Mitchell v. Rice

• Citation: 954 F.2d 187
• Decision Date: 10 January 1992
• Docket Number: No. 90-6040,90-6040
• Parties: James Calvin MITCHELL, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Nathan A. RICE; Bobby R. Watson; Bob Seymore, Defendants-Appellants, and James Martin, Governor; J. Dwight Sanderford; Gene T. Cousin, in their individual and official capacities, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

Page 187

954 F.2d 187

James Calvin MITCHELL, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Nathan A. RICE; Bobby R. Watson; Bob Seymore, Defendants-Appellants, and James Martin, Governor; J. Dwight Sanderford; Gene T.

Cousin, in their individual and official

capacities, Defendants.

No. 90-6040.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Argued Oct. 2, 1991.

Decided Jan. 10, 1992.

Sylvia Hargett Thibaut, Asst. Atty. Gen., Raleigh, N.C., argued (Lacy H. Thornburg, Atty. Gen., on brief), for defendants-appellants.

Robert J. King, III, Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard, Greensboro, N.C., argued (Mack Sperling, on brief), for plaintiff-appellee.

Before RUSSELL, HALL and PHILLIPS, Circuit Judges.

OPINION

PER CURIAM:

This case returns to us after two prior appeals. The present appeal challenges the district court's dismissal of Appellants' summary judgment motion. Appellants, North Carolina prison officials, were defendants below in a section 1983 prisoner complaint charging that deprivation of out-of-cell exercise opportunities for extended periods of time violated the Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment [836 F.2d 546 (table) ]. State officials filed a motion for summary judgment asserting the defense of qualified immunity. The United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Raleigh Division, denied the motion, finding, inter alia, that abundant authority existed to place Defendants on notice that deprivation of out-of-cell exercise was unconstitutional. We affirm and remand the case to the district court for further fact finding.

I.

In December 1973, James Calvin Mitchell began serving a thirty-year sentence for second degree murder and a consecutive five- to ten-year sentence for armed robbery. He was incarcerated at Central Prison in Raleigh, North Carolina.

While incarcerated, Mitchell was charged with and convicted of various crimes committed inside prison. On April 23, 1975, Mitchell was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill resulting in serious injury, for which he received a three-year concurrent sentence. On November 10, 1975, Mitchell was convicted of attempted escape from prison, for which he received a four-month concurrent sentence. Five years later, on October 14, 1980, Mitchell was convicted of another assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury and received a twelve-month concurrent sentence. On July 11, 1983, Mitchell was again convicted, this time on two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, inflicting serious injury, for which he received two consecutive sentences of ten and twenty years. Additionally from 1973 to 1986 Mitchell incurred over seventy prison rule infractions, some of which were violent in nature.

At the time of Mitchell's July 1983 assaults, he had already been placed in maximum custody assigned to intensive management, the most restrictive custody level in the North Carolina Prison system. State regulations permit intensive management assignments in order to "isolate inmates that pose an imminent threat to the life or health of other inmates or the staff of the unit or institution involved." 5 N.C.Admin.Code tit. 5, r. 2C.0401 (Dec.1984). The regulations authorize further restrictions of outside cell activities "where an inmate has seriously assaulted or threatened to assault staff or other inmates if allowed outside the cell...." r. 2C.0300(d)1. Further restrictions specifically approved in the regulations include security restraints (handcuffs and/or leg cuffs) for out-of-cell activities, curtailment of law library privileges, and "additional restrictions" on outside cell exercise activities. Id.

As a result of Mitchell's July 11, 1983, assaults, prison officials ordered Mitchell shackled in full restraints (hand and leg cuffs) any time he was outside his cell. Despite these physical restraints, Mitchell's menacing behavior persisted. On July 24, 1983, while outside his cell in full restraints, Mitchell attacked the window of a Control Station room with a broom handle. This episode led Bobby R. Watson, Associate Warden for Operations at Central Prison, to recommend that Mitchell be restricted to his cell except for showers twice weekly, and then in full restraints. After notice to Mitchell and a hearing, the Director's Review Committee approved the same on July 28, 1983, and ordered subsequent review every thirty days. In accordance with regulations, prison officials provided Mitchell with an exercise manual demonstrating in-cell exercises.

On February 29, 1984, seven months after the imposition of full out-of-cell restrictions, the Director's Review Committee returned Mitchell to limited restrictions. He was then able to leave his cell for regular exercise, however, still in full restraints. During the prior seven-month period, Mitchell had been largely confined to his cell, except for semi-weekly showers.

One year after full restrictions were relaxed, Mitchell's assaultive behavior resumed. On February 26, 1985, Mitchell, in full restraints, again attacked the Control Station window with a mop wringer after refusing to return to his cell. As a result, full out-of-cell restrictions were again imposed by the Director's Classification Committee (formerly the Director's Review Committee) on April 3, 1985.

On March 14, 1986, after eleven months under full restrictions, the Classifications Committee lifted the restrictions and transferred Mitchell to Caledonia Correctional Institution. In total, Mitchell had been subjected to out-of-cell arm and leg restraints for a period of two years and eight months. For eighteen of those months he was ordered confined to a sixty-seven square foot cell ¹ without any regular opportunity to exercise outside his cell or any regular exposure to different surroundings, fresh air or sunshine.

Mitchell did not file any grievances concerning his health or medical problems during the two periods of full restriction. Furthermore, his medical records do not reveal any injuries directly related to his confinement during these periods.

On March 3, 1986, Mitchell filed a pro se complaint charging Governor James Martin and various prison officials under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 with numerous Eighth Amendment violations. ² The district court granted defendant's motion to dismiss and for summary judgment upon recommendation from the United States Magistrate.

On appeal, we affirmed the district court's dismissal in all respects except one. The surviving issue, Mitchell's claim that deprivation of out-of-cell exercise for extended periods of time violated the Eighth Amendment, was vacated and remanded for further review. Prison officials then filed a petition for rehearing, which we granted. On rehearing, we remanded the exercise issue "for development of additional facts ..., particularly whether the plaintiff offered any proof of injury, with an opportunity to both parties to present any additional evidence they may desire." Mitchell v. Martin, No. 87-6592, slip op. at 2-3 (Jan. 12, 1989) [867 F.2d 609 (table) ].

Prison officials filed another motion for summary judgment in the district court, asserting a defense of qualified immunity. The district court denied the motion and prison officials now appeal.

II.

We have jurisdiction in this case under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 (1988). The Supreme Court held in Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511, 530, 105 S.Ct. 2806, 2817, 86 L.Ed.2d 411 (1985), that denial of qualified immunity on summary judgment is an appealable final decision under section 1291.

We review denials of summary judgment de novo and apply the same standard of review required of a trial court. Smith v. University of North Carolina, 632 F.2d 316, 338 (4th Cir.1980). Summary judgment should be rendered if "there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and ... the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). In making our decision, we must consider the facts in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party and draw all justifiable inferences in that party's favor. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2513, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Smith, 632 F.2d at 338.

A.

As a general rule, government officials acting reasonably within the scope of their authority are immune from both defending themselves in a legal action and possible subsequent liability. Reasonable conduct is defined as conduct which "does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known." Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 2738, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982). The test "generally turns on the 'objective legal reasonableness' of the actions," Anderson v. Creighton, 483 U.S. 635, 639, 107 S.Ct. 3034, 3038, 97 L.Ed.2d 523 (1987) (quoting Harlow, 457 U.S. at 819, 102 S.Ct. at 2738), ignoring considerations of the official's subjective intent. That is, we look to the law itself. The knowledge or intent of the particular official is irrelevant. We have previously held that the individual bringing suit against a public official bears the burden of clearly establishing the law allegedly violated. Clark v. Link, 855 F.2d 156, 160-61 (4th Cir.1988).

In determining whether or not an official violated clearly established law, we must look to the law at the time the alleged offense was committed. Harlow, 457 U.S. at 818, 102 S.Ct. at 2738; Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. at 530, 105 S.Ct. at 2817. The law must be established with some particularity. Anderson, 483 U.S. at 640, 107 S.Ct. at 3039. In other words,

the contours of the right must be sufficiently clear that a reasonable official would understand that what he is doing violates that right. That is not to say that an official action is protected by qualified immunity unless the very action in question has previously been held unlawful; but it is to say that in the light of pre-existing law the...