Lewis v. Cain
| Decision Date | 31 March 2021 |
| Docket Number | CIVIL DOCKET NO.: 3:15-CV-318 |
| Parties | JOSEPH LEWIS, JR., ET AL. v. BURL CAIN, ET AL. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Middle District of Louisiana |
MAGISTRATE: RICHARD BOURGEOIS
OPINIONThis suit was originally brought by several inmates incarcerated at the Louisiana State Penitentiary ("LSP"). The LSP at Angola (sometimes referred to as "Angola") is a maximum-security men's prison in Angola, Louisiana that housed between 6200-6400 men throughout the discovery period.1 Plaintiffs claim that the medical care provided at LSP violates the Eighth Amendment prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment. Plaintiffs also claim that, through various general practices and policies, LSP systemically violates the rights of disabled inmates covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA")2 and the Rehabilitation Act ("RA").3
The Plaintiffs sought to represent a class of all prisoners who are now, or will in the future, be confined at LSP (the "Class"), as well as an ADA Subclass of inmates withdisabilities who are now, or will in the future, be confined at LSP (the "ADA Subclass").4 Plaintiffs seek injunctive relief to abate the alleged systemic deficiencies in Defendants' policies and practices that subject all inmates to unreasonable risks of serious harm.5
On February 26, 2018, following a class certification hearing and subsequent briefing by the Parties, the Court certified a class consisting of "all inmates who [are] now, or will be in the future, incarcerated at LSP," and a Subclass of "all qualified individuals with a disability, as defined by the [Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") and Rehabilitation Act ("RA")], who are now, or will be in the future, incarcerated at LSP."6 The Class and Subclass are represented by Otto Barrera, Clyde Carter, Ian Cazenave, Ricky Davis, Reginald George, Kentrell Parker, Lionel Tolbert, John Tonubbee and Edward Washington.7
This matter came before the Court for an eleven-day non-jury trial on the merits beginning October 9, 2018. The undersigned also made a site visit to LSP on February 5, 2020.8 The Court has considered the Parties' pre-trial and post-trial submissions, the evidence admitted at trial, and the arguments presented, and the Court finds that Plaintiffs have satisfied their burden of proving that Defendants have been deliberately indifferent to the inmates' serious medical needs in the means and manner of the delivery of health care, in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Court also finds that Plaintiffs have met their burden of establishing, in part, that Defendantsviolated the Americans with Disabilities Act, as modified by the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendment Act, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
The Court's credibility findings, findings of fact, and conclusion of law are set forth below pursuant to Rule 52(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
The Parties stipulated to the following facts by written submission prior to trial. Stipulated facts that had changed as of the time of trial are noted.
3. Defendant Burl Cain was the Warden of Angola from February 1, 1995 through December 31, 2015. He was succeeded by Defendant Darrel Vannoy, who is currently the Warden of Angola. The Warden's duties include, among other things, assigning people to manage the medical care and then being sure that they do what the policies and procedures say.
4. Defendant Raman Singh was the Chief Medical and Mental Health Director of the DOC since November 2007, which included managing several departments such asnursing, dental and mental health.9 Before November 2007, he served as Medical Director of Angola, where his duty was to manage offender healthcare for LSP inmates.10
5. Defendant James LeBlanc is the Secretary of the DOC. In that capacity, he supervises Dr. Singh as well as the rest of the employees of the Department. Although he has authority over the entire Department in a supervisory capacity, he has delegated authority for certain tasks and responsibilities to subordinate employees.
6. Defendant Stephanie Lamartiniere was the Assistant Warden for Health Services at Angola from June 2013 until sometime in 2016. She was succeeded by Defendant Tracy Falgout, who was the Assistant Warden at the time of trial. The Assistant Warden has operational control over the medical unit at LSP. This includes, among other responsibilities, budgeting, hiring of certain classes of employees, medical records, and any kind of staffing issues.
7. Defendant Randy Lavespere is the current Medical Director of Angola. This position is responsible for managing, among other things, Angola's doctors, nurses, patients, relationship with headquarters, and relationships with administration.
8. Defendant Stacye Falgout has been the Chief Nursing Officer for the DOC since October 2011. Prior to that time, she was Assistant Director of Nurses at Angola. She reported to Dr. Singh and is the number two medical employee at DOC headquarters.
9. Defendant Sherwood Poret has been the Director of Nursing at Angola since January 2013 and was the infection control supervisor before that. He supervises all nurses working at LSP.
10. LSP's medical staff currently includes five doctors and one nurse practitioner. Each of the doctors on LSP's staff was disciplined by the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners prior to being employed at LSP. Each of the doctors on LSP's staff had a restricted license or was restricted to practicing in institutional settings at the time they were hired by LSP. Some LSP medical staff have completed requirements imposed by the Medical Board and are no longer under restriction.
11. LSP mainly provides medical care at R.E. Barrow Treatment Center (often called "REBTC" or the "Treatment Center"), which comprises the Acute Treatment Unit ("ATU"), an infirmary, and seven examination rooms.
12. The infirmary has two units: "Unit 1," which treats acute care patients, and "Unit 2," which treats patients requiring long-term nursing home care and hospice patients.
13. Outside of the infirmary, medication is administered cell side by correctional officers.
14. Outside of the infirmary, inmates can request to see a doctor by submitting "sick call" requests, which are triaged cell side by Emergency Medical Technicians ("EMTs").
15. At the time this lawsuit was filed, Warden Peabody was the ADA Coordinator at LSP. Warden Peabody became ill sometime before January 1, 2016 and was replaced by Warden Barr in July 2016. Defendant Tracy Falgout succeeded Warden Barr and has been the ADA Coordinator at LSP since September 2016.
16. ADA Coordinators do not receive any formal ADA training upon taking office or on a regular or recurring basis.
17. LSP does not provide braille versions of forms such as sick call requests, Administrative Remedy Procedure forms, or forms to request accommodations.
18. DOC Directive No. 01.016(B) requires LSP to maintain an "ADA Advisory Committee." No such committee existed during the pendency of this lawsuit.
19. LSP Directive 07.004 provides that all "[s]everely handicapped inmates requiring medical care and/or assistance with basic life functions shall be housed at" REBTC or Medical Dorms.
20. LSP Directive # 09.036 prohibits any inmate "requiring a duty status" from utilizing the hobbyshop until such time as the inmate is returned to regular duty without restrictions.
21. Louisiana State Penitentiary and DOC receive some federal funding.
The following findings of fact are supported by the evidence in the record. Where a particular fact was controverted, the Court weighed the evidence and determined that the evidence presented by the party supporting that fact was more persuasive.
22. Prior to the trial of this matter, Plaintiffs' medical experts, Dr. Michael Puisis, D.O. (Dr. Puisis) and Nurse Practitioner Madeleine LaMarre, ("NP LaMarre"), conducted a four-day in-person site visit at LSP, and Dr. Susi Vassallo, M.D. ("Dr. Vassallo") conducted a two-day site visit.11 NP LaMarre and Dr. Vassallo observed Angola's facilities, interviewed numerous Angola staff members and patients, observed medical care in practice, and reviewed the medical records of 47 patients, in addition to the medical records of the ten named Plaintiffs.12
23. Dr. Puisis was principally responsible for evaluating LSP's chronic care, specialty care, infirmary care, organizational structure, staffing, budget, healthcare operations,medical records, laboratory, mortality review, and quality improvement.13 Dr. Vassallo was principally responsible for evaluating emergency care and the work performed by EMTs.14 NP LaMarre was principally responsible for evaluating access to care, chronic disease management, pharmacy, medication administration, policies and procedures, clinical spaces and sanitation, and health information management.15
24. The Court had the opportunity to evaluate the credibility of Plaintiffs' experts and finds them to be credible. All three experts testified at trial. Dr. Puisis testified for the better part of three days, and Dr. Vassallo and NP LaMarre each testified for approximately a day. Dr. Vassallo also provided brief rebuttal testimony after Defendants' case. The Court also had the opportunity to observe and evaluate Dr. Puisis's testimony at the November 2017 class certification hearing.
25. Prior to the trial of this matter, Plaintiff's architectural accessibility expert Mark Mazz ("M...
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