Monmouth Cty. Correctional Inst. Inmates v. Lanzaro, Civ. A. No. 82-1924.

• Citation: 595 F. Supp. 1417
• Decision Date: 14 November 1984
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 82-1924.
• Parties: MONMOUTH COUNTY CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION INMATES et al., Plaintiffs, v. William LANZARO, Monmouth County Sheriff, et al. and William H. Fauver, Commissioner etc.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of New Jersey

595 F. Supp. 1417

MONMOUTH COUNTY CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION INMATES et al., Plaintiffs, v. William LANZARO, Monmouth County Sheriff, et al. and William H. Fauver, Commissioner etc.

Civ. A. No. 82-1924.

United States District Court, D. New Jersey.

October 10, 1984.

As Amended November 14, 1984.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Gerald Boswell, Dept. of Public Advocate, Trenton, N.J., for plaintiffs.

Malcolm V. Carton, Avon, N.J., for Lanzaro et al.

Joseph Maloney, Deputy Atty. Gen., Trenton, N.J., for State of N.J. & Fauver.

OPINION

HAROLD A. ACKERMAN, District Judge.

This is an action challenging the constitutionality of the conditions of confinement at the Monmouth County Correctional Institution (MCCI or "the jail") in New Jersey. The plaintiffs in this action are a class of inmates at MCCI and defendants are various County and State officials including William Lanzaro, the Monmouth County Sheriff, and William H. Fauver, Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Corrections.¹ In this case, this court is once again asked to confront one of the "inevitable consequences of this nation's war on crime": prison overcrowding and the sometimes "egregious" conditions of confinement which may result. See Union County Jail Inmates v. Scanlon, 537 F.Supp. 993, 996 (D.N.J.1982), rev'd on other grounds sub nom., Union County Jail Inmates v. DiBuono, 713 F.2d 984, reh. denied, 718 F.2d 1247 (3d Cir.1983), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 104 S.Ct. 1600, 80 L.Ed.2d 130 (1984). As in the Union County Jail case, all parties agree that MCCI is overcrowded and the only issue is whether the conditions in the jail have fallen below minimum constitutional standards for the confinement of sentenced inmates and pre-trial detainees.

This action in its present form commenced on January 4, 1983 when this court consolidated the complaints of various pro se inmates which had been filed during the preceding months of 1982. By Order of this court dated June 6, 1983, the matter was referred to a Special Master, James R. Zazzali, Esq.², pursuant to Rule 53(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The Special Master was ordered to "conduct a thorough examination into the totality of the conditions at the Monmouth County Correctional Institution" and to "submit ... proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law as to whether the overcrowded condition of the jail is violative of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution with respect to sentenced inmates or of the Fourteenth Amendment with respect to pretrial detainees...." All parties agreed, in conference with the Special Master, that the proceedings would be limited in scope to plaintiffs' claims of cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment and of a denial of due process under the Fourteenth Amendment.³

The Special Master and his Assistant, Robert Fagella, Esq., toured the MCCI facility on June 30, 1983 and again, unannounced, on July 15. A first set of hearings were held before the Master on July 20, 21, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and August 1, 1983. All counsel were present and were afforded a full opportunity to examine and cross-examine witnesses. Pre and post-hearing briefs were submitted. Following these hearings and before any final report had been filed by the Special Master, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued its decision in the Union County Jail case, 713 F.2d 984, in which it reversed this court's decision on the constitutionality of the conditions of confinement existing in the correctional facilities at issue therein. Following the Union County Jail decision, there arose considerable disagreement between the parties regarding the impact of the Third Circuit's opinion on the governing law.

On September 16, 1983, contending that the Union County Jail case necessitated further investigation into the totality of conditions at MCCI, plaintiffs moved this court for an order permitting additional hearings, additional discovery and an extension of time within which the Special Master would be required to submit his report to the court. In support of their motion, plaintiffs also argued that defendants had belatedly raised new issues concerning double-celling and double-bunking at MCCI which had not been addressed at the hearings. Noting that the proposed remedy of double-bunking had not been raised by the defendants until after the conclusion of the hearings, I ordered that hearings be reopened to permit the exploration of issues raised by this proposal. In particular I stated:

Such exploration may include the full range of discovery techniques under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, as well as experts regarding issues such as the physical or psychological effects of double-bunking on the inmates, and the effect of double-bunking on the inmates, and the effect of double-bunking on the jail's physical plant, staff and conditions of confinement....

Transcript of Opinion rendered on September 16, 1983 at 12-4 to 12-12. Further, I ordered that the defendants respond to all outstanding discovery requests and I extended the date on which the Master's report was due. Pursuant to my order, further discovery was conducted and additional hearings were held by the Master on November 16, 17, 18, 21, 22, 23 and December 5, 7, and 10, 1983. The Special Master's Report and Recommendations Concerning Overcrowding at the Monmouth County Correctional Institution was filed on February 10, 1984 and timely objections to the Master's findings were filed by plaintiffs and by State defendants thereafter.

On November 15, 1983, before the additional hearings commenced, plaintiffs moved this court for preliminary injunctive relief. Plaintiffs sought an order of this court requiring defendants to provide all inmates at the MCCI with one hour of out-of-cell recreation daily and prohibiting the practice of requiring inmates to sleep on the floor. State defendants did not contest the relief requested. In fact, Commissioner Fauver had already ordered the county to provide much the same relief which plaintiffs sought in this court. On the uncontested factual record then before me, I concluded that plaintiffs had, to this extent, demonstrated a reasonable likelihood of success on the merits of their Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment claims and that they would be irreparably harmed pendente lite if their motion for injunctive relief was denied. Further, I concluded that the county defendants had failed to show that its interests or the interests of the public mandated a contrary result. Consequently, I ordered "that no pretrial detainee of the MCCI shall be required to sleep on the floor with or without a mattress and bedding for more than 48 hours and that no sentenced inmate at MCCI shall be required to sleep on the floor with or without a mattress and bedding for more than two weeks. In addition, I ordered that all persons confined at the MCCI shall receive a minimum of one hour of recreation away from their living space each day." I advised the County to consider the suggestions already made by Commissioner Fauver regarding how this could be accomplished.

On May 3, 1984, plaintiffs moved this court for an order of contempt against the defendants due to their alleged substantial non-compliance with the preliminary injunction which had been entered in this case. Evidentiary documentation and affidavits were submitted by the parties. Oral argument on the objections filed by the parties to the Special Master's Report were heard on the same day. At the close of oral argument, counsel for plaintiffs indicated that he would be willing to withdraw the motion for an order of contempt in light of the pendency of a final decision on the merits of the case.

This case is presently before me for a final ruling on the merits of the issues referred to the Master for proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law. Rule 53(e)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides that "in an action to be tried without a jury the court shall accept the Master's findings of fact unless clearly erroneous." See Kyriazi v. Western Electric Co., 647 F.2d 388, 396 (3d Cir.1981); 5A Moore's Federal Practice ¶ 53.124 (1984). The Master's findings of fact, therefore, carry a presumption of correctness. The Master's conclusions of law, however, carry no weight with the reviewing court. See Levin v. Garfinkle, 540 F.Supp. 1228, 1236 (E.D.Pa.1982); C. Wright and A. Miller, 9 Federal Practice and Procedure § 2614 (1984); 5A Moore's Federal Practice ¶ 53.125 (footnote omitted). Moreover this court has an obligation to review a Master's legal conclusions on a de novo basis. See Polin v. Dun & Bradstreet, Inc., 634 F.2d 1319, 1321 (10th Cir. 1980).

FINDINGS OF FACT OF THE SPECIAL MASTER

The Master's report describes the MCCI as a "relatively modern one-story detention facility" located in Freehold, New Jersey. Special Master's Report (SMR) at 9. The Master further described the facility as "sprawling, containing several cell blocks and dormitory areas connected by corridors." Id. At the outset he concluded that according to any measure the "MCCI has been seriously overcrowded in the last two years, and particularly so since January 1, 1983 ... the evidence is overwhelming that a persistent and pernicious state of overcrowding at MCCI previously and presently exists, though to a lesser degree." SMR at 48. While the population of the MCCI has varied rather dramatically, the Master noted that the peak population of some 600 inmates occurred on March 6, 1983. The Master made the following findings with respect to the impact of this effectively conceded overcrowding on all aspects of inmate life and on the conditions of confinement generally.

With regard to inmate housing, the Master found that severe overcrowding at the MCCI through the summer of 1983 "resulted in substantial numbers of inmates sleeping on the floor in all areas of the facility," including dormitories, dayrooms, cell...