Miller v. Carson

Decision Date17 July 1975
Docket NumberNo. 74-382-Civ-J-S.,74-382-Civ-J-S.
Citation401 F. Supp. 835
PartiesRichard Franklin MILLER et al., Plaintiffs, v. Dale CARSON, Individually and in his capacity as Sheriff of Duval County, Florida, and the Consolidated City of Jacksonville, Florida, et al., Defendants.
CourtU.S. District Court — Middle District of Florida

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William J. Sheppard, Jacksonville, Fla., for plaintiffs.

William L. Coalson, Jacksonville, Fla., for "City Defendants."

T. Edward Austin, Jr., Jacksonville, Fla., amicus curiae.

Laurence C. Pritchard, Jacksonville, Fla., for T. Edward Austin, amicus curiae.

Gerald Schneider, Jacksonville, Fla., for Jacksonville Hospital Authority.

Raymond W. Gearey, Jr., Atty., Fla. Div. of Corrections, Tallahassee, Fla., for Fla. Div. of Corrections and the other State defendants.

Donna Stinson, Asst. Atty. Gen., Dept. of Legal Affairs, Civil Div., Tallahassee, Fla., for Louie L. Wainwright.

Julius F. Parker, Jr., Tallahassee, Fla., for Fla. Sheriff's Ass'n.

Charles B. Lembcke, Asst. U. S. Atty., Jacksonville, Fla., for Mitchell A. Newberger, U. S. Marshal.

United States Magistrate, Ombudsman, Jacksonville, Fla.

ORDER AND DECLARATORY JUDGMENT

CHARLES R. SCOTT, District Judge.

This is a class action with the Court having heretofore ruled that the action is properly maintainable by plaintiffs as a class action consisting of all persons, male and female, who are presently or in the future will be incarcerated in the Duval County Jail, Jacksonville, Florida. The purpose of this action is to improve the conditions which exist at the Duval County Jail.

The Court finds that it has jurisdiction over the parties hereto and the subject matter hereof and the plaintiffs are entitled to a declaratory judgment against the defendants Dale Carson, individually and in his capacity as Sheriff of Duval County, Florida, and the Consolidated City of Jacksonville, Florida; Hans G. Tanzler, individually and in his capacity as Mayor of the Consolidated City of Jacksonville, Florida; Don Brewer, Jr., Joe Carlucci, Julian Fant, Jr., Joe Forshee, Jake M. Godbold, David Harrell, J. Earl Huntley, Frank Hampton, Earl Johnson, Preben Johansen, Mickey King, John G. Lanahan, Sallye Mathis, Lynwood Roberts, Johnny Sanders, I. M. Sulzbacher, Larry Teague, Charlie Webb, Walter Williams, Jr., individually and in their respective capacities as Councilmen and Councilwoman of the Consolidated City of Jacksonville City Council; Robert E. Page, individually and in his capacity as Deputy Director of Prisons and Jails, Consolidated City of Jacksonville, Florida; and R. W. Grant, individually and in his capacity as Chief of Jails, Consolidated City of Jacksonville, Florida, and against the successors, agents, servants and employees of each of said defendants with respect to the following:

1. The conditions found to exist in the Duval County Jail, being considerably worse than those to which many sentenced prisoners are subjected in Florida, even though the majority of plaintiffs and the subclass of pretrial detainees they represent have not been convicted and are not subject to punishment for any crime, are in violation of the rights of plaintiffs and the subclass of pretrial detainees they represent under the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

2. The conditions found to exist in the Duval County Jail are severely punitive in nature and effectively punish plaintiffs and the subclasses they represent, the large majority of whom are detained prior to trial before they have been convicted of any crimes, or given any sentence, thus depriving them of life and liberty without due process of law, and contravening the presumption that they are innocent until proven guilty, all in violation of their rights under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States.

3. The conditions found to exist in the Duval County Jail are so extreme as to constitute the infliction of punishment which is both cruel and unusual in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.

4. The conditions found to exist in the Duval County Jail relating to lack of access to a library and to law books, the restrictions on visiting privileges, the limitations on telephonic communications deprive plaintiffs and the subclasses they represent to effective assistance of counsel, the ability to assist in the preparation of a defense and to secure witnesses in their behalf, all in violation of their rights under the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States.

5. The restrictions on religious freedom found to exist in the Duval County Jail deprive plaintiffs and the subclasses they represent of their rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States.

6. The arbitrary, capricious and unlawful summary discipline administered by the officials to the inmates at the Duval County Jail deprives plaintiffs and the subclasses they represent of due process of law in violation of their rights under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States.

7. The arbitrary and capricious limitations placed upon access to families and friends, and upon delivery of packages and the failure to provide even a daily newspaper to the inmates in the Duval County Jail deprive the plaintiffs and the subclass which they represent of their rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States.

Ordered and adjudged:

That this Court retains jurisdiction for the purpose of implementation of this Order and Declaratory Judgment.

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE

On January 31, 1975, this Court entered a declaratory judgment, with supporting findings of fact and conclusions of law, which declared that the conditions in the Duval County Jail were "so extreme as to constitute the infliction of punishment which is both cruel and unusual in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution"; that those conditions were so severely punitive as to "effectively punish plaintiffs and the subclasses they represent," the large majority of whom were pre-trial detainees, "thus depriving them of life and liberty without due process of law, and contravening the presumption that they are innocent until proven guilty"; that said conditions operated to deprive the plaintiffs of their right to effective assistance of counsel and their ability to assist in the preparation of a defense and to secure witnesses in their behalf, so as to violate their Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment rights.

In addition, this Court declared that the restrictions on religious freedom found to exist in the Duval County Jail violated the plaintiffs' rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments; that the "arbitrary, capricious and unlawful summary discipline administered to inmates of the Duval County Jail deprived plaintiffs of their procedural due process rights under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments"; and that the restrictions imposed by the defendants upon access to families and friends, reading materials and the delivery of mail violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments. Finally, this Court declared that the conditions in the Duval County Jail, to the extent that they were worse than those to which most sentenced prisoners are subjected in Florida, violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment as to those plaintiffs who were pre-trial detainees.

On this basis, this Court, contemporaneously therewith, issued a preliminary injunction in order to partially remedy the constitutionally offensive practices of the defendants. On February 6, 1975, the city defendants filed a motion to modify and/or clarify certain portions of the preliminary injunction. A hearing was held thereon and this Court, on February 25, 1975, entered its order and memorandum opinion which did, in fact, modify and clarify certain provisions in the preliminary injunction.

On February 13, 1975, this Court appointed the United States Magistrate for the Jacksonville Division of the Middle District of Florida as Ombudsman "to relieve the Court of the time-consuming attention required on a day-to-day basis in a case of this nature." That order stated that the Ombudsman's duty was "to aid this Court in developing and resolving issues that may arise in the day-to-day operation of the Duval County Jail with regard to the preliminary injunction issued by this Court on January 31, 1975, and any subsequent injunctions or decrees entered herein."

On this basis, in response to numerous complaints concerning alleged violations of this Court's preliminary injunction, the Ombudsman inspected the jail, talked to inmates and correctional staff, held conferences with counsel and conducted hearings at which evidence was adduced, both testimonial and documentary in nature. On March 4, 1975, the Ombudsman filed a report covering the period from the date of his appointment through March 1, 1975. The substance of the Ombudsman's report is that this Court's preliminary injunction of January 31, 1975, and the modification order of February 25, 1975, have been violated in numerous respects, with specific details thereof. In each instance, the defendants either admitted the violations or adduced no evidence to the contrary. The Ombudsman's conclusions can best be summarized in the concluding sentence in his report:

The Ombudsman finds that this Court's orders of January 31, 1975, and February 25, 1975, have been violated in the respects outlined above. Although there have been changes in administration, numerous conferences and memos, from the
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