Kost v. Kozakiewicz

• Citation: 1 F.3d 176
• Decision Date: 03 May 1993
• Docket Number: No. 92-3386,92-3386
• Parties: George KOST and Francis Ferri, Appellants, v. Charles KOZAKIEWICZ, Warden, James Gregg, Deputy Warden, U Balogh, Lieutenant, Allegheny County Jail, Unknown Executives and Officers, Allegheny County Solicitor's Office, Goldline Laboratories, Gatti Services. . Submitted Under Third Circuit Rule 12(6)
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (3rd Circuit)

Page 176

1 F.3d 176

George KOST and Francis Ferri, Appellants, v. Charles KOZAKIEWICZ, Warden, James Gregg, Deputy Warden,

^U Balogh, Lieutenant, Allegheny County Jail,

Unknown Executives and Officers, Allegheny County

Solicitor's Office, Goldline Laboratories, Gatti Services.

No. 92-3386.

United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit.

Submitted Under Third Circuit Rule 12(6) May 3, 1993.

Decided July 28, 1993.

David E. Kenner, Professional Law Corp., Encino, CA, for appellants.

Mark F. Haak, Vincent A. Coppola, Pietragallo, Bosick & Gordon, Pittsburgh, PA, for appellees Kozakiewicz, Gregg, Balogh, Allegheny County Jail, Allegheny Solicitor.

Amy E. Ault, Robb, Leonard & Mulvihill, Pittsburgh, PA, for Goldline Lab.

Thomas R. Doyle, Pittsburgh, PA, for Gatti Services.

Before: COWEN, ROTH, and ROSENN, Circuit Judges

OPINION OF THE COURT

ROSENN, Circuit Judge.

This appeal by two federal pretrial detainees housed under contract in the Allegheny County, Pennsylvania jail raises the question whether an existing class action against the defendants provided the plaintiffs with all the relief afforded them for their claims arising from their confinement under the United States Constitution and the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C.A. Secs. 1983, 1985, and 1986 (West 1991). We also consider whether certain counts of the complaint regarding alleged intolerable conditions and treatment at the facility are barred by a two- or six-year statute of limitations. The district court entered summary judgment in favor of all defendants. The plaintiffs timely appealed. We affirm the court's grant of summary judgment as to some of their claims. We vacate the court's grant of summary judgment as to other claims and remand with instructions to dismiss. As to the remaining claims, we reverse and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I. BACKGROUND

On July 18, 1991, the plaintiffs George Kost and Francis Ferri filed a lengthy complaint in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania against the defendants Charles Kozakiewicz, warden of the Allegheny County Jail (ACJ), other jail officials, Allegheny County, and certain county officials (referred to hereinafter collectively as the ACJ defendants or appellees); Goldline Laboratories (Goldline), a distributor of medical supplies; and Gatti Services (Gatti), a pharmacy. The complaint alleged in five counts forty-five various violations of plaintiffs' rights under Secs. 1983, 1985(2) and (3), and 1986, and the First, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution.

Goldline and the ACJ defendants filed separate motions to dismiss pursuant to various subsections of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure Rule 12(b). Gatti filed a similar motion to dismiss, and in the alternative, because it submitted with its filing an affidavit executed by its president, a motion for summary judgment. The district court referred the case to a magistrate judge who submitted a report stating that "[e]ach defendant has filed either a Rule 56 motion for summary judgment or a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss. Review of the pleadings and case law reveals that defendants' motions should be granted."

Plaintiffs filed objections to the magistrate judge's report. After de novo review, the district court entered an order adopting the report as the opinion of the court and granting summary judgment in favor of all defendants. Appellants timely appealed. ¹

Over the years, the ACJ has been the subject of considerable litigation regarding conditions at the facility, and some conditions have been adjudged unconstitutional. The ACJ was under court order to remedy these conditions by 1992.

All events relied upon by plaintiffs to establish their claims took place between February 20, 1987, and August 3, 1989. At some time during this period, each plaintiff was a federal pretrial detainee housed at the ACJ pursuant to a contract or some other arrangement between the United States and Allegheny County. Each plaintiff spent part of his time at the ACJ in the Disciplinary Housing Unit (DHU). Kost was housed in the DHU during the month of June 1988. Ferri was housed in the DHU from May 16, 1989, through August 1, 1989. They are currently inmates at the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas.

II. ANALYSIS OF PLAINTIFFS' CLAIMS

A. COUNT I

Plaintiffs alleged in Count I of their complaint that 1) inadequate heating and ventilation in the ACJ, combined with inmate exposure to toxic chemicals, exhaust fumes from gasoline operated combustion engines, and other fumes have shortened their life expectancy; 2) unbearable noise pollution and poor lighting within the cells at the ACJ have caused them "to suffer degenerative hearing and eyesight"; 3) unsanitary food preparation and serving procedures, coupled with inadequate and unsanitary personal hygiene and general living conditions, have caused them to incur diseases and have shortened their life expectancy; and 4) they have been caused needless pain and suffering.

B. COUNT II

Plaintiffs alleged in Count II of their complaint that the ACJ defendants: 1) impeded and obstructed their access to the courts and adequate law library facilities; 2) confiscated their legal documents; 3) provided no facilities within their individual cells for the retention of their legal documents; 4) allowed unbearable temperatures and overcrowding in the waiting area (bull-pen) where they were held for court appearances; and 5) caused them needless pain and suffering.

C. COUNT III

Count III of the complaint is based on two sets of events that allegedly occurred during Ferri's confinement in the DHU between May 16, 1989, and August 1, 1989. These events allegedly culminated in Ferri's suffering a lice infestation and a series of heatstrokes.

As to the lice infestation, plaintiffs alleged in their complaint that: 1) Goldline supplied the ACJ and/or Gatti with medical supplies for use in the treatment of inmates at the ACJ; 2) Gatti was under contract to provide medical services for the inmate population; 3) Goldline and Gatti bore a duty to them with respect to their medical care and welfare; 4) while in the DHU, the ACJ defendants inflicted upon Ferri unsanitary cells, shower facilities, bedding, and towels; 5) Ferri became infested with head and body lice because the ACJ defendants provided him with dirty bedding; 6) Goldline and Gatti supplied Ferri with inferior products and services in the treatment of the lice infestation; 7) the ACJ defendants failed to provide Ferri with the necessary medical care to cure the infestation; and 8) the infestation therefore remained with him until he was transferred out of the ACJ on August 4, 1989, causing him unbearable and needless pain and suffering for a 70-day period.

As to the series of heatstrokes, plaintiffs alleged in their complaint that: the ACJ defendants inflicted upon Ferri a total lack of ventilation coupled with cell temperatures "in excess of 90 to 100 degrees daily for 24 hours a day"; unbearable temperatures and lack of ventilation caused Ferri to suffer eight heatstrokes, which have had a degenerative effect upon his mental, physical, and "physicological" capacities; and his complaints to jail officials regarding the heatstrokes fell on deaf ears.

D. COUNT IV

Count IV of the complaint is based on events that occurred during Kost's confinement in the DHU in June 1988. Plaintiffs alleged in their complaint that: 1) certain ACJ defendants beat Kost at various times, often while he was handcuffed; 2) he was told during one of the beatings that "unless he cooperated with information about an aborted escape attempt ... he would receive more beatings"; 3) when he denied knowledge of the escape attempt, Kozakiewicz informed four of the inmates accused of attempting escape that Kost had indeed informed on them and then placed him in the range of cells within the DHU where the four inmates were housed, thereby jeopardizing his life; 4) during a two-week period, a jail official made daily inspections of Kost's cell, throwing away all toiletry articles and legal documents; and 5) when Kost was called to trial in his criminal case in federal court, jail officials refused to let him shower or shave prior to his appearances and had discarded all his clothing, forcing him to appear in court "like a drunken derelict," which had a negative effect upon his ability to present a defense.

E. COUNT V

Plaintiffs alleged in Count V of their complaint that, beginning some time before the period in question in this case and shortly after Kozakiewicz became warden at the ACJ, various jail officials conspired to create a "goon squad" to inflict pain and suffering upon inmates to satisfy their "lust for brutality" and to instill fear in the general inmate population. Plaintiffs further alleged, as part of this conspiracy, that: 1) various jail officials committed attempted murder and murder; 2) an unusually high number of inmate beatings and injuries took place during the "goon squad" period as compared with prior periods; 3) an unusually high number of inmate deaths, attributable to unknown factors and ruled suicides, occurred during this period; 4) complaints made to jail officials and to members of the Prison Board about the beatings fell on deaf ears and that it was part of the conspiracy that such complaints would be ignored.

Plaintiffs also alleged that one object of the conspiracy was to disguise or mask acts of brutality by: performing them in isolated parts of the ACJ; writing an incident report against a beaten inmate falsely accusing him of attacking an officer or of other conduct requiring a physical response from the conspirators; causing internal medical reports to reflect retaliatory action by the conspirators whenever a gratuitously beaten inmate suffered physical injuries that required medical treatment within the ACJ; and having at least one conspirator claim personal injuries from...