Chase v. Baskerville

• Decision Date: 02 August 2007
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 3:04CV759-HEH.
• Citation: 508 F.Supp.2d 492
• Parties: Wesley CHASE, Plaintiff, v. Alton BASKERVILLE, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Virginia

508 F.Supp.2d 492

Wesley CHASE, Plaintiff, v. Alton BASKERVILLE, et al., Defendants.

Civil Action No. 3:04CV759-HEH.

United States District Court, E.D. Virginia, Richmond Division.

August 2, 2007.

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Wesley Chase, State Farm, VA, pro se.

Noelle L. Shaw-Bell, Mark Ralph Davis, Office of the Attorney General, Richmond, VA, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

HUDSON, District Judge.

Plaintiff, a deaf Virginia state prisoner, filed this civil rights action. Plaintiff asserted that the failure to provide him with an interpreter to assist him in his school work violated his rights under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, the Eighth Amendment, the Rehabilitation Act, and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Plaintiff demands monetary damages and injunctive and declaratory relief. By Memorandum Opinion and Order entered September 12, 2005, the Court dismissed Plaintiff's constitutional claims. The Court determined that the action should proceed solely on the Plaintiff's ADA and Rehabilitation Act claims against Defendants in their official capacities. Thereafter, the Court granted Defendants' motion to stay the action pending the Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Georgia, 546 U.S. 151, 126 S.Ct. 877, 163 L.Ed.2d 650 (2006).

The matter is now before the Court on Defendants' motion to dismiss on the grounds that Congress failed to abrogate the States' sovereign immunity for Plaintiff's ADA and Rehabilitation Act claims and that Plaintiff's claims for injunctive relief are moot. The United States has intervened and Defendants have submitted additional briefing. The matter is ripe for disposition.

I. TITLE II OF THE ADA

The purpose of the ADA is "to provide a clear and comprehensive national mandate for the elimination of discrimination against individuals with disabilities." 42 U.S.C. § 12101(b)(1). Title II, which applies to public services, programs, and activities, provides that "no qualified individual with a disability shall, by reason of such disability, be excluded from participation in or be denied the benefits of the services, programs, or activities of a public entity, or be subjected to discrimination by any such entity." Id. § 12132. A person with a disability is "qualified" if he or she, "with or without reasonable modifications to rules, policies, or practices, the removal of architectural, communication, or transportation barriers, or the provision of auxiliary aids and services, meets the essential eligibility requirements for the receipt of services or the participation in programs or activities provided by a public entity." Id. § 12131(2). Thus, if a person is disabled and otherwise qualified, the state must ensure that the person is not denied the benefits of services, activities, or programs, because of his or her disability.

The United States notes that the remedies provided by Title II are nearly identical to the remedies provided by the Rehabilitation Act. The United States asserts that Virginia's waiver of sovereign immunity for Rehabilitation Act claims is firmly established. See Constantine v. Rectors and Visitors of George Mason Univ., 411 F.3d 474, 479 (4th Cir.2005). Therefore, the United States suggests that the principle of constitutional avoidance dictates that the Court prune away Plaintiffs Title II claims and avoid the complicated issue of sovereign immunity. The Court, disagrees. As the Third Circuit recently remarked in rejecting an identical argument, "we do not believe that prudence in the form of constitutional avoidance warrants abrogating [Plaintiff's] right to bring a claim under Title II." Bowers v. NCAA, 475 F.3d 524, 550 (3d Cir.2007).

II. ABROGATION OF SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY

Although Congress may abrogate the States' Eleventh Amendment immunity, it may do so "only by stating unequivocally its desire to do so and only pursuant to a valid exercise of constitutional authority." Constantine v. Rectors and Visitors of George Mason Univ., 411 F.3d 474, 484 (4th Cir.2005) (citing Seminole Tribe of Fla. v. Florida, 517 U.S. 44, 55, 116 S.Ct. 1114, 134 L.Ed.2d 252 (1996)). Congress unequivocally stated its desire to abrogate the States'. Eleventh Amendment immunity in passing Title II of the ADA. See Tennessee v. Lane, 541 U.S. 509, 518, 124 S.Ct. 1978, 158 L.Ed.2d 820 (2004). Thus, the only question "is whether Congress had the power to give effect to its intent." Id.

In this instance, the question can be answered in the affirmative only if the enactment of Title II represents a valid exercise of authority under § 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment. Id. "Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment authorizes Congress to enact `appropriate legislation' to enforce" the substantive guarantees of the Fourteenth Amendment. Constatine, 411 F.3d at 484 (emphasis added). In this regard, the Supreme Court has concluded that "insofar as Title II creates a private cause of action for damages against the States for conduct that actually violates the Fourteenth Amendment, Title II validly abrogates state sovereign immunity." United States v. Georgia, 546 U.S. 151, 126 S.Ct. 877, 882, 163 L.Ed.2d 650 (2006). This Court must answer the question of the validity of Title II's prophylactic reach that was avoided in Georgia: whether, in the context of state prisons, Congress's purported abrogation of sovereign immunity under Title II is valid for conduct that does not violate the Constitution.

Contrary to Defendants' assertion, Plaintiff's failure to plead a constitutional violation does not end the sovereign immunity inquiry. Pursuant to § 5, Congress may "enact prophylactic legislation prohibiting conduct that is `not itself unconstitutional,' [however] it may not substantively redefine Fourteenth Amendment protections." Constantine, 411 F.3d at 484 (quoting City of Boerne v. Flores, 521 U.S. 507, 519, 117 S.Ct. 2157, 138 L.Ed.2d 624 (1997)). Thus, because the conduct that Plaintiff alleges "does not, in itself, violate the constitution, under Georgia, 126 S.Ct. at 878, we must determine `whether Congress's purported abrogation of sovereign immunity as to that class of conduct is nevertheless [a] valid'" exercise of its prophylactic enforcement powers under § 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment. Klingler v. Director, Dep't of Revenue, Mo. 455 F.3d 888, 894 (8th Cir.2006). The Court must employ City of Boerne congruence and proportionality in making that determination (hereinafter "the City of Boerne test").

In assessing Title II under the City of Boerne test, the Court proceeds in three steps: (1) "to identify the constitutional right or rights that Congress sought to enforce when it enacted Title II," Lane, 541 U.S. at 522, 124 S.Ct. 1978 (citing Bd. of Trs. of Univ. of Ala. v. Garrett, 531 U.S. 356, 365, 121 S.Ct. 955, 148 L.Ed.2d 866 (2001)); (2) to determine "whether Congress enacted Title II in response to a pattern of" unconstitutional disability discrimination," Constantine, 411 F.3d at 485 (citing Lane, 541 U.S. at 522-28, 124 S.Ct. 1978); and, (3) to determine whether the rights and remedies created by Title II are "congruent and proportional to the constitutional rights it purports to enforce and the record of constitutional violations adduced by Congress." Lane, 541 U.S. at 548, 124 S.Ct. 1978 (Rehnquist, C.J., dissenting) (citing Nev. Dep't of Human Res. v. Hibbs, 538 U.S. 721, 737-39, 123 S.Ct. 1972, 155 L.Ed.2d 953 (2003); Garrett, 531 U.S. at 372-73, 121 S.Ct. 955)). As explained below, the pivotal inquiry here is the third step of the City of Boerne test.

III. APPLICATION OF THE CITY OF BOERNE TEST

A. Step One: The Constitutional Rights at Issue

Under the first step of the City of Boerne test, this Court must "identify with some precision the scope of the constitutional right[s] at issue." Bd. of Trs. of Univ. of Ala. v. Garrett, 531 U.S. 356, 365, 121 S.Ct. 955, 148 L.Ed.2d 866 (2001). In the prison context, Title II clearly implicates the Eighth Amendment and the equal protection rights of the Fourteenth Amendment. Specifically, Title II seeks to curb arbitrary or irrational exclusion of disabled inmates from the services, programs, or benefits provided by the state and to prevent cruel and unusual punishment flowing from the denial of adequate facilities or services to disabled inmates. See United States, v. Georgia, 546 U.S. 151, 126 S.Ct. 877, 882, 163 L.Ed.2d 650 (2006); see also, Tennessee v. Lane, 541 U.S. 509 525 n. 11, 124 S.Ct. 1978, 158 L.Ed.2d 820 (2004); Miller v. King, 384 F.3d 1248, 1272 (11th Cir.2004), opinion vacated and superseded by 449 F.3d 1149 (11th Cir.2006). Additionally, Title II implicates a "constellation of rights applicable in the prison context," Georgia, 126 S.Ct. at 884 (Stevens, J. concurring), including the due process guarantees of the Fourteenth Amendment and the First Amendment rights to the free exercise of religion and free speech.

B. Step Two: Has Congress Identified a History and Pattern of Unconstitutional Conduct?

Under the second step, "we consider whether Title II represents a legislative response to a pattern of unconstitutional disability discrimination in public `services, programs, or activities generally.'" Constantine v. Rectors and Visitors of George Mason Univ., 411 F.3d 474, 487 (4th Cir. 2005). The Fourth Circuit has interpreted Lane as conclusively establishing that Title II as a whole survives the historical inquiry under the second step of the City of Boerne test. Id. (citing Miller, 384 F.3d at 1271 n. 25; Cochran v. Pinchak, 401 F.3d 184, 191 (3d Cir.), rehearing granted and judgment vacated by 412 F.3d 500 (3d Cir.2005)). Thus, the second step of the City of Boerne test is satisfied.

C. Step Three: Is Title II a Congruent and Proportional Response in the Context of State Prisons?

Under the third step, the Court must determine whether Title II is an appropriately...