Hansard v. Barrett

• Decision Date: 02 December 1992
• Docket Number: No. 91-3927,91-3927
• Citation: 980 F.2d 1059
• Parties: Johannes HANSARD, Individually and on Behalf of All Others Similarly Situated, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Mark J. BARRETT, Individually and as Superintendent, Franklin County Jail; Al Clark, Individually and as Chief Deputy, Franklin County Jail, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

Page 1059

980 F.2d 1059

Johannes HANSARD, Individually and on Behalf of All Others Similarly Situated, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Mark J. BARRETT, Individually and as Superintendent Franklin County Jail; Al Clark, Individually and as Chief Deputy, Franklin County Jail Defendants-Appellees.

No. 91-3927.

United States Court of Appeals Sixth Circuit.

Argued Oct. 15, 1992.

Decided Dec. 2, 1992.

Todd D. Penney, Dinsmore & Shohl, Cincinnati, Ohio (argued), David Goldberger, Ohio State University College of Law, Columbus, Ohio (briefed), for plaintiff-appellant.

Harland H. Hale, Pros. Attorney's Office, Columbus, Ohio (argued and briefed), for defendant-appellee.

Before: KENNEDY, and MILBURN, Circuit Judges; and WELLFORD, Senior Circuit Judge.

KENNEDY, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiffs, a class of homosexual inmates of the Franklin County Jail, Columbus, Ohio, appeal the summary judgment entered in favor of the defendants in this class action involving alleged discrimination in their opportunity to earn a reduction in sentences for work done at the jail. Plaintiff Hansard represents the class of all present and future inmates at the Franklin County Jail who have been or will be classified by defendant jail officials as homosexuals. When an inmate is classified as a homosexual upon entering the jail, he is housed in 6 West Left 1 (6WL1), a range of the jail designated for homosexual housing. Inmates living in 6WL1 are segregated from the general prison population.

Plaintiffs do not challenge the classification and segregation of homosexual inmates. They do charge that inmates identified as homosexual are automatically and categorically denied the opportunity to earn discretionary reductions in sentences available only to inmates who perform work during their terms, in violation of the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. Because we find that the Due Process Clause is not implicated, and that the plaintiffs failed to present evidence of a discriminatory policy, we AFFIRM the District Court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the defendants.

I.

Plaintiff Hansard filed this class action in December, 1988, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and 29 U.S.C. § 792, alleging arbitrary and discriminatory treatment of inmates at the Franklin County Jail who are designated as homosexual. The class was certified in August, 1989. The defendants in this action are Mark J. Barrett and Al Clark, superintendent and chief deputy of the jail, respectively. Both were sued individually and in their official capacity. The case was submitted to the District Court on cross-motions for summary judgment. The parties agreed that the depositions and any affidavits submitted with the summary judgment motions would constitute the record in the action. On August 29, 1991, the District Court granted defendants' motion for summary judgment and denied plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment.

This Court reviews the granting of a motion for summary judgment de novo, Aetna Insurance Co. v. Loveland Gas & Electric Co., 369 F.2d 648, 651 (6th Cir.1966); Hines v. Joy Manufacturing Co., 850 F.2d 1146, 1149 (6th Cir.1988), and uses the standard under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(c), the same test as the District Court employs. Brooks v. American Broadcasting Cos., 932 F.2d 495, 500 (6th Cir.1991). The Supreme Court clarified the relevant inquiry:

[T]he plain language of Rule 56(c) mandates the entry of summary judgment, after adequate time for discovery and upon motion, against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party's case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial. In such a situation, there can be "no genuine issue as to any material fact," since a complete failure of proof concerning an essential element of the nonmoving party's case necessarily renders all other facts immaterial. The moving party is "entitled to judgment as a matter of law" because the nonmoving party has failed to make a sufficient showing on an essential element of her case with respect to which she has the burden of proof.

Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). Moreover,

there is no issue for trial unless there is sufficient evidence favoring the nonmoving party for a jury to return a verdict for that party. If the evidence is merely colorable, or is not significantly probative, summary judgment may be granted.

Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 249-50, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2511, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986) (citations omitted). A court should view the evidence in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Id. at 255, 106 S.Ct. at 2513. Additionally,

[a]n appellate court can find an alternative basis for concluding that a party is entitled to summary judgment and ignore any erroneous basis relied upon by the district court, provided it proceeds carefully so the opposing party is not denied an opportunity to respond to the new theory.

Hines, 850 F.2d at 1150 (quoting Herm v. Stafford, 663 F.2d 669, 684 (6th Cir.1981)). The District Court granted summary judgment on the equal protection claim based on its finding that inmates have no fundamental right to earn work reduction credits (and on a separate basis not before this Court). We affirm the District Court's grant of summary judgment on the alternative basis that the plaintiffs failed to make a sufficient showing that the defendants applied the work reduction program in a discriminatory fashion.

II.

In Ohio, county sheriffs have the discretion to recommend reductions of inmates' sentences upon "a consideration of the quality and amount of work done in the kitchen, in the jail offices, on the jail premises, or elsewhere." Before a reduction is granted, the sentencing judge or magistrate must concur with the sheriff's recommendation. Ohio Rev.Code § 2947.151. To become eligible to earn these credits an inmate must obtain a job in the jail facility. Whether homosexual inmates are denied eligibility for these jobs is at the center of this dispute.

In their motion for summary judgment and in their brief to this Court, plaintiffs argue that section 2947.151 is unconstitutional on its face and as applied by the defendants. They assert that defendants categorically deny homosexual inmates access to work assignments and the opportunity to reduce their sentences because they are homosexual, in violation of the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. The defendants answer that inmates have no protected liberty interest in this discretionary program for sentence reductions and that homosexuals were not denied work opportunities, therefore, no constitutional violation occurred.

A. Due Process Claim

The United States Supreme Court has held that inmates have no inherent constitutional right to good time credit. Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539, 557, 94 S.Ct. 2963, 2975, 41 L.Ed.2d 935 (1974). But it has also recognized that a state may nevertheless "create a liberty interest protected by the Due Process Clause through its enactment of certain statutory or regulatory measures." Hewitt v. Helms, 459 U.S. 460, 469, 103 S.Ct. 864, 870, 74 L.Ed.2d 675 (1983). The Court further explained that, by the use of "language of an unmistakably mandatory character, requiring that certain procedures 'shall,' 'will,' or 'must' be employed," a state may create in its prisoners a protected liberty interest. Id. at 471, 103 S.Ct. at 871.

Plaintiffs claim that Ohio has created a protected liberty interest in the plaintiffs' right to the sentence reductions at issue here through the promulgation of Ohio Administrative Code, § 5120:1-8-15(G). This section reads:

Prisoners placed in administrative segregation shall receive all regular privileges and rights unless they pose a serious threat to the security of the facility or the health and welfare of the individual.

This section guarantees that those in administrative segregation will have the same rights and privileges as do those in the general population. It does not concern or in any way establish a right on the part of any prisoner to earn the credits involved here. That right is governed by section 2947.151 of the Ohio Revised Code. ¹ Under this section, a sheriff has complete discretion in recommending a sentence reduction. No prisoner, whether in the general population or administrative segregation, has an absolute right to earn a recommendation for reduction of sentence by reason of his or her work in the jail. As the District Court found:

The mandatory language found by the [Supreme] Court in Hewitt to require constitutional safeguards is clearly lacking in O.R.C. § 2947.151. That statute merely provides that the sheriff "may" recommend a reduction in an inmate's sentence based on work performed. Even if an inmate is granted a work assignment and performs commendably, the statute does not direct that the sheriff make such a recommendation--the decision lies solely within the sheriff's discretion. Clearly, then, no protected liberty interest in either good time credits or work opportunities is created by O.R.C. § 2947.151.

Because the plaintiffs are not vested with a constitutionally protected interest in either recommendations for sentence reduction or work opportunities, this Court finds that their denial does not implicate the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

B. Equal Protection Claim

The plaintiffs allege that they are categorically denied the opportunity to earn good time credits, based solely on their homosexual classification, in violation of the Equal Protection Clause. All inmates in the Franklin County Jail who are granted work assignments are trustees and must live in worker dormitories. Plaintiffs allege that homosexual inmates segregated in 6WL1 are prohibited from transferring into these dormitories. Because they cannot fulfill this housing...