Ford v. Estelle

• Citation: 740 F.2d 374
• Decision Date: 04 September 1984
• Docket Number: No. 83-2151,83-2151
• Parties: Roosevelt FORD, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. W.J. ESTELLE, Jr., Director, Texas Department of Corrections, et al., Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (5th Circuit)

Page 374

740 F.2d 374

Roosevelt FORD, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. W.J. ESTELLE, Jr., Director, Texas Department of Corrections, et al., Defendants-Appellees.

No. 83-2151.

United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit.

Sept. 4, 1984.

Roosevelt Ford, pro se.

Patrick Zummo, Baker & Botts, Houston, Tex. (court-appointed), for plaintiff-appellant.

Jim Mattox, Atty. Gen., Richard W. Meyer, Asst. Atty. Gen., Austin, Tex., for defendants-appellees.

Harold J. Krent, William Kanter, Attys., Appellate Staff, Civil Div., U.S. Dept. of Justice, Washington, D.C., for intervenor-U.S.A.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Before RUBIN, REAVLEY and TATE, Circuit Judges.

REAVLEY, Circuit Judge:

This case requires that we decide whether the Magistrates Act, 28 U.S.C. Sec. 636 (Supp. V 1982), authorizes a district court to refer a prisoner's civil rights action to a United States magistrate for jury trial without the parties' consent. Holding that the statute does not authorize such a reference, we vacate the district court's order of dismissal and remand.

I

The procedural history of this case is typical of prisoner civil rights actions and provides useful context for our effort to interpret the statute. Roosevelt Ford, a prisoner of the Texas Department of Corrections (TDC) housed at Huntsville, filed a civil rights complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 in January 1976 alleging unconstitutional denial of medical care (the 1976 action). The district court authorized service at government expense, 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1915, and the defendants answered in March 1976. Ford wrote a letter to the district court in August 1977 explaining that his case had been pending almost two years; he asked that an attorney be appointed and requested a hearing. The court responded by letter in mid-August: because of the press of business, it had referred to a magistrate "all matters involving persons who have been convicted of violation of criminal statutes"; the reference was "for initial determination and recommendation," and if Ford had not "heard from the Magistrate within 90 days," he was to recontact the district court. This was the first and only notice Ford had from the district court that his case was referred to a magistrate.

Ford filed a second civil rights complaint in January 1980 (the 1980 action), again alleging denial of medical care and asserting as well various threats of violence by defendant Dan Lunsford, a TDC official responsible for delivery and security of prisoners to John Sealy Hospital. A magistrate directed service at government expense a month later, and the defendants filed their answer and jury trial demand in April 1980. The district court denied the defendant's motion for summary judgment in June 1980 and denied two motions for preliminary injunction filed by Ford in the latter part of 1980. There the case remained until February 1982, when a magistrate, acting without a formal order of reference, issued a "pretrial notice" setting the case for "pretrial conference" in March 1982 and establishing a schedule for discovery cut-off and the filing of pretrial statements. That conference took place in April 1982, and the magistrate filed a minute entry on April 13, 1982 consolidating the two cases.

The magistrate issued an order in March 1982 setting the original 1976 action for pretrial conference in June 1982 and establishing a pretrial schedule similar to the one imposed in the 1980 case. After receiving the March 1982 pretrial order, the defendants noticed Ford's deposition for May 11, 1982, at Huntsville. On May 8, Ford mailed his request that the court appoint another TDC inmate, Howard James Wallace, to assist Ford in the proceedings. ¹ Wallace had prepared and filed all Ford's court papers and had agreed to assist Ford "voluntarily and free of charge." With no response from the court, Ford proceeded with his deposition on May 11, apparently with the assistance of an attorney referred by the State Bar of Texas.

The final pretrial conference in the consolidated cases was held on June 14, 1982 and it was apparently that day that the parties learned they would proceed to trial before the magistrate. After conducting the conference, the magistrate filed a minute entry denying Ford's request for inmate Wallace's assistance. The minute entry concluded: "Trial is set for June 26, 1982." On July 7, 1982, the clerk mailed to the parties a standard form notice that the case had been set for trial in Huntsville on July 26, 1982.

The defendants filed on July 23 their "objection to the court reference of the case to magistrate." They noted that they had not consented to trial before a magistrate as required by 28 U.S.C. Sec. 636(c)(1) and that the upcoming proceeding was "in actuality a trial." They therefore objected to trial before the magistrate and "insist[ed] upon their right to a trial before an Article III Judge." Realizing that trial was to proceed, the defendants also filed their requested jury instructions and a "Standard Joint Pre-Trial Order" signed by their attorney and by the magistrate.

The trial was fruitless. Ford appeared pro se and explained in the first moments that he needed inmate Wallace's assistance and certain papers in Wallace's possession. The magistrate had the papers retrieved, but refused to allow Wallace to come to the courtroom. After the jury was selected and sworn, the magistrate asked Ford to make an opening statement. When Ford explained that he had planned for Wallace to deliver the statement, the magistrate told him that Wallace did not represent him and that if he had an opening statement he would have to make it himself. Ford declined. Defense counsel began her opening statement, but during a pause Ford interjected that he understood they would just pick a jury: "Your Honor, I'm not ready." Counsel concluded her statement, and the magistrate again asked Ford if he had a statement. Ford said he did, and repeated his request that Wallace be allowed to argue his case. The magistrate explained that Wallace was not an attorney and could not appear: "You filed this case yourself and you are required to proceed pro se and represent yourself." Ford repeated his request again: "I have an opening statement for the jury. The man out there [Wallace] already has it written out on a pad ... [H]e's out there, if [you would] just let him come in." When the request was again denied, Ford called Wallace into the courtroom as a witness. Wallace took the stand, but the magistrate refused to allow Wallace to ask Ford questions. Ford then gave up; he was sent back to his cell, and the magistrate informed all that he would recommend that the cases be dismissed for failure to prosecute.

Several days after trial, on August 5, Ford moved to "terminate" trial proceedings before the magistrate. He requested that "trial proceed" before a district judge, noting that he had not consented to trial before a magistrate under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 636(c).

The magistrate filed his memorandum and recommendation on October 8, 1982. He rejected the parties' contentions that the reference was improper, finding statutory authority for the reference in 28 U.S.C. Sec. 636(b)(1)(B) and (b)(3) and concluding that his participation was consistent both with the Due Process Clause and with Article III. Reaching the merits, the magistrate recommended that the case be dismissed, either as frivolous or for want of prosecution. Ford objected to the magistrate's recommendation, arguing among other things that the magistrate was without authority to preside over his trial. The district court adopted the recommendation in major part. Specifically, it upheld the magistrate's authority to proceed:

The Magistrate's authority to conduct a hearing and make a recommendation in a prisoner case is entirely independent of the parties' consent. Compare 28 U.S.C. Sec. 636(b)(1)(B) with 28 U.S.C. Sec. 636(b)(2) and 28 U.S.C. Sec. 636(c). See Coleman v. Hutto, 500 F.Supp. 586, 588 (E.D.Va.1980).

Plaintiff does not lose his right to trial before an Article III judge when the evidentiary hearing is held by the Magistrate because the Magistrate's recommendation is not binding. Rather, the Court "may accept, reject, or modify, in whole or in part, the findings and recommendations" of the Magistrate. 28 U.S.C. Sec. 636(b)(1). Additionally, when an objection is filed, as is the case here, the Court is required to make a de novo determination. Id.

The district court then dismissed Ford's action for failure to prosecute.

The magistrate and the district court are alone in considering this reference proper. Both Ford and the defendants, the latter represented by the Attorney General of Texas, take the position that 28 U.S.C. Sec. 636 does not authorize reference of civil actions to magistrates for jury trial on the merits without consent of the parties. Invited to intervene, the United States also considers such a reference beyond the district court's statutory authority.

II Reference Beyond the Statute

Our conclusion that this reference was beyond the district court's statutory authority springs from the interaction of three provisions of the Magistrates Act, 28 U.S.C. Sec. 636. First, section 636(b)(1), added in 1976, allows a district court to refer to a magistrate without consent of the parties: (1) nondispositive motions, which the magistrate may "hear and determine" subject only to district court review for clear error, Sec. 636(b)(1)(A); or (2) dispositive motions or "prisoner petitions challenging conditions of confinement," of which the magistrate may recommend disposition subject to the parties' right to object and the district court's review de novo. Sec. 636(b)(1)(B). Second, subsection (b)(3) authorizes assignment to magistrates of "such additional duties as are not inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of the United States." Finally, the 1979 provisions in subsection 636(c) allow...