Inmates of Occoquan v. Barry
| Decision Date | 22 December 1986 |
| Docket Number | Civ. A. No. 86-2128. |
| Parties | INMATES OF OCCOQUAN, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Marion BARRY, Mayor, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Columbia |
Alvin J. Bronstein, Edward I. Koren, Alexa P. Freeman, Steven Ney, National Prison Project of the American Civil Liberties Union, Washington, D.C., for plaintiffs.
Metcalfe C. King, Asst. Corp. Counsel, Washington, D.C., for defendants.
This action is brought by a class of inmates confined at the Occoquan I, II, and III Facilities of the Lorton Correctional Complex. The Court, on August 13, 1986, certified the class pursuant to Rule 23(b)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure as "all persons, present and future, confined to the Occoquan Facilities located on the Lorton reservation operated by the District of Columbia Department of Corrections."
Plaintiffs have filed this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief for deprivation under color of state law of rights secured by the Fifth and Eighth Amendments to the United States Constitution. Plaintiffs contend that an excessive inmate population; deficiencies in environmental health and safety; food services, fire safety, medical and dental services, and mental health care, alone or in combination, violate their rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution.
A trial to the Court was followed by extensive post-trial briefing. Plaintiffs presented testimony by five expert and three inmate witnesses. Defendants offered the testimony of five experts and three lay witnesses. Based upon the Court's findings of fact and conclusions of law, judgment is awarded in plaintiffs' favor.
The Occoquan Facilities have a total of 19 housing units. Occoquan I and II each have seven housing units, while Occoquan III has five housing units. These living quarters, constructed in 1925, are brick buildings with wooden roofs. Transcript ("Tr.") at 1105. The buildings, or dormitories, for the most part are single-story buildings. Each housing unit features a day room in the front, a separation with toilet, shower, and laundry areas, and large squad bay dormitories. The buildings are identified by letter, number, or both. Dormitories J and K are two-story buildings, and Dormitory 5 is in the basement of the gymnasium. Tr. at 30.
Other facilities include the gymnasium, culinary unit, a small chapel, an outdoor recreation field, and administration and program offices. The Occoquan Facilities, which are classified as medium security institutions, are, of course, ringed with security fencing.
The population trend at Occoquan indicates that the population has been increasing steadily for the past year, except for the emergency transfer of hundreds of inmates following the riot on July 10, 1986, and the transfer in October 1986, of 200 inmates to the new Modular Facility at the Lorton Complex. Tr. at 741; Plaintiffs' Exhibits 8, 9. On October 21, 1985, the population of the three Occoquan Facilities was 1,397. One year later, October 27, 1986, the population had risen to 1,600, so that it was not far below the level of 1,756 that existed at the time of the July 1986 riot. Tr. at 88. On November 24, 1986, the population at the three Occoquan Facilities had crept up to 1,637. See Daily Population Reports filed with United States District Court for the District of Columbia in Campbell v. McGruder, No. 1462-71 (D.D. C.).
Both parties' public health experts concurred that the revised American Public Health Association ("APHA") standard, which allots 95 square feet per inmate, is acceptable as a minimum standard in dormitory situations. Tr. at 473-74, 1270-72. The 95 square-foot figure includes a prescribed 60 square feet per inmate of living space and 35 square feet per inmate for day room space. The APHA standards were written by environmental health and safety professionals and are supported by epidemiological evidence. Tr. at 1213, 1274; see also Plaintiffs' Exhibit 31.
The accepted method of calculating living space is prescribed by the American Correctional Association ("ACA"). The ACA method of measurement of living space instructs that the calculation of total living space of a housing unit excludes the day room, toilet and shower rooms, as well as traffic corridors. See Plaintiffs' Exhibit 30, 1983 Supplement at 2-4129.
Applying the APHA 95 square foot per inmate standard, using the ACA method of space calculation, the Occoquan Facilities do not provide adequate living space for inmates. Tr. at 476, 1271; see also Plaintiffs' Exhibits 48 at 40-41. In some places, beds are but seven to nine inches apart. Tr. at 476-77; see also Plaintiffs' Exhibit 48 at 40-43.
Confining excessive numbers of people in limited spaces significantly increases the risk of transmission of airborne diseases, such as tuberculosis. Tr. at 1273. The inadequate and sometimes nonoperational ventilation system in the Occoquan dormitories greatly exacerbates this serious health risk. Tr. at 444-48, 513-14, 749, 1223-27, 1253; see also Plaintiffs' Exhibits 14ii; 14jj; 45 at 35; 48 at 34-35.
Plaintiffs' and defendants' medical experts also noted that inadequate medical screening of the population entering Occoquan's dormitories compounds further the risk of transmission of airborne communicable diseases. Tr. at 195-203, 1074-78; see also infra at 29. Inadequate ventilation aggravates this "seeding" of the population and increases the risk of the spread of airborne communicable diseases. Tr. at 195-96, 448-51.
As one might well expect, greater numbers confined in limited spaces result in greater noise levels, as well. There was uncontradicted expert testimony that excessive noise levels were prevalent in the living and day room areas of the dormitories. Tr. at 456, 1124-26; see also Plaintiffs' Exhibit 48 at 37. Plaintiffs' environmental expert, Ward Duel, found that noise levels in the dormitories often exceeded the ACA daytime standard of 70 decibels. See Plaintiffs' Exhibit 30 at 2-4130. In Mr. Duel's judgment the noise levels in the Occoquan dormitories approach industrial standards used by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Tr. at 457; see also Tr. at 36, 113; Plaintiffs' Exhibits 6 at 4; 50 at 17-18. Existing authorities indicate that sustained excessive noise levels increase stress levels and pose a significant risk to inmates' physical and mental health. Tr. at 458; Plaintiffs' Exhibit 31 at 83.
Expert testimony revealed that the lighting is inadequate throughout the dormitories. Defendants' expert environmentalist, using the APHA 30-foot candle standard, found extensive deficiencies. Tr. at 1277-79; see also Plaintiffs' Exhibits 31 at 71-72; 48 at 38-39. Maintenance of adequate lighting minimizes the risk of accidents, is essential to the performance of work tasks, reading and recreational activities. Plaintiffs' Exhibit 31 at 71.
General sanitation in the dormitories was found to be below acceptable environmental standards. Tr. at 35, 112, 1161-88, 1190-91. Occoquan dormitory windows are without screens resulting in a serious fly infestation problem, particularly in toilet and shower areas. Tr. at 463-64. This fly infestation is aggravated by a shortage of disinfectant that inmates can use to sanitize the toilet and shower areas. Tr. at 465.
Inmates sleep on mattresses that are not cleaned or sanitized between users, nor are mattress covers supplied. Tr. at 459, 1260. This poses a public health danger whereby respiratory or enteric diseases can be transmitted to inmates who are required to sleep on such soiled mattresses. Tr. at 459, 515-16, 1132. Besides soiled, dirty mattresses, torn and damaged mattresses were also found in the dormitories. Tr. at 459-60. Torn mattresses can provide a harborage for disease-carrying insects, such as mites, fleas, ticks, and lice. Tr. at 1130. There was testimony, however, indicating that the Department of Corrections is planning to procure new mattresses. Tr. at 1132; Plaintiffs' Exhibit 47.
Three dormitories merit special attention. Dormitories J-1 and J-2 were warehouses that were converted hastily to inmate housing. Tr. at 30. According to Mr. David Decatur, the Administrator of Occoquan I and II, J-1 has a maximum capacity of 70 to 75 inmates and for J-2, 55 to 60 inmates. Tr. at 748-49. Nonetheless, J-2 has housed as many as 120 inmates. Tr. at 750. The poor ventilation in J-1 and J-2 is made all the worse by the acrid fumes of a nearby coal pile and the close quarters the inmates must share. Tr. at 40-42, 59-60, 64. Significant fly infestation was evidenced in J-2 by the pest strips that were solid black with an accumulation of flies. Tr. at 42.
Conditions in Dormitory 5 are unacceptable for housing inmates, according to Mr. Frank Phillips, the former Administrator of Occoquan III. Tr. at 46, 840. Dormitory 5, located in the basement of the gymnasium, was also converted hastily from a warehouse to a housing unit. Tr. at 30, 50. Indeed, there was but one day between the decision to open it and its occupancy. Tr. at 839. Dormitory 5 houses 80 inmates, doubled-bunked, and has no day room. Tr. at 45-56. Dormitory 5 is clearly overcrowded, cramped, and poorly ventilated. Tr. at 48, 289, 1162, 1175.
While both parties' environmental experts noted problems in the kitchen area, such as leaky steamers (Tr. at 420-21), refrigrator doors that did not close properly (Tr. at 419-20, 1101), and missing hood filters (Plaintiffs' Exhibit 48 at 8), neither expert felt that the conditions in the kitchen posed any imminent threat of harm to the inmates. Tr. at 499-500, 1116; but see Tr. at 1221. The Court, however, does not share defendants' view that all is well with the Occoquan food service.
The APHA has established minimum space requirements for institutional food service facilities. Tr. at 434,...
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