Daye v. State, 99-133.

• Decision Date: 29 December 2000
• Docket Number: No. 99-133.,99-133.
• Citation: 769 A.2d 630
• Court: Vermont Supreme Court
• Parties: Kathleen DAYE, Barry Kade, Fredd Lee, Nicholas Bania, Darla Lawton and Vermont CURE v. STATE of Vermont and John Gorczyk, Commissioner, Department of Corrections.

769 A.2d 630

Kathleen DAYE, Barry Kade, Fredd Lee, Nicholas Bania, Darla Lawton and Vermont CURE v. STATE of Vermont and John Gorczyk, Commissioner, Department of Corrections.

No. 99-133.

Supreme Court of Vermont.

December 29, 2000.

James A. Dumont of Keiner & Dumont PC, Middlebury, for Plaintiffs-Appellants.

Marie J. Salem, Assistant Attorney General, Waterbury, for Defendants-Appellees.

Robert Appel, Defender General, and William A. Nelson, Appellate Attorney, Montpelier, for Amicus Curiae Office of Defender General.

Present: DOOLEY, MORSE, JOHNSON and SKOGLUND, JJ., and SUNTAG, D.J., Specially Assigned. JOHNSON, Justice.

Plaintiffs Vermont CURE and four of its members appeal from a superior court judgment dismissing their complaint against defendants the State of Vermont and John Gorczyk, Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Corrections. Plaintiffs contend: (1) the transfer of Vermont inmates to out-of-state correctional facilities violates the Interstate Corrections Compact, 28 V.S.A. §§ 1601-1621, and exceeds the Commissioner's statutory authority; (2) the transfer of Vermont inmates to out-of-state facilities violates Chapter II, § 64 of the Vermont Constitution; and (3) the court erred in concluding that plaintiffs lacked standing to assert the statutory and constitutional claims. We affirm.

Plaintiffs are members of Vermont CURE, an organization whose self-described mission is to meet with and advocate on behalf of Vermont prison inmates. They claim to have close personal, religious, or mentoring relationships with one or more inmates, and to have organized and attended numerous meetings with inmates within Vermont correctional facilities. In July 1998, plaintiffs instituted this action against defendants, alleging that the Commissioner had entered into contracts with Monmouth County, New Jersey and the State of Virginia for the transfer of Vermont inmates in contravention of the Interstate Corrections Compact and provisions of the Vermont and United States Constitutions.

Specifically, plaintiffs alleged as follows: that the Commissioner was not authorized to enter into the contract with Monmouth County because the Interstate Corrections Compact (Compact) authorizes agreements for the transfer of prisoners only with member "states"; that the contract with Virginia violated the Compact by delegating to Virginia officials the authority to determine inmate assignments; that the out-of-state transfers, and the visitation policies of Virginia and Monmouth County, prevented plaintiffs from conducting group meetings with Vermont inmates, in violation of the Compact, as well as plaintiffs' constitutional rights of free speech, association, and assembly; and, finally, that the transfer of Vermont inmates to out-of-state correctional facilities violated Chapter II, § 64 of the Vermont Constitution, which calls for "visible punishments" of persons convicted of crimes.

The State moved to dismiss the complaint, arguing that the out-of-state transfer policy and implementing contracts fully complied with statutory and constitutional law, and further that plaintiffs lacked standing to assert the claims. The trial court granted the motion, ruling that plaintiffs lacked standing to assert the violations of the Compact and the Vermont Constitution, and that neither the transfers per se, nor the visitation policies of the out-of-state facilities, violated plaintiffs' constitutional rights of speech, assembly, or association. This appeal followed.

Plaintiffs contend on appeal: (1) that the court erred in concluding they lacked standing, and (2) that the out-of-state transfers violated both the Compact and the Vermont Constitution.¹ On the standing issue, plaintiffs assert that they fall within the "zone of interests" protected by the Compact. Allen v. Wright, 468 U.S. 737, 751, 104 S.Ct. 3315, 82 L.Ed.2d 556 (1984). They cite, in particular, a section of the Compact providing that "[t]he parent, guardian, trustee, or other person or persons entitled under the laws of the sending state to act for, advise, or otherwise function with respect to any inmate shall not be deprived of or restricted in his exercise of any power in respect of any inmate confined pursuant to the terms of this compact." 28 V.S.A. § 1604(i). As individuals with close personal, familial, and mentoring relationships with Vermont inmates, and as an organization that meets with and advocates on behalf of Vermont inmates within Vermont correctional facilities, plaintiffs argue that they fall within the protection of this provision, and that their ability to act on behalf of Vermont inmates has been compromised by the out-of-state transfers. Plaintiffs also argue that Chapter II, § 64 of the Vermont Constitution grants them, as members of the public, a direct stake in witnessing the "visible punishments" of Vermont convicts.

Recently, in Hinesburg Sand & Gravel Co. v. State, 166 Vt. 337, 341, 693 A.2d 1045, 1048 (1997), we explored in some detail the "constitutional" and "prudential" components of the standing doctrine. The issue, we emphasized, cannot be addressed without reference to "`the specific common-law, statutory or constitutional claims that a party presents.'" Id. (quoting International Primate Protection League v. Administrators of Tulane Ed. Fund, 500 U.S. 72, 77, 111 S.Ct. 1700, 114 L.Ed.2d 134 (1991)). We examined, accordingly, the substance of the plaintiff's constitutional and civil rights claims, concluding that they implicated no legally protected right under the Constitution. We affirmed, therefore, the trial court's dismissal both on lack of standing and on the merits. See id. at 344, 693 A.2d at 1050 ("Although we affirm the dismissal based on lack of standing, we add that we do not believe the claim has merit under the Equal Protection Clause.").

Here, similarly, we find that the sufficiency of plaintiffs' legal interest under the Compact and Chapter II, § 64 of the Vermont Constitution cannot be evaluated without closely examining the substance of the claims. As explained below, we conclude that even if plaintiffs had standing to assert the statutory and constitutional claims, they would fail on the merits. See id. at 340, 693 A.2d at 1047 (holding that "even if plaintiff had standing to bring this action, it has failed to state a cause of action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983").

I.

Plaintiffs contend that the contracts with Virginia and Monmouth County, New Jersey violated the Compact and other state laws in several respects. First they argue that the Compact, which authorizes contracts only with "party states," 28 V.S.A. § 1603, circumscribes the Commissioner's authority to transfer prisoners out of state and, therefore, that the agreement with the County of Monmouth, a political subdivision of the State of New Jersey, exceeded the Commissioner's statutory powers. As an administrative body, the Department "has only such powers as are expressly conferred upon it by the Legislature, together with such incidental powers expressly granted or necessarily implied as are necessary to the full exercise of those granted." Trybulski v. Bellows Falls Hydro-Elec. Corp., 112 Vt. 1, 7, 20 A.2d 117, 120 (1941); accord Perry v. Medical Practice Bd., 169 Vt. 399, 403, 737 A.2d 900, 903 (1999). In operating the State's prison system, the Commissioner's fundamental responsibility is "[t]o maintain security, safety and order at the correctional facilities." 28 V.S.A. § 102(c)(6); see also State v. Berard, 154 Vt. 306, 311, 576 A.2d 118, 121 (1990) ("The interest of the state in the safe and orderly operation of Vermont's prisons is great. . . .").

When assigning prisoners to correctional facilities, the Commissioner is broadly authorized "to designate the place of confinement where the sentence shall be served." 28 V.S.A. § 701(b). To this end, the Commissioner may also "order the assignment and transfer of persons committed to the custody of the commissioner." Id. § 102(b)(5). Moreover, the Legislature has expressly provided that the Commissioner may "exercise all powers and perform all duties necessary and proper in carrying out his responsibilities and in fulfilling the purposes and objective of this title." Id. § 102(c)(17).

The Commissioner's decision to contract with Monmouth County for the transfer of Vermont prisoners was made in response to increasing pressure upon in-state facilities caused by overcrowding. The deleterious effect of overcrowding in jails is widely recognized, and, indeed, has been a continual source of prison litigation. See, e.g., Alberti v. Klevenhagen, 46 F.3d 1347, 1353 (5th Cir.1995) (upholding court-ordered remedial plan to alleviate overcrowding in jails based upon findings concerning its detrimental effect on inmate and staff security, food service, and fire safety); Alexander v. Boyd, 876 F.Supp. 773, 791 (D.S.C.1995) (finding that overcrowded conditions in correctional facilities had negative impact on program effectiveness, security, and other conditions of confinement).

We conclude, therefore, that the authority to enter into the Monmouth County contract was well within the powers reasonably and necessarily implied by the Commissioner's fundamental obligation to maintain prison safety and order, and the Commissioner's express and unfettered statutory authority to designate, assign and transfer inmates. See Perry, 169 Vt. at 405, 737 A.2d at 903-04 (medical board's discretion to deny request for withdrawal of application "falls well within the necessary and implied powers of its express statutory mandate").

Plaintiffs maintain, nevertheless, that the Compact itself demonstrates otherwise. They argue that if the authority to transfer prisoners out of state were implicit in the Commissioner's other statutory powers, the Compact would simply not have been necessary. The argument presumes that the Compact was enacted for the purpose of authorizing such transfers. On the contrary, the Compact...