Marsh v. Butler County Alabama

• Decision Date: 30 May 2000
• Docket Number: No. 99-12813,99-12813
• Citation: Marsh v. Butler County Alabama, 212 F.3d 1318 (11th Cir. 2000)
• Parties: (11th Cir. 2000) Joe MARSH, Leroy Owens, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. BUTLER COUNTY, ALABAMA, The Butler County Commission, et al., Defendants- Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

Page 1318

212 F.3d 1318 (11th Cir. 2000)

Joe MARSH, Leroy Owens, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. BUTLER COUNTY, ALABAMA, The Butler County Commission, et al., Defendants- Appellees.

No. 99-12813.

United States Court of Appeals Eleventh Circuit.

May 30, 2000.

[Copyrighted Material Omitted] Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama.

(No. 97-01421-CV-D-N), Ira De Ment, Judge.

Before BIRCH and BARKETT, Circuit Judges, and ALARCON^*, Senior Circuit Judge.

BARKETT, Circuit Judge:

Joe Marsh and Leroy Owens, former inmates at Butler County Jail in Greenville, Alabama, appeal the district court's dismissal pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) of their complaint against Butler County, the Butler County Commission, and Sheriff Diane Harris in both her individual and official capacities. Marsh and Owens sued under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, claiming that their rights under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments were violated by the County, the County Commission, and the Sheriff's deliberate indifference to the substantial risk of serious harm to inmates at Butler County Jail. Owens also claimed that his rights under the Fourteenth Amendment were violated by their deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs. Marsh and Owens claim that the injuries they suffered, although arising from distinct incidents, were caused by the same unconstitutional jail conditions and jail practices. The district court dismissed the complaint under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) on the grounds that Butler County and the Butler County Commission are protected from this suit by legislative immunity, and that Sheriff Harris is protected by qualified immunity. We reverse.

DISCUSSION

The dismissal of a complaint for failure to state a claim is reviewed de novo. In re Johannessen, 76 F.3d 347, 349 (11th Cir.1996) In conducting such a review, appellate courts must keep in mind that "a complaint should not be dismissed for failure to state a claim unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief." Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236-37, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974). In interpreting Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8, which governs the filing of complaints, the Supreme Court has held that a plaintiff need only set out " 'a short and plain statement of the claim' that will give the defendant fair notice of what the plaintiff's claim is and the grounds upon which it rests." Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 47, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957). That requirement is no different in cases brought under Section 1983. Indeed, the Court has explicitly held that courts may not apply a "heightened pleading standard" over and above the dictates of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a) to claims under Section 1983.¹ Leatherman v. Tarrant County Narcotics Intelligence & Coordination Unit, 507 U.S. 163, 168, 113 S.Ct. 1160, 122 L.Ed.2d 517 (1993).

This case involves a complaint filed against Butler County, the Butler County Commission, and Sheriff Diane Harris. The claims against the County and the County Commission on the one hand and Sheriff Harris on the other involve different questions of liability and immunity as different types of governmental entities are entitled to different types of immunity. In order to determine whether Marsh and Owens have stated legal claims against Butler County, the Butler County Commission, and Sheriff Harris, we must first ascertain the type of governmental body or officer each represents, which will determine the type of conduct each may be held liable for under Section 1983. In determining the particular functions of a governmental body or official, we must refer to the state law definitions of that entity's functions. Turquitt v. Jefferson County, Ala., 137 F.3d 1285, 1287 (11th Cir.1998) (en banc). This Court has stated that "[o]ur analysis of Alabama law persuades us that an Alabama sheriff acts exclusively for the state rather than for the county in operating a county jail." Id. at 1288. Thus, we examine Marsh and Owens' complaint to determine both whether it states a claim against the County and County Commission as local governmental bodies, and whether it states a claim against Sheriff Harris as a state official in either her official or personal capacity. Accordingly, we discuss the claims against the County and the Commission separately from those against Harris.

I. Claims against Butler County and the Butler County Commission²

A. Allegations in the Complaint

In order to state a claim under Section 1983 against a local governing body, a plaintiff must allege that he suffered a constitutional injury, and that his injury was caused by "a policy statement, ordinance, regulation, or decision officially adopted and promulgated by that body's officers." Monell v. Dept. of Social Servs., 436 U.S. 658, 690, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978). A local governing body may also be held liable for "constitutional deprivations visited pursuant to governmental 'custom' even though such a custom has not received formal approval through the body's official decisionmaking channels," but may not be held liable under a theory of vicarious liability. Id. at 690-91, 98 S.Ct. 2018. The extent to which the County may be held liable for constitutional violations at the Butler County Jail is proscribed by the extent to which the County is responsible for the conditions therein. In Alabama, the distinct responsibilities of counties and sheriffs with respect to the operation and maintenance of county jails have been recognized by this Court. We have held that the "duties of the counties with respect to the jails 'are limited to funding the operation of the jail and to providing facilities to house the jail.' " Turquitt v. Jefferson County, Ala., 137 F.3d 1285, 1289 (11th Cir.1998) (en banc) (quoting Stark v. Madison County, 678 So.2d 787, 787 (Ala.Civ.App.1996)). "The county commission is charged with erecting and maintaining jails, and each county is required to maintain a jail of sufficient size and strength to secure the prisoners." Id. at 1289-90 (quoting Ala.Code §§ 11-14-10, 11-14-13 (1989)).

In their complaint, Marsh and Owens claim that the County's "deliberate indifference to the substantial risk of serious harm to inmates at Butler County Jail" resulted in substantial injury to them, in violation of their Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. In order to state such a claim successfully for the purposes of a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, Marsh and Owens must allege facts supporting each element of a deliberate indifference claim. Thus, the complaint must allege facts demonstrating: 1) that inmates at Butler County Jail were subjected to a substantial risk of serious harm; 2) that the County was deliberately indifferent to that risk; 3) that there was a causal link between the acts or omissions of the County and the excessive risk of violence; and 4) that there was a causal link between the excessive risk of violence and the injuries suffered by Marsh and Owens. Hale v. Tallapoosa County, 50 F.3d 1579, 1582-84 (11th Cir.1995); see also Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 837, 847, 114 S.Ct. 1970, 128 L.Ed.2d 811 (1994). For the purposes of reviewing the district court's dismissal of the plaintiffs' complaint, we must accept all facts alleged in the complaint as true. Fortner v. Thomas, 983 F.2d 1024, 1027 (11th Cir.1993). Of course the facts as stated herein may differ from the facts ultimately determined by a jury.

The complaint in this case makes the following allegations about conditions in Butler County Jail. The Butler County Jail, a two-story building located in downtown Greenville, Alabama, was constructed in 1929 and 1930. By 1996, because the County failed to maintain the facility over the years, the building was in an extremely dilapidated and poor physical condition. Sewage leaked from overhead pipes. Showers were covered with rust, mildew and peeling paint. Sinks and toilets were dilapidated and inoperable. Hallways were littered with trash. Windows were cracked and could not be closed. Shards of broken glass lay in the window sills. Rats, cockroaches and other rodents and vermin entered the jail through broken windows and cracks in the walls. The locks on inmate cells on the second floor of the Jail had been inoperable since at least 1995. As a result, inmates housed on the second floor have been able at all times to open their cell doors and walk into the hall, other cells, or the dayrooms whenever they wished, and they did so.

The complaint further alleged that the Jail was grossly understaffed. Despite the fact that jailers had numerous duties,³ the Jail was often staffed by only one person. Jailers spent most of their time sitting at a desk at the entrance to the Jail on the first floor, from which position they could not view any of the inmate cells, dayrooms, or the kitchen. In fact, most inmate living areas at the Jail were completely unsupervised. Jailers were "too afraid to conduct visual inspections of inmate cells on the second floor" because the broken locks prevented them from ever locking down the inmates. The Jail had no visual or audio surveillance system on the second floor, and no jailer was assigned there.

Because of the poor condition of the Jail, inmates were able "to vandalize [the facility], break windows, and rip metal pipes and other dangerous objects from the structure." Due in part to the low perimeter fence around the exercise yard, inmates were also "able to obtain screwdrivers, sticks, and [make-shift knives called] 'shanks' from outside the exercise yard." As a result of the County's failure to maintain a jail of sufficient size and strength to adequately secure and protect the prisoners, Marsh and Owens contend that inmates at Butler County Jail faced a substantial risk of serious harm at the hands of other inmates. Inmates were able to...