Hickson v. Kellison
| Decision Date | 15 October 1982 |
| Docket Number | No. 15533,15533 |
| Citation | 170 W.Va. 732,296 S.E.2d 855 |
| Parties | Kim HICKSON and Verlon Jones v. Dotty KELLISON, Sheriff of Pocahontas County, et al. |
| Court | West Virginia Supreme Court |
Daniel F. Hedges, Charleston, for petitioners.
J. Steven Hunter, Pros. Atty., Marlinton, for respondents.
The petitioners, Kim Hickson and Verlon Jones, who are presently inmates in the Pocahontas County Jail bring this original mandamus action against the Pocahontas County Sheriff and County Commissioners seeking improvement of the current conditions at the Pocahontas County Jail which they contend violate their constitutional and statutory rights. The respondents in their answer admit a number of factual allegations contained in the petition but in some instances question whether they are under any obligation to furnish the services requested. Several depositions were taken in connection with the proceeding which demonstrate to us that the areas of factual dispute are rather narrow. Consequently, it appears that the main issue to be resolved is a legal one which may be generally stated: What constitutional and statutory rights govern conditions in a local jail?
We first treat this legal issue and then proceed to apply the law to the particular claims made by the petitioners.
We begin by observing that we have entertained petitions for writs of habeas corpus
and mandamus where inmates were claiming that the conditions of their confinement amounted to cruel and unusual punishment. E.g., Harrah v. Leverette, 165 W.Va. 665, 271 S.E.2d 322 (1980); State ex rel. K.W. v. Werner, 161 W.Va. 192, 242 S.E.2d 907 (1978); State ex rel. Pingley v. Coiner, 155 W.Va. 591, 186 S.E.2d 220 (1972). In Syllabus Point 1 of State ex rel. K.W. v. Werner, supra, we said:
We have also held as have numerous other courts that an action under 42 U.S.C.A. § 1983 could be filed in our State courts to challenge the conditions of jail or prison confinement. Rissler v. Giardina, W.Va., 289 S.E.2d 180 (1982); Mitchem v. Melton, 167 W.Va. 21, 277 S.E.2d 895 (1981).
Perhaps the pre-eminent case surveying the constitutional standards for jail conditions arises out of this State and involves conditions in the Mercer County Jail. Dawson v. Kendrick, 527 F.Supp. 1252 (S.D.W.Va.1981). The case presents an exhaustive survey of the federal law in regard to the adequacy of jail conditions which have been made mandatory on the States through the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Without diminishing the quality of Dawson's reasoning, we summarize its central constitutional analysis which is amply supported by a host of United States Supreme Court, federal appellate and district court cases.
The constitutional analysis begins with a recognition that certain conditions of jail confinement may be so lacking in the area of adequate food, clothing, shelter, sanitation, medical care and personal safety as to constitute cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution. E.g., Hutto v. Finney, 437 U.S. 678, 98 S.Ct. 2565, 57 L.Ed.2d 522 (1978), reh'g denied, 439 U.S. 1122, 99 S.Ct. 1035, 59 L.Ed.2d 83; Hite v. Leeke, 564 F.2d 670 (4th Cir.1977); Newman v. Alabama, 559 F.2d 283 (5th Cir.1977), modified sub nom. Alabama v. Pugh, 438 U.S. 781, 98 S.Ct. 3057, 57 L.Ed.2d 1114 (1977), cert. denied sub nom. Alabama v. Pugh, 438 U.S. 915, 98 S.Ct. 3144, 57 L.Ed.2d 1160 (1978); Ahrens v. Thomas, 570 F.2d 286 (8th Cir.1978). 1
Aside from the Eighth Amendment's cruel and unusual punishment standard the United States Supreme Court in Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 99 S.Ct. 1861, 60 L.Ed.2d 447 (1979), recognized that pretrial detainees were entitled to much the same protection under the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment since such detainees have not been found guilty and consequently have not had any sentence imposed which would trigger Eighth Amendment consideration. This principle was summarized as follows: "For under the Due Process Clause, a detainee may not be punished prior to an adjudication of guilt in accordance with due process of law." 441 U.S. at 535, 99 S.Ct. at 1872, 60 L.Ed.2d at 466. Despite this difference in the particular constitutional right afforded between the sentenced inmate and the pretrial detainee, it does not appear from a practical standpoint that the end result differs substantially. Where conditions of confinement are at issue, it would seem of little moment as to how the inmate's confinement has occurred. Whether it is a result of a sentence imposed after adjudication of guilt or by confinement resulting from an arrest and the inability to make bail, the focus is still on the environment surrounding the incarceration.
Independent of any constitutional considerations, as Dawson noted, there are statutory provisions in our State which reflect a legislative mandate that county jails be operated at certain minimal standards. The requirement of maintaining jails in a clean, sanitary and healthful condition as well as providing adequate medical, dental and nursing services to inmates is prescribed in W.Va.Code, 7-8-2:
2
The Legislature has also recognized that the county courts, now designated as county commissions under Section 9 of Article IX of the West Virginia Constitution, are required to provide sufficient and wholesome food, clean and sufficient bedding and other supplies as set forth in material part in W.Va.Code, 7-8-2a:
"[T]he county court [county commission] of each county shall provide wholesome and sufficient food and clean and sufficient bedding for all prisoners confined in the county jail, and shall furnish the soaps, disinfectants and other supplies needed by the jailer in the performance of his duties."
The right to adequate medical care for inmates mandated in W.Va.Code, 7-8-2, is further supplemented by W.Va.Code, 7-8-7, which in addition requires adequate clothing for indigent inmates:
W.Va.Code, 7-3-2, sets out general standards surrounding the construction and maintenance of jails:
3
Finally, it should also be noted that the Legislature has enacted statutes enabling the county commissions to finance the construction of jails and other public...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
State ex rel. Anstey v. Davis
...Crain v. Bordenkircher, 176 W.Va. 338, 342 S.E.2d 422 (1986); Hackl v. Dale, 171 W.Va. 415, 299 S.E.2d 26 (1982); Hickson v. Kellison, 170 W.Va. 732, 296 S.E.2d 855 (1982); Harrah v. Leverette, 165 W.Va. 665, 271 S.E.2d 322 (1980); Tasker, supra; and State ex rel. Pingley v. Coiner, 155 W.V......
-
Morris v. Painter, 29758.
...State ex rel. Pingley v. Coiner, 155 W.Va. 591, 186 S.E.2d 220 (1972). The Court recognized in syllabus point 2 of Hickson v. Kellison, 170 W.Va. 732, 296 S.E.2d 855 (1982), in part, that "[c]ertain conditions of ... confinement may be so lacking in the area of ... medical care and personal......
-
Crain v. Bordenkircher
...is an appropriate remedy to test the constitutionality of the conditions of confinement, as we stated in Syllabus Point 1 of Hickson v. Kellison, 170 W.Va. 732, 296 S.E.2d 855 (1982): " ' "Habeas corpus lies to secure relief from conditions of imprisonment which constitute cruel and unusual......
-
STATE EX REL. v. W. VA. INV. MANAGEMENT BD.
...state. Regardless of what we do in the instant case, PERS monies will be invested out of state. 5. In Syllabus Point 2 of Hickson v. Kellison, 170 W.Va. 732, 296 S.E.2d 855 (1982), this Court stated, "Certain conditions of jail confinement may be so lacking in the area of adequate food, clo......