginia L. Linder, Asst. Attys. Gen., Salem, Or., for defendants.

AMENDED SUPPLEMENTAL OPINION and ORDER

JAMES M. BURNS, Chief Judge.

INTRODUCTION

This is the second round in the comprehensive challenge¹ to the living conditions in the Oregon prisons. The first opinion is reported at 495 F.Supp. 802 (D.Or.1980). This is a class action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.² The class consists of the inmates at the Oregon State Correctional Institute (OSCI) and the Oregon State Penitentiary (OSP) and its farm annex (the Annex). The inmates claim the conditions of their confinement inflict cruel and unusual punishment forbidden by the eighth amendment of the United States Constitution³. Specifically, the inmates contend the institutions are so crowded the conditions there are likely to cause the inmates' physical and mental deterioration. Save for a few relatively narrow areas in which I find the inmates are entitled to prevail at this time, I deny most of their general claims for relief.

I. PROCEDURAL HISTORY OF THE CASE

A. Capps/West I

With the consent of the parties, in the spring of 1980, and pursuant to Fed.R. Civ.P. 42(b), I segregated the issue whether these penal institutions are unconstitutionally crowded. I had anticipated that if the inmates made out a case in this area, relief granted in that area might well to some degree remedy some of the other conditions of which they complained: food, clothing, shelter, sanitation, medical care, and personal safety.

In June 1980, I took testimony from three inmates at OSP, four of the State's corrections officials, and eight expert witnesses. At that time, OSP housed 1476 persons despite a single-cell capacity of 1107. OSCI housed 773 inmates in a facility designed for 476. The Annex housed 206 persons though it was designed to accommodate 125. On June 27, 1980, I issued a bench ruling in favor of the inmates, holding that because of the overcrowding, the three institutions violated the eighth amendment. Following the parties' submission of proposals for the type of relief to be ordered, I issued an injunction requiring the State to reduce the population at the institutions by 500 inmates by December 31, 1980, and by another 250 inmates by March 31, 1981. This would reduce the prison's populations to single-cell and design capacities. I later extended the initial December deadline to January 31, 1981.

I denied the State's motion for a stay of the injunction pending the State's appeal. The court of appeals upheld this denial. However, on February 4, 1981, Justice Rehnquist, as Circuit Justice, stayed the injunction pending resolution of either the decision of the court of appeals in this case or Rhodes v. Chapman, 452 U.S. 337, 101 S.Ct. 2392, 69 L.Ed.2d 59 (1981), which at that time was before the Court. Atiyeh v. Capps, 449 U.S. 1312, 101 S.Ct. 829, 66 L.Ed.2d 785 (1981) (Rehnquist, Circuit Justice). Ironically, by January 31, 1981, the State had reduced its inmate population by 487, within thirteen of the goal originally set. Following the Court's opinion in Chapman, the court of appeals vacated the injunction and remanded the case for "further consideration and specific findings" in light of Chapman and Wright v. Rushen, 642 F.2d 1129 (9th Cir.1981). 652 F.2d 823 (9th Cir.1981) (per curiam order).

B. Capps/West II

Following the court of appeal's remand order, the State filed a motion asking me to abstain pending the resolution of the state law claims in Armstrong v. Cupp, No. 121,599 (Marion County Cir.Ct., petition for habeas corpus filed July 22, 1980). I declined to stay the proceeding at this late stage largely because the state court ruling could not eliminate all of the federal constitutional claims. (Unpublished opinion). Hoptowit v. Ray, 682 F.2d 1237, 1245 n. 2 (9th Cir.1982); see Manney v. Cabell, 654 F.2d 1280 (9th Cir.1980).

In Capps/West I, I assumed, in the absence of case authority to the contrary or other appellate court guidance, that a court could consider the generalized impact of overcrowding on the penological effectiveness of the challenged institutions. I am no longer without that authority or guidance. Wright and Hoptowit make it clear that a court faced with a comprehensive challenge to prison conditions must examine articulable, quantifiable conditions to see whether these discrete conditions violate eighth amendment standards. But see Smith v. Fairman, 690 F.2d 122, 125 (7th Cir.1982); Ruiz v. Estelle, 679 F.2d 1115, 1139-40 (5th Cir.1982). But each condition of confinement does not exist in a vacuum. A particular unconstitutional condition, such as excessive violence, may be the result of several contributing factors. Hoptowit, 682 F.2d at 1247.

At my request, the inmates submitted a proposed sequence for taking additional testimony about the separate conditions. The six areas selected for hearings were:

1. Violence and Guard Behavior

2. Segregation and Isolation

3. Shelter and Sanitation/Physical Plant

4. Idleness/Classification

5. Mental Health Care and Counseling

6. Medical Care

These topics were derived from Wright, 642 F.2d at 1132-33, quoting Wolfish v. Levi, 573 F.2d 118, 125 (2d Cir.1978), rev'd on other grounds sub nom. Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 99 S.Ct. 1861, 60 L.Ed.2d 447 (1979): "an institution's obligation under the eighth amendment is at an end if it furnishes sentenced prisoners with adequate food, clothing, shelter, sanitation, medical care, and personal safety." See Hoptowit, 682 F.2d at 1246. The State's denial of one of these basic needs violates society's sense of decency because it wantonly inflicts pain.

From June through November 1982, I held hearings at which dozens of inmates at OSP, OSCI, and the Annex, staff members, and finally expert witnesses testified.⁴ The evidence taking sessions involving inmate and most staff testimony were held at the Marion County Courthouse and the Capitol Building in Salem.⁵ Expert (and some staff) testimony was taken at the U.S. Courthouse in Portland. In addition, with counsel's consent, I inspected OSP and OSCI once by myself without advance notice, and once with counsel. The surprise visit was to observe the institutions operations in a fashion which might serve to reduce the temptation on the part of some staff or inmates to posture for my benefit. While my impression was that this effort was not entirely successful, such posturing as may have occurred has not affected my findings and conclusion.

The State objected, often in strenuous terms, to these unitary proceedings. However, these hearings were not held to cure factual deficiencies in the inmates' case. The hearings were held to insure that the findings of fact and conclusions of law would be according to the requirements of Hoptowit and Wright. The State also contended it was prejudiced by a lack of adequate discovery and of a pretrial order. Counsel for plaintiffs also occasionally complained of lack of timeliness in receipt of witness statements. Neither side has shown any prejudice. Most of the opportunities I furnished for other or fuller evidence presentation were not utilized.

II. DISCUSSION

A. The Facilities

The Oregon State Penitentiary is a maximum security prison located in Salem, Oregon. It comprises 22 acres and is surrounded by a reinforced concrete wall averaging 25 feet in height. Prisoners are housed in five units. One of these cell blocks was built in 1929, two in the early 1950's, and the newest in 1964.

C Block, the oldest housing unit, has 157 cells of 60 square feet each. Sub-C, essentially a basement of C Block, contains 39 cells of 56.5 square feet each. Each cell contains two metal bed frames suspended from the wall, which occupy about one-third of the total cell area. An open toilet and a sink are provided in each cell. The remaining furnishings consist of shelves, a table that folds down from the wall, and two stools.

D and E Blocks each contain 400 cells of 44 square feet each. The beds in these cells occupy about one-half of the total cell area. The cells are furnished similarly to those in C Block.

A Block contains 111 cells of 64.5 square feet. The cell furnishings differ from those in the other blocks only in that about 90 of the cells contain double bunk beds.

The total single-cell capacity of OSP is 1107. On October 22, 1982, OSP held about 1520 men.⁶ In addition, the facility has 46 cells of 48 square feet each in the Psychiatric Security Unit, 90 cells in the Segregation Unit, 30 of which are double-bunked, and 21 beds in the infirmary.

OSCI is designed generally for youthful first-offenders convicted of less serious offenses. Or.Rev.Stat. § 421.710(1) (1981). The facility was built in 1959 and is in excellent repair. There are five cell blocks. Unit 1 has 64 cells of 51.3 square feet each; Unit 2, 63 cells of 51.3 square feet; Unit 3, 67 cells of 67.8 square feet; Unit 4, 101 cells of 65 square feet; and Unit 11, 101 cells of 51.9 square feet. Unit 13 is a 3732-square-foot dormitory originally designed to hold 80 beds. The design capacity is thus 476. On October 22, 1982, the count was 1031. In addition to these cells, 48 cells of 51.9 square feet are contained in Unit 5, the disciplinary unit, and 10 beds are provided in the infirmary.

The Farm Annex is a 2089 acre dairy farm for prisoners requiring only minimum custody. It was originally designed to house about 125 prisoners in two floors of...