Cobb v. Aytch

• Decision Date: 29 January 1979
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 73-1290.
• Citation: 472 F. Supp. 908
• Parties: Charles COBB et al. v. Louis S. AYTCH et al.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania

472 F. Supp. 908

Charles COBB et al. v. Louis S. AYTCH et al.

Civ. A. No. 73-1290.

United States District Court, E. D. Pennsylvania.

January 29, 1979.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Elliot B. Platt, Community Legal Services, Philadelphia, Pa., for plaintiffs.

Mark N. Cohen, Philadelphia, Pa., for State defendants.

James M. Penny, Jr., Philadelphia, Pa., for City defendants.

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

NEWCOMER, District Judge.

Plaintiffs instituted this class action alleging that defendants violated their constitutional rights by transferring them from Philadelphia County prisons to the penal institutions of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The case was tried to the Court and, after due consideration, and pursuant to Rule 52 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Court makes the following findings of fact and conclusions of law.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Charles Cobb, James S. Glover, Daryl X (Jackson), Michael Jordan, Gregory Martinez, and Jeffrey X (Robinson) are the original plaintiffs in this action. After the original action was filed, Edward Engelfreid and Joseph Vines were permitted to intervene as plaintiffs.

2. The named plaintiffs brought the action on behalf of themselves and all other persons incarcerated in Philadelphia County prisons on May 31, 1973, and all inmates subsequently incarcerated therein who were transferred against their will or in the future might be transferred against their will to Pennsylvania penal institutions pursuant to 61 P.S. § 72. Under Rule 23(b)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Court certified the class on January 23, 1974.

3. Defendants are two officials of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania—the Attorney General and the Commissioner of Corrections—and three officials of the City of Philadelphia—the Superintendent of the Philadelphia County Prisons, the District Attorney and the Commissioner of Police. The successors in office of various defendants have been substituted as party defendants.

4. There are three Philadelphia County prisons: Holmesburg Prison, located at 8215 Torresdale Avenue, Philadelphia; The House of Correction, located at 8001 State Road, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and the Philadelphia Detention Center, located at 8201 State Road, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

5. Incarcerated within these institutions are three major classes of inmates: (i) pre-trial detainees who are unconvicted and held for trial; (ii) unsentenced persons who are convicted and awaiting sentence; and (iii) sentenced persons.

6. In early 1973, the Philadelphia prisons were substantially overcrowded and the population exceeded the prisons' operational capacity of 1,950.

7. Representatives of the Philadelphia criminal justice system, including the President Judge of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, the Superintendent of Philadelphia County prisons and members of the District Attorney's office, met to discuss the overcrowding situation. Staff members of the Philadelphia County prisons recommended that certain categories of offenders be transferred to state institutions to reduce the population; those categories were unsentenced inmates, parole violators, and sentenced prisoners with either six or more months remaining on their minimum sentence or additional state sentences to serve. Between mid-April and early May, 1973 a list of unsentenced inmates who the prison authorities proposed to transfer was submitted to the President Judge for review and evaluation. No action was taken on that proposed transfer list in May of 1973.

8. Even though the Philadelphia County prisons were overcrowded in 1973, inmates could move freely in their cellblocks, shower at any time, watch television until 11:00 p. m., eat in the dining hall, watch movies in an auditorium or on the block and occasionally attend shows presented by outside entertainers. In addition, a variety of educational and organizational programs were available to them.

9. In May, 1973, Holmesburg Prison's population exceeded its design capacity by more than 450. Although not confronted by serious security problems that month, the prison officials ordered a search of the institution's inmates and cells which disclosed ninety-nine items that could have been used as weapons.

10. About that time, Holmesburg correctional officers learned from their own observations and inmates' statements that dissension existed within the Orthodox Muslim inmate group and that inmate Joseph Bowen had assumed the sect's leadership position. Unlike the previous leader Lee Jenkins, Bowen was reputed to believe that violence was a legitimate means for causing change and an appropriate method to apply in practicing religion. The prison authorities believed that the leadership change was not accomplished through totally peaceful means. An inmate, Samuel Hutchings, had reported to Correctional Officers Clegg and Gentile that he was beaten by Bowen and other Orthodox Muslims on May 25, 1973, because they wanted to persuade him to follow Bowen rather than Jenkins. Also that same night, Bowen and his followers threatened Jenkins with harm; Officer Clegg ordered the group to disperse. Bowen's followers numbered close to twenty-eight and twelve of them lived on "I" Block with him.

11. Tension arose not only within the Orthodox Muslim group, but also between the Orthodox Muslims that followed Bowen and Holmesburg Prison authorities. Bowen sought to use a storage room on "I" Block for a private prayer room where the group's activities would not be visible to correctional authorities. Deputy Warden Robert F. Fromhold thought such a room would create a security risk and refused the request. On several occasions, the Deputy Warden and Bowen were heard to argue loudly on this subject.

12. On May 31, 1973, Patrick N. Curran, Warden of Holmesburg Prison, and Deputy Warden Robert F. Fromhold were murdered and Captain Leroy Taylor was stabbed and seriously wounded. Bowen and another Orthodox Muslim, Frederick Burton, had requested to see the Deputy Warden about the prayer room. Approximately one minute after they were admitted, Captain Taylor heard calls for help. Upon entering he saw the two inmates stabbing the officers; he tried to stop them, and was stabbed himself. Bowen and Burton alone were charged with the killings.

13. The Deputy Superintendent of the Philadelphia County prisons, Edmund Lyons, was in his office at the Detention Center when he learned of the stabbings. He immediately went to Holmesburg Prison and, upon arrival, assumed control as senior prison official at the scene. He ordered the institution secured and all inmates locked in their cells.

14. Captain Thomas McCaffrey told Lyons about the prior incidents involving the Orthodox Muslims and the recent power struggle within that group. Other correctional officers and members of the police force supplied Lyons with additional information, including that which indicated that some Orthodox Muslims on "I" Block might have been planning to instigate additional trouble to show their support of Burton and Bowen. Lyons also knew that other tensions existed between certain inmate factions and the correctional staff at Holmesburg which led him to conclude that the institution was a "powderkeg." In addition, he had reason to believe that some inmates sought revenge on the Orthodox Muslims because of the trouble that Bowen and Burton had caused.

15. On the same day as the murders, Lyons decided to recommend to Louis S. Aytch, the Superintendent of the Philadelphia County prisons, that the ten or twelve inmates who were closely allied with and followers of Burton and Bowen on "I" Block be transferred to the Detention Center. He believed that the transfers would serve the institution's interest in security and the affected inmates' interest in safety. The transfer decision was not based upon these inmates' religion, but rather upon their association with Burton and Bowen.

16. Agreeing with Lyons' recommendation, on May 31, 1973, Superintendent Aytch, ordered a certain twelve Orthodox Muslims on "I" Block transferred to the Detention Center. Aytch and Lyons thought the inmates were associated with Burton and Bowen. Upon Aytch's request, within forty-eight hours, these individuals were then transferred to state correctional facilities. The Superintendent had asked Phillip Bannan, Deputy Commissioner of Corrections for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, to accommodate these individuals in state facilities. Aytch sought these transfers because he believed that these individuals would be safer in the state institutions and that the Philadelphia institutions would be more secure without them. His action was based upon their association with the suspected murderers and not on their religious beliefs. However, the transfers to the Commonwealth facilities were made without the approval of the Court of Common Pleas.

17. Aytch also decided to reduce the number of inmates in Philadelphia institutions by transferring some of them to state facilities. Due to the emergency situation created by the Holmesburg murders, Aytch had ample reason to believe that the Philadelphia County prison situation was explosive and that decreasing the prison population would be a means to defuse that situation. He directed the preparation of two types of transfer lists.

18. First, on May 31, 1973, Aytch instructed Thomas Nesbitt, then Acting Chief Registrar of the Philadelphia County prison system, to compile a list of unsentenced prisoners whose names could be sent to the Court as persons proposed for transfer to state facilities. Nesbitt prepared a list of approximately 110 unsentenced prisoners.

19. Second, on June 1, 1973, Aytch instructed several members of his staff to prepare a list of individuals who were disruptive to the normal operation of the institutions. By ordering this list he did not mean to punish these individuals. In seeking clarification of his...