Inosencio v. Johnson

• Decision Date: 15 September 1982
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 77-70377.
• Citation: 547 F. Supp. 130
• Parties: Juan INOSENCIO, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Perry JOHNSON, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Michigan

547 F. Supp. 130

Juan INOSENCIO, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Perry JOHNSON, et al., Defendants.

Civ. A. No. 77-70377.

United States District Court, E. D. Michigan, S. D.

September 15, 1982.

John Eshleman Wahl, San Francisco, Cal., for plaintiffs.

Elaine Dierwa Fischhoff, Asst. Atty. Gen., State of Mich., Detroit, Mich., for defendants.

OPINION AND FINAL JUDGMENT

FEIKENS, Chief Judge.

Plaintiffs are two groups united by their desire to see the Detroit Metropolitan Community Church (the Church) conduct congregate worship services at the State Prison for Southern Michigan at Jackson (the Prison or Jackson Prison). The Church is a member of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches and differs from other Protestant churches principally in not condemning homosexuality. One of its purposes is to minister to the spiritual needs of homosexual persons in and out of prison. The first group of plaintiffs is composed of a number of homosexual inmates at the Prison; the second includes the local officials of the Church and the Church itself.

Since 1976 the Prison has recognized the Church, and as a matter of policy has allowed its ministers to meet with inmates and mail literature into the Prison. The Prison has refused, however, to allow ministers of the Church to conduct congregate worship services; it does allow ministers of other congregations to do this. Plaintiffs filed their original complaint in February of 1977¹ alleging that the Prison's decision to prohibit worship services violated the inmates' First Amendment right to the equal protection of the law. On behalf of the Church, the complaint also alleged that the Prison, contrary to its policy, treated the Church's ministers differently from ministers of other faiths by intercepting mail, harassing them, and not admitting them for visits as clergy.

After considering the motions of both sides for summary judgment and reading the many affidavits submitted by both sides, I found that the Prison had acted with sufficient reason in prohibiting group services, and I granted summary judgment to defendants on that issue. Because the Prison agreed to abide by its policy concerning the ministers, the claims of the Church were left to be settled and the final order gave judgment on all issues to defendants.

Plaintiffs appealed that decision and the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed and remanded to give plaintiffs "an opportunity to present evidence concerning the effect of the Church's congregational services in prison and on the treatment of the Church's ministers in prison." Inosencio, et al. v. Johnson, et al., 658 F.2d 418 (6th Cir. 1981).

The parties have again settled the claims of the Church concerning unequal treatment.² They have also taken advantage of the Circuit Court's remand and have presented considerable testimony for and against congregate worship at the Prison. After carefully considering the testimony of plaintiffs' witnesses on the effect of similar services in the California prisons and the testimony of Michigan prison officials, I again find that the Prison has acted reasonably and that defendants are, therefore, again entitled to judgment.

The facts of this case are very similar to those in a case the Supreme Court reviewed in 1977, Jones v. North Carolina Prisoners' Union, 433 U.S. 119, 97 S.Ct. 2532, 53 L.Ed.2d 629 (1977). I will briefly review the findings in that case since it and the few cases following it articulate the applicable law in this case. In Jones, the North Carolina Department of Corrections prohibited a prisoners' union from meeting and distributing literature in bulk mailings. The union in that case, like the prisoners here, alleged that the decision infringed First Amendment rights, free speech and free association. Because the Prison allowed other groups to meet, the union also alleged that the decision deprived them of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. The Corrections Department justified the prohibition arguing that "the existence of the Union will increase the burdens of administration and constitute a threat of essential discipline and control. They the department officials are apprehensive that inmates may use the Unions to establish a power bloc within the inmate population which could be utilized to cause work slowdowns or stoppages or other undesirable concerted activity." Id., at 123, 97 S.Ct. at 2537 (quoting the opinion of the district court, 409 F.Supp., 937 at 941).

The district court acknowledged the sincerity of the department's fears, but found the experts divided on the effect of a union and that there was "not one scintilla of evidence to suggest that the Union has been utilized to disrupt the operation of the penal institution." Id. at 124, 97 S.Ct. at 2537. Finding that the Department had not established that the activity was detrimental to proper penological objections, the district court gave judgment to the union.

The Supreme Court rejected this analysis and reversed. Quoting Price v. Johnston, 334 U.S. 266, 285, 68 S.Ct. 1049, 1060, 92 L.Ed. 1356 (1948), the Court reemphasized generally that "lawful incarceration brings about the necessary withdrawal or limitation of many privileges and rights, a retraction justified by the considerations underlying our penal system." Jones, 433 U.S. at 125, 97 S.Ct. at 2537. It then addressed specifically the perspective a district court must adopt in reviewing allegations of constitutional violations by prisoners:

Without a showing that the motivating beliefs of the Corrections Department were unreasonable, it was error for the District Court to conclude that the Department needed to show more. In particular, the burden was not on appellants to show affirmatively that the Union would be "detrimental to proper penological objectives" or would constitute a "present danger to security and order." 409 F.Supp., at 944-945. Rather, "such considerations are peculiarly within the province and professional expertise of corrections officials, and, in the absence of substantial evidence in the record to indicate that the officials have exaggerated their response to these considerations, courts should ordinarily defer to their expert judgment in such matters." Pell v. Procunier, 417 U.S., 817 at 827 94 S.Ct. 2800, 2806, 41 L.Ed.2d 495.

Id., at 128-129, 97 S.Ct. at 2539. On the Union's first amendment claims, the Court concluded, "It is enough to say that the Department has not been conclusively shown to be wrong in this view." Id., at 132, 97 S.Ct. at 2541. On the equal protection claims, it added, "Thus the Department officials need only demonstrate a rational basis for their distinctions between organizational groups." Id., at 134, 97 S.Ct. at 2542.

Jones plainly places the burden on challengers; they must demonstrate that the justification offered by prison officials is wholly lacking in reason.

Jones was followed by Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 529, 99 S.Ct. 1861, 1869, 60 L.Ed.2d 447 (1979), which reversed a district court decision ordering multifold changes in the way federal authorities operated the New York Metropolitan Correctional Center. Again the court emphasized that the challengers had "not met their heavy burden of showing that these officials have exaggerated their response to the genuine security considerations that actuated these restrictions and practices." Id., at 562, 99 S.Ct. at 1886. The Court quoted and followed the principles discussed in Jones.

Since Bell, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has twice applied the principles of Jones and Bell in cases involving the exercise of religion within prisons. First, in dicta, in Jihaad v. O'Brien, 645 F.2d 556 (6th Cir. 1981), the court said, "It is settled that a prisoner does not have an absolute right to practice his religion in accord with his desires. The needs of the institution and penological objectives must be balanced against the right of the individual prisoner." Citing Pell v. Procunier, 417 U.S. 817, 94 S.Ct. 2800, 41 L.Ed.2d 495 (1974) and Jones. In Jihaad the prisoner was seeking damages for discipline he suffered after refusing to shave a beard required by his Sunni Muslim faith.

The second case, Weaver v. Jago, 675 F.2d 116 (6th Cir. 1982), struck a cautioning note against too much deference and emphasized what appears at least in the background of the Supreme Court's discussions: even though deference is accorded the Prison, the court must still find that the rules further security and are not an exaggerated response. In Weaver the prison had disciplined a young Cherokee Indian for refusing to cut a braid he claimed had religious significance. The prison had done no more than state that the rule furthered security and good order; it had not explained the connection.

In this case the Prison fears that allowing worship services could exacerbate the already acute problem of homosexual violence in the Prison. Both sides have presented considerable and diverse testimony on the effect of services by a recognized homosexual church. One point that witnesses on each side agreed on, however, is that the peculiarly violent brand of homosexuality in prisons is a very dangerous problem. Ruth Rushen, the Director of the California Department of Corrections, testifying for plaintiffs on the effect of the Church's services in two California prisons, admitted that homosexuality required special consideration. She described the elaborate security measures the California prisons had adopted to isolate predatory prisoners who would take advantage of weaker men. (Tr. II. 34.) Particularly aggressive inmates are transferred to the Medical Facility at Vacaville where security is greater. If there they still pose a problem, the prison isolates them in management control divisions and may transfer them to the maximum security prisons at San Quentin and Folsom. (Tr. II. 25-33.) She candidly offered that...