Chandler v. Crosby
| Decision Date | 06 August 2004 |
| Docket Number | No. 03-12017.,03-12017. |
| Citation | 379 F.3d 1278 |
| Parties | Jim E. CHANDLER, individually and on behalf of a class of all others similarly situated, William Kelley, individually and on behalf of a class of all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. James CROSBY, in his official capacity as Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections, Bradley D. Carter, in his official capacity as Warden of Union Correctional Institution, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit |
Elliot H. Scherker, Greenberg, Traurig, Hoffman, Lipoff, Rosen & Quentel, P.A., Peter M. Siegel, Randall C. Berg, Jr., Florida Justice Institute, Inc., Miami, FL, for Plaintiffs-Appellants.
Caryl Kilinski, Tallahassee, FL, for Defendants-Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
Before TJOFLAT, BARKETT and SILER*, Circuit Judges.
I.
The plaintiffs are death row inmates residing on the Northeast Unit (the "Unit") of Union Correctional Institution ("UCI") in Raiford, Florida. Their complaint — filed in August 2000 — alleges that the high temperatures in their cells during the summer months amount to "cruel and unusual punishment" under the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution. They seek declaratory and injunctive relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.1 The defendants Secretary and Warden (the "prison officials") deny that the inmates' cell temperatures constitute cruel and unusual punishment.
Soon after filing their complaint, the plaintiffs presented the district court with an unopposed motion for class certification. On December 4, 2000, the court, pursuant to Rule 23(b)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure,2 certified a class consisting of "all persons who are currently assigned to the Northeast Unit at Union Correctional Institution or who in the future will be assigned to that housing unit." After the parties concluded their discovery and the district court viewed the Unit,3 the court convened a bench trial. On March 24, 2003, the court issued an order denying relief on the merits.4 The inmates now appeal.
The Unit is home to some three hundred death row prisoners. It is a concrete structure consisting of six wings.5 Each wing has two floors, and each floor has twenty-eight cells, which are arranged into two back-to-back rows of fourteen. Each cell front faces an outside wall of the Unit. There are two windows on the walls across from each cell. They open with handcranks.
Between the cell fronts and the prison wall is a bifurcated walkway. The outer walkway, or "secure catwalk," is immediately adjacent to the exterior wall. The inner walkway is immediately adjacent to the cell fronts. Bars separate the outer and inner walkways. The walkways together are between eight and ten feet wide.
The cells are arranged back to back. Between the backs of the cells is the "chase," which is, in the district court's words, "a long corridor" "that contains plumbing, duct work and electrical services for the cells." The chase accommodates the two systems that are relevant to our analysis: the winter heating system and the summer ventilation system.
The winter heating system works through supply and return vents located on the back wall of each cell, about seven feet above the floor. Air enters the return vents and moves through the chase to a furnace in the attic. The warmed air travels back through the chase and enters the cells through the supply vents.
The summer ventilation system consists of exhaust vents located on the back wall of each cell, about four feet above the floor.6 Air enters the prison through the windows and passes over the walkways into the cells. The air then travels through the vents in the cells and into the chase before being exhausted through fans on the roof.
At present, the summer ventilation system is the only mechanism the prison employs to provide relief from the summer heat. The Unit has neither circulating fans nor air conditioning,7 and the exhaust vents are not designed to cool the air. In summers past, prison officials sought to provide further relief by running the "air handlers," i.e., the heating system without the furnace. This circulated more air into the cells, and the inmates deflected this air onto themselves by attaching various items (most frequently, the cardboard backings of legal pads) to the heater vents in the cells.8 For security reasons, prison officials now forbid the use of these makeshift "air deflectors." Furthermore, at the recommendation of the prison engineers, the guards no longer activate the air handlers during the summer.
Each prisoner is confined to his own individual cell.9 Generally speaking, the inmates may only leave their cells for the following reasons: (1) outdoor recreation, twice per week, for two hours each time; (2) showers, three times per week; (3) attorney and media visits; (4) personal visits; (5) use of the prison library; and (6) medical and mental health appointments. The visiting areas, prison library, and medical and mental health offices are air conditioned.10
According to the district court's dispositive order, the Unit cools itself by cyclically exchanging air with the outside environment. First, in the evening and throughout the night, "the outdoor temperature falls below the building mass temperature." As a result, "the air flowing through the building pulls heat out of the building mass, and continues to pull out the heat generated" within the building. Second, "[a]fter the sun rises ... the outside air temperature [becomes] higher than the building temperature and warm air is pulled into a relatively cool building." The building thus becomes warmer as the day progresses. Third, "as the outdoor temperature becomes higher and higher, the difference between the outdoor temperature and the indoor temperature becomes greater, with the indoor temperature falling below the outdoor temperature." Finally, "[a]s the sun goes down, the outside air temperature falls below the temperature of the building, and the cycle begins again." The district court found that the
Extensive cell temperature data supports the district court's findings. In July and August 1998 and July 1999, prison officials kept logs of the temperatures on all floors of the Unit.11 Fred Dougherty, the head engineer for the Florida prison system, commissioned a statistical analysis of the data. The statistician, Max Linn, analyzed the temperatures recorded at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. each day.12 From this study, the district court determined the following:13 (1) "during eleven percent of the month of July, 1998, some inmates housed on the ... Unit may have been subjected to temperatures greater than ninety degrees"; (2) "only fifteen percent of the temperature readings recorded for the month [of August 1998] were over ninety degrees"; (3) "only one percent of the temperature readings recorded for the month [of July 1999] were over ninety degrees"; (4) "[o]n average, inmates on the ... Unit may have experienced temperatures over ninety degrees nine percent of the time during the months of July and August 1998 and July of 1999"; (5) "[i]n all of [the July and August 1998 and July 1999] readings, the temperature was recorded at ninety-five degrees or higher on only seven occasions"; (6) "[d]uring the summer months of July and August 1998 and July of 1999, at the hours of 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m., there were no readings taken by DOC staff that exceeded 100 degrees."
The court also made findings regarding the Unit's humidity and air circulation. As to the former, the court stated: "When the ventilation system is running per design, the relative humidity in the building rarely rises above seventy percent, the humidity level needed to support the growth of mold and mildew[, and] heat, odors and contaminants are exhausted out of the building." As to the latter, the court found that the ventilation system, when working properly, circulated air as well or better than other "[t]ypical [ ] comfort ventilation systems."14 Crucially, the court determined that "the system was operating within the range of design parameters."15
Based upon the statistical data and the testimony elicited from both parties, the court ultimately concluded:
According to accepted engineering standards for institutional residential settings, the temperatures and ventilation on the ... Unit during the summer months are almost always consistent with reasonable levels of comfort and slight discomfort which are to be expected in a residential setting in Florida in a building that is not air-conditioned.
II.
Before considering the merits of this case, we must address a threshold matter. According to 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a), enacted as part of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (the "PLRA"),
No action shall be brought with respect to prison conditions under section 1983 of this title, or any other Federal law, by a prisoner confined in any jail, prison, or other correctional facility until such administrative remedies as are available are exhausted.
The PLRA's effective date was April 26, 1996; because the prisoners filed their complaint after this date, the PLRA applies. Higginbottom v. Carter, 223 F.3d 1259, 1260 (11th Cir.2000). A district court must dismiss the suit when it finds that the plaintiff-inmate has not exhausted his administrative remedies. Cf. Brown v. Sikes, 212 F.3d 1205, 1207 (11th Cir.2000) ().16...
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