Mims v. Shapp, Civ. A. No. 74-1101.

• Decision Date: 15 August 1975
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 74-1101.
• Parties: Jeffrey Roger MIMS et al. v. Milton SHAPP, Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, et al.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania

399 F. Supp. 818

Jeffrey Roger MIMS et al. v. Milton SHAPP, Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, et al.

Civ. A. No. 74-1101.

United States District Court, W. D. Pennsylvania.

On Motion for Temporary Injunction April 28, 1975.

On Motion for Permanent Injunction August 15, 1975.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Paul R. Gettleman, Pittsburgh, Pa., for plaintiffs.

Israel Packel, Atty. Gen., Frederick R. Nene, Pittsburgh, Pa., for defendants.

ON MOTION FOR TEMPORARY INJUNCTION

GOURLEY, Senior District Judge.

This is a Civil Rights action in which jurisdiction is founded upon 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiffs are state penal inmates alleging various violations of their constitutional rights during their incarceration in the Behavioral Adjustment Unit (B.A.U.) of the State Correctional Institution at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (S.C.I., Pgh.). The immediate matter before the Court is plaintiffs' request for a preliminary injunction.

The Court has afforded the parties a full and complete hearing and has considered the arguments of counsel. Based thereon, it is the considered judgment of this Court that plaintiffs' request for a preliminary injunction should be denied. At the outset, it is well to note that in connection with this determination that the present proceeding should not be deemed a proper class action. Every inmate presents a different problem due to various factors, including age, education, previous experiences, and activities in life. Moreover, an inmate's background and training, his state of mind and general attitude, and his physical and mental capabilities all help to determine what treatment is necessary, proper, and required for him as an individual.

The facts may be briefly stated. All plaintiffs are, or have been, residents of the B.A.U. in the S.C.I., Pgh. The B.A.U. at the S.C.I., Pgh., is used for purposes of punishment and for security. In view of the purpose of the B.A. U., the furnishings are fewer and more durable than in the other cells in the S.C.I., Pgh. Inmates transferred to the S.C.I., Pgh., from other punitive segregation areas of other state correctional institutions are placed in the B.A.U. pending a review of their status, and until such time as the authorities consider the inmates capable of being transferred to the general population.¹ Those plaintiffs who testified at the hearing were, just prior to their transfer to the S.C.I., Pgh., confined in a B.A.U. in their prior institution. When prisoners confined in the B.A.U. engaged in activities which jeopardized themselves and others, restrictive measures were taken to correct the problem. The Courts should not interfere with what penal inmate supervisors feel and believe should be done in order to maintain proper obedience to the rules, regulations, and directives that govern and control the activities of all inmates. If this control was not given to penal inmate supervisors, law enforcement and punishment for offenders would disintegrate and our society would be destroyed.

Plaintiffs claim they are entitled to a preliminary injunction because defendants' actions have amounted to violations of their First, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Amendment rights; more specifically, that (1) defendants have prohibited members of the Suni Muslim faith who are housed in the B.A.U. the right to practice their religion and have refused to permit a Muslim minister into the S.C.I., Pgh., to meet with members of the Suni Muslim faith in the B.A.U.; (2) inmates have been transferred from the general prison population into the B.A.U. at S.C.I., Pgh., without any type of disciplinary hearing; (3) defendants violated Administrative Directive 801 in their handling and conducting disciplinary hearings in the confinement of inmates in the B.A.U.; (4) plaintiffs are not given definite sentences to the B.A.U., and their release from same is completely discretionary upon the whim and caprice of the prison review committee;² (5) inmates have been denied attorney visits while confined in the B.A.U., as well as access to the prison law clinic and library; and, (6) defendants violated plaintiff Mims' constitutional right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment by placing him in a "dry cell"³ for six days.

The Court wishes to make clear that in determining whether there has been any violation of plaintiffs' constitutional rights, it is guided by an overriding principle that:

"To determine, with precision, those rights which follow an inmate into prison involves a process of weighing and balancing conflicting interests. The desire that there be a maximum opportunity for the exercise of rights and privileges may often collide with the practical necessities of managing and administering a complicated penal community. The task of striking the proper balance between these conflicting interests is generally within the competence of the prison authorities. Thus, the federal courts have been understandably reluctant to intervene in matters of state prison administration, recognizing that a wide latitude for judgment and discretion must be extended to prison officials." Gittlemacker v. Prasse, 428 F.2d 1, (3d Cir. 1970).

In determining whether to issue a preliminary injunction, the Court must look to the following critera: (1) the likelihood that plaintiffs will succeed on the merits at trial; (2) whether irreparable harm will result to plaintiffs if the injunction is not issued; (3) whether the injury to plaintiffs if the injunction is denied outweighs any forseeable harm to the defendants; and (4) public interest. Guyer v. Cities Service Co., 381 F.Supp. 7 (E.D., Wis., 1974). Very simply stated, plaintiffs have failed to meet this burden.

One of the primary functions of government is the preservation of societal order through the enforcement of criminal law, and the maintenance of penal institutions is an essential part of that task. The identifiable governmental interests at stake in this task are the preservation of internal order and discipline, the maintenance of institutional security, and the rehabilitation of prisoners. Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S. 396, 94 S.Ct. 1800, 40 L.Ed.2d 224 (1974). To further this governmental interest it becomes necessary, if not a clear duty, for prison administrators to segregate inmates who are considered threats to themselves, others, or to the safety and security of the institution. Long v. Harris, 332 F.Supp. 262 (D. Kansas, 1971); aff'd 473 F.2d 1387 (10th Cir. 1973). Those plaintiffs confined in the B.A.U. at S.C.I., Pgh., were placed there by prison officials through the proper exercise of their responsibilities. The placement of plaintiffs in the B.A.U. at S.C.I., Pgh., was consistent with the institution policy whereby an inmate transferred from the B.A.U. of another institution is placed in the B.A.U. at Pittsburgh, and his status is periodically reviewed.

This Court has always been sensitive to any deprivation of a prisoner's fundamental constitutional rights. Nevertheless, this Court remains highly deferential to the discretion of the prison administrator where, as here, a reasonable disciplinary regulation is enforced with at least the minimal procedural fairness required by the Constitution. Rinehart v. Brewer, 491 F.2d 705 (8th Cir. 1974). No prisoner has the right to engage in conduct or any form of protest which imposes a clear and present danger of disorder and violence. Thus, plaintiff Mims' act of flooding his cell justified the shutting off of water and toilet facilities except when needed. Likewise, when plaintiffs' actions in the B.A.U. constitute a danger even to counsel for plaintiffs, the prison administrators would have a clear duty, if not a moral one, to stop counsel until the situation is corrected. This Court recognizes that, due to the nature and purpose of the B.A.U., certain privileges and rights awarded to the general prison population are more restricted in the B.A.U. However, the Court is not persuaded that plaintiff inmates are denied access to legal counsel, legal materials, or any other Due Process considerations raised by plaintiffs.

In view of the difficulties encountered by prison officials, this Court goes along with the generally accepted view that solitary or disciplinary confinement is not per se cruel and unusual punishment. Kostal v. Tinsley, 337 F.2d 845 (10th Cir. 1964); Graham v. Willingham, 384 F.2d 367 (10th Cir. 1967); Evans v. Moseley, 455 F.2d 1084 (10th Cir. 1972); Courtney v. Bishop, 409 F.2d 1185 (8th Cir. 1969); Sostre v. McGinnis, 442 F.2d 178 (2nd Cir. 1971).

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