Lyon v. Farrier, 83-2062
| Decision Date | 20 March 1984 |
| Docket Number | No. 83-2062,83-2062 |
| Citation | 730 F.2d 525 |
| Parties | Everett R. LYON, Dennis E. Fisher, Richard A. Lamphere, Edward W. Don, Russell J. Fitz, Robert R. Padgett and Clayton C. Manning, Appellants, v. Hal FARRIER, Crispus C. Nix, Paul Hedgepeth, Larry Moline, Correctional Officers Rooney, Woodall, Pyley, Ware, Gutman, Sliffer, Clostermery, Robinson, Leach, Ossion, McMaines, Fisher, Blythe, and Eight Unknown Corrections Officers, all individually and in their official capacities, Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
Thomas J. Miller, Atty. Gen. of Iowa, Gordon E. Allen, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., Layne M. Lindebak Asst. Atty. Gen., Des Moines, Iowa, for appellees.
Everett R. Lyon, Dennis E. Fisher, pro se.
Before HENLEY, Senior Circuit Judge, and JOHN R. GIBSON and FAGG, Circuit Judges.
Appellants are protective custody inmates of the Iowa State Penitentiary (ISP) who brought a civil rights action under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983. Appellants alleged that prison officials unconstitutionally deprived them of their personal property. The district court dismissed appellants' claims and this appeal followed. For reversal appellants argue that the district court erred (1) in finding that they were not denied equal protection with respect to female and general population inmates; (2) in holding that they were not deprived of property without due process of law; (3) in holding that appellant Fitz had not shown that destruction of a painting possessed by him was without due process; and (4) in determining that the uncorroborated testimony of appellant Padgett was insufficient to find a denial of his right of access to the courts. We affirm.
On September 2, 1981, a riot occurred at ISP. For health and security reasons, the warden issued a directive on September 28, 1981, limiting the amount and types of personal property inmates could keep in their cells. During the riot, prison officials often had a difficult time distinguishing inmates from other persons because inmates were allowed to wear a wide variety of street clothing. The warden's directive severely restricted the clothing inmates were permitted to possess and wear. In addition, fire officials had inspected the prison and determined that the large amounts of property inmates were storing in their cells created a fire hazard. The warden's property reduction order was in direct response to these problems.
To implement this new policy the warden ordered a series of shakedown searches between September 1981 and January 1982. Inmates whose property was seized could direct that it be mailed home, donated to charity, or destroyed. Appellants were in protective custody at the time of these shakedowns. Although prison officials removed numerous items of clothing, grooming implements, appliances, and hobbycraft materials from appellants' cells, these articles were forwarded to appellants' relatives, returned, or stored in the prison's property room. A painting in the cell of appellant Fitz, which belonged to a former inmate, was removed and destroyed as contraband pursuant to a prison regulation forbidding inmates to possess or store another's property. Prison officials also allegedly removed from the cell of appellant Padgett some of his legal materials pertaining to Veterans' Administration and Social Security proceedings.
Appellants contend that rules pertaining to their possession of personal property are different from the rules applicable to prisoners in the general population at ISP and to both male and female inmates at other penal institutions in Iowa, and that these differences violate equal protection guarantees. We begin our analysis by noting that "[p]rison administrators * * * should be accorded wide-ranging deference in the adoption and execution of policies and practices that in their judgment are needed to preserve...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Alcala, In re
...in prison. The usefulness of such clothing in escapes is only one of the problems that might arise. For instance, in Lyon v. Farrier (8th Cir.1984) 730 F.2d 525, 526, upholding clothing restrictions in the Iowa State Penitentiary, the court pointed out that during a riot, prison officials h......
-
Cody v. Hillard
...custody inmates at the SDSP receive "treatment invidiously dissimilar to that received by other inmates." Lyon v. Farrier, 730 F.2d 525, 527 (8th Cir.1984) (per curiam). 7. Health a. Constitutional Standard Although the adequacy of health care is included in the totality of conditions which......
-
Reutcke v. Dahm
...show that the treatment he received was substantially and invidiously dissimilar to that received by other inmates. Lyon v. Farrier, 730 F.2d 525, 527 (8th Cir.1984); Burns v. Swenson, 430 F.2d 771, 778 (8th Cir.1970), cert. denied, 404 U.S. 1062, 92 S.Ct. 743, 30 L.Ed.2d 751 (1972). This t......
-
Baribeau v. City of Minneapolis
...to reasonable limitation or retraction in light of the legitimate security concerns of the institution.'" Lyon v. Farrier, 730 F.2d 525, 527 (8th Cir. 1984) (per curiam) (quoting Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 554, 99 S.Ct. 1861, 60 L.Ed.2d 447 (1979)) (alteration in original; emphasis remo......