Hershberger v. Scaletta
| Decision Date | 04 October 1993 |
| Docket Number | No. C 91-0191.,C 91-0191. |
| Citation | 861 F. Supp. 1470 |
| Parties | Jeffrey HERSHBERGER, Steven Schakel, Thomas Sherwood, Kenneth Wheeler, Scott Olmstead, Thomas Rayer, Ernest Douglas, on their own behalf and on behalf of others similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. Fred SCALETTA, John A. Thalacker, Larry Brimeyer, Captain Salviati, and Lieutenant Lewis, Russell Behrens, and Jerry Manternach, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Iowa |
Philip B. Mears, Iowa City, IA, for plaintiffs.
Kristin W. Ensign, Asst. Atty. Gen., Des Moines, IA, for defendants.
This matter comes before the court pursuant to trial on the merits conducted March 9, 1993, at the Iowa Men's Reformatory at Anamosa, Iowa (IMR). By order dated June 25, 1993, the parties consented to have this matter tried before the undersigned United States Magistrate Judge. Three of the seven plaintiffs were present at the time of trial and were represented by Philip Mears. The defendants were represented by Kristin Ensign.
In this case, the plaintiffs challenge institutional rules that (1) deny free legal postage to indigent inmates, (2) apply monthly service charges to inmates whose accounts have negative balances due to demands for legal postage, and (3) set a presumptive limit on prisoner indebtedness to the institution beyond which prisoners ordinarily cannot incur debt for legal postage. In addition, the plaintiffs challenge the postage regulations at the institution claiming they deny rights of familial privacy. Finally, the plaintiffs challenge regulations governing inmates in long-term disciplinary detention statuses that require them to keep moving while exercising and which permit institutional officials to rescind exercise privileges without due process in response to misbehavior in the exercise area.
The policy of denying free postage to indigent inmates for legal mail is unconstitutional and is hereby enjoined. Similarly, the practice of charging inmates 50 cents per month for having a negative balance in their account is enjoined. The policy of forbidding inmates to exceed $7.50 in the red is unconstitutional as applied. However, as it pertains to the issue of postage for personal correspondence, the policy is not violative of inmate rights. Finally, the exercise regulations are rationally related to legitimate penological interests and do not violate inmates' Eighth or Fourteenth Amendment rights.
There are seven plaintiffs in this case. Five of them have been discharged from the Iowa penal system between the filing of this case and trial. Only Ernest Douglas and Scott Olmstead remain incarcerated. Inmates Steven Schakel, Thomas Sherwood, Kenneth Wheeler, and Thomas Rayer failed to appear for trial. Accordingly, the court knows little about their claims. Their claims were not subject to cross-examination. These four plaintiffs' cases are dismissed for want of prosecution.
Ernest Douglas came to the IMR in May 1991. He was sent to another institution in June 1992 but was sent back in September 1992. He has been in a disciplinary detention status between May 9, 1991 and June 4, 1992. He was also in a disciplinary detention status between September 22, 1992 and October 1, 1992.1
Plaintiff Douglas is indigent. Although he earns $2.30 a day, 20% of his pay is automatically deducted for restitution and an additional 75% is deducted as restitution for an October 1991 incident involving an assault on a correctional officer. Inmate Douglas has had four actions pending at times pertinent to this case. They include three civil rights actions under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and a post-conviction relief action filed in state district court.
Ernest Douglas experienced difficulty with receiving legal postage upon reaching the $7.50 limit when he returned to Living Unit D, the third floor2 from the disciplinary detention unit in December 1991. He requested an envelope to write to his attorney regarding a § 1983 action. An unknown official on the third floor Living Unit refused to give him the postage. The court is unable to place a dollar value on any harm suffered by Douglas as a result of the mail policy.
While in disciplinary detention, Douglas was disciplined for misbehavior in the exercise pen on several occasions. These instances included situations where he lost the remaining portion of his one-hour exercise period for failing to keep moving at all times in the exercise pen and one situation where he lost four days exercise while waiting to see the adjustment committee on a major disciplinary report for fighting in the exercise pen.
Inmate Scott Olmstead has been at the Iowa Men's Reformatory since February 1991. He has been in a disciplinary detention status since April 1991. Accordingly, he has no prison employment. He does not receive money from outsiders. He is indigent. He also has had three civil rights claims under § 1983 pending together with a post-conviction relief action in state court.
Inmate Olmstead is deeply indebted financially to the IMR. On April 10, 1992, Assistant Warden John Sissel informed him that he was $30.78 in debt for postage and copies. See Plaintiff's Exhibit 16. On one occasion in 1992, he needed a legal envelope to mail a civil rights case to the court and received it. However, on other occasions when the plaintiff had exceeded the $7.50 limit on indebtedness, he asked Lt. Lewis for postage and was refused because of the $7.50 limit and because plaintiff faced no imminent deadlines or other emergencies. He once requested legal postage from Captain Salviati who did not respond to his kite. Finally, Assistant Warden Sissel replied to a kite and, while it appears that plaintiff did not receive any free postage, arrangements were made for Olmstead to talk with his attorney.3 On another occasion, when an attorney wrote a letter asking Olmstead to respond to some questions, Lt. Lewis denied free postage as Olmstead had reached the $7.50 limit. At that time, plaintiff was attempting to mail documents necessary to intervene in this case as a plaintiff. Ultimately, plaintiff borrowed an envelope from another inmate (a violation of institutional rules) and mailed the document. The court is unable to place a dollar value on any harm suffered by Olmstead as a result of the mail policy.
While in detention statuses, Olmstead has lost the remaining portion of his exercise period and the following exercise period on several occasions because he violated the institutional rule that requires inmates to keep moving in disciplinary detention exercise pens. He also received a major report for misbehavior in the exercise pen and was denied exercise between the time of the report and his hearing before the adjustment committee. Part of this period fell on a weekend so plaintiff was deprived of two days of exercise during this four-day period.4
Inmate Jeffrey Hershberger was an inmate at the IMR for nine years before his release in 1993. He was continuously in a detention status between November 1990 and September 1992. During that time, he had no institutional income but did receive money from friends and family. Hershberger has also had several civil rights cases pending as well as a post-conviction relief action in state court. While exercising, Hershberger frequently lost the remaining portion of his exercise period and the next day's exercise because he violated the institution rule that requires inmates to keep moving in the exercise pen.
Hershberger's account had a negative balance on several occasions while in detention statuses. In the fall of 1992, plaintiff Hershberger complained to Captain Salviati of the 50 cent monthly "service charge." He also grieved this dispute and lost his grievance. Hershberger also broke institutional rules by borrowing envelopes from friends when Lt. Lewis turned down his request for additional envelopes because he had reached the $7.50 debt limit. Hershberger was corresponding with attorneys and a paralegal and was hindered in his ability to conduct legal research by the lack of postage. The court is unable to place a dollar value on any harm suffered by Hershberger as a result of the mail policy.
The Iowa Men's Reformatory does not provide free legal postage to indigent inmates. Instead, inmates whose account balances drop below $15 are permitted to borrow funds from the institution for the purpose of purchasing legal postage. However, inmates who have negative account balances are charged 50 cents for every month that the debt remains unpaid.
In addition, there is a presumptive limit to the amount of debt that can be incurred. When an inmate's negative account balance reaches $7.50, the inmate is no longer allowed to charge legal postage at will. The $7.50 legal indebtedness limit is not exceeded without the approval of the assistant warden or his designee. The limit is not exceeded unless circumstances show an "exception need" (Defendants' Exhibit B at 3).
The institution has euphemistically described the 50 cent per month fee as a "service charge." However, no monthly service is associated with this charge. As explained by Nancy Barnes, an accounting clerk at IMR, the 50 cent monthly charge is not posted to the inmate's accounts on a monthly basis. Rather, when an inmate receives funds from institutional work or from outsiders, she simply multiplies the number of months that the account was in a negative balance times 50 cents and deducts the sum from the funds acquired by the debtor inmate. No charge is made against inmates without indebtedness despite the fact that the same examination is made concerning their finances.
In determining whether to extend credit beyond the $7.50 limit, institution officials' discretion remains almost completely without standards. The best definition of exceptional...
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Hershberger v. Scaletta
...actual injuries from the reformatory's policies; he was simply unable to put a dollar value on the harm. Hershberger v. Scaletta, 861 F.Supp. 1470, 1472-73 (N.D.Iowa 1993).4 Like the inmates in Kaestel, the inmates in the reformatory may receive free postage for personal mail through their ......