Palmigiano v. Garrahy

• Decision Date: 10 August 1977
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 74-172 and 75-032.
• Citation: 443 F. Supp. 956
• Parties: Nicholas A. PALMIGIANO et al. v. J. Joseph GARRAHY et al. Thomas R. ROSS et al. v. J. Joseph GARRAHY et al.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Rhode Island

443 F. Supp. 956

Nicholas A. PALMIGIANO et al. v. J. Joseph GARRAHY et al.

Thomas R. ROSS et al. v. J. Joseph GARRAHY et al.

Civ. A. Nos. 74-172 and 75-032.

United States District Court, D. Rhode Island.

August 10, 1977.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Robert B. Mann, Providence, R. I., Matthew L. Myers, of the National Prison Project, Washington, D. C., John Farley and Joseph L. DeCaporale, Jr., Deputy Public Defenders, Providence, R. I., for plaintiffs.

William G. Brody, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., Providence, R. I., Valentino D. Lombardi, Chief Legal Counsel, R. I. Dept. of Corrections, Cranston, R. I., for defendants.

OPINION

PETTINE, Chief Judge.

This is a consolidated class action brought by five prisoners confined in the Rhode Island Adult Correctional Institutions (ACI) and by the National Prisoners Reform Association on behalf of all the prisoners incarcerated at the ACI. The plaintiff class, numbering over 650, includes pre-trial detainees as well as sentenced prisoners. Plaintiffs claim that the conditions under which they are confined violate the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, as well as various provisions of state law. They contend that the violations are so gross as to justify broad injunctive relief, including the permanent closing of the Maximum Security Building at the ACI complex in Cranston, Rhode Island. No damages are sought in this action.

Plaintiffs make four principal claims. First, that the defendants subject inmates housed in the Maximum and Medium Buildings to constitutionally intolerable levels of fear and violence. Second, that the defendants subject those prisoners to constitutionally intolerable conditions of confinement, including gross filth, unsanitary living quarters, unsanitary food services, dangerously inadequate medical care, and near-total idleness, all causing the physical and mental deterioration of inmates. Third, that pre-trial detainees are punitively subjected to conditions even worse than those suffered by sentenced inmates, and far in excess of any conditions reasonably necessary to insure their presence at trial. Fourth, that prisoners in protective custody are subjected to conditions worse than those suffered by sentenced prisoners, an alleged violation of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Jurisdiction of this action arising under 42 U.S.C. ? 1983 is conferred by 28 U.S.C. ?? 1343(3) and (4). The class was certified by order of July 23, 1976. Pendent jurisdiction is assumed over the state law claims, since they arise out of the same nucleus of fact as the federal constitutional claims and are likely to reduce the necessity for constitutional adjudication. Smith v. Sullivan, 553 F.2d 373 (5th Cir. 1977).

I

After extensive discovery, a trial was held which extended over two weeks. The findings of fact required by Fed.R.Civ.P. 52 are set forth herein, and are based on the testimony received at trial, stipulations by the parties and extensive exhibits, including depositions of various officers of the Department of Corrections. The Court's task was made easier by the extensive assistance of experts from various fields of corrections, institutional environmental health and sanitation, and correctional psychology. Although their qualifications, with few exceptions, will not be recounted herein, it suffices to say that the Court found them all extremely well-qualified, articulate, and fair. Their testimony was hardly disputed or contradicted by the defendants.¹ The Court also toured the institution during the trial. It should be noted that the Court has extensive familiarity with the ACI stretching over almost a decade. See, e. g., Morris v. Travisono, 310 F.Supp. 857 (D.R.I.1970); id., 373 F.Supp. 177 (D.R.I.1974), aff'd 509 F.2d 1358 (1st Cir. 1975); Ben David v. Travisono, 373 F.Supp. 177 (D.R.I.1974), aff'd 495 F.2d 562 (1st Cir. 1974); National Prisoners Reform Association v. Sharkey, 347 F.Supp. 1234 (D.R.I.1972); Souza v. Travisono, 368 F.Supp. 959 (D.R.I.), aff'd in part 498 F.2d 1120 (1st Cir. 1974).

To avoid extending an already lengthy opinion, the Court will not, in most instances, make specific findings of fact regarding deficiencies and inadequacies as they pertain to individual inmates. Extensive testimony, from inmates and from experts who examined inmate records, documents the cumulative case presented here, a case which would be neither added to nor detracted from by recitation of additional incidents.

Approximately 544 of the 661 plaintiff-inmates at the ACI are confined in two buildings at the ACI complex, which will be referred to as Maximum Security or Maximum and Medium Security or Medium. As will appear in greater detail, the latter name is a misnomer, for the inmates housed therein are with few exceptions all inmates classified as maximum security, but granted protective custody to protect them from other inmates, either at their own request or by decision of the Department. Approximately 117 other inmates, in minimum custody and work-release programs, are housed in other buildings at the ACI complex. As did the parties at trial, this opinion will focus on the conditions under which the 544 inmates in Maximum and Medium are confined.

1. Living Conditions in Maximum Security

The Maximum Security Building is over 100 years old, built for a capacity of 55 inmates at a time when penological practice dictated that prisoners be incarcerated in their cells throughout their imprisonment. It was well designed for that purpose, but it is inadequate for twentieth century correctional purposes. For at least the last five years, Maximum has held over 420 inmates, usually including 125 pre-trial detainees and 25 recently sentenced inmates, who by law are supposed to be confined apart from the general population for up to 30 days. At trial, the defendants finally conceded that Maximum has outlived its usefulness, and that it is unmanageable for anywhere near the number of inmates now confined there.

The building consists of massive iron cellblocks, arranged usually with cells in three ascending tiers reached by catwalks. The walls of the building are made of porous stone. They are impossible to keep clean and are encrusted with literally decades of dirt and grime. Between the tiers and the outer wall there is a walkway. The huge windows on the outer wall contain numerous broken or missing panes of glass. The window ledges are heaped with dust, dirt, and assorted trash. It is plain that no serious attempt has been made to clean them in months, if not years. By all accounts, housekeeping has deteriorated throughout Maximum drastically, and irremediably, in the last decade. Without major reconstruction and renovation, it is impossible to maintain minimum standards² of sanitation and cleanliness in Maximum. A number of experts with wide experience in managing and studying prisons across the country testified that Maximum was the filthiest prison they had ever encountered. The Court accepts this assessment as accurate; certainly, nothing that the Court observed on its view of Maximum would in any way undermine its credibility. Trash abounds on the floors and in empty cells. The entire structure is massively infested with cockroaches, rodents, mice, and rats, each of which carries disease throughout the prison. There are cats living in Maximum, and cat feces were observed on the floors of living areas and the showers. In parts of the building, the roof leaks rainwater, and tiles were falling off the ceiling onto the floor.

Plumbing throughout Maximum is unsanitary, inadequate, and an imminent danger to public health. It is as old as the building. Only cold water is available in inmate cells, although minimum standards for correctional institutions formulated, inter alia, by the Department of Justice require hot water as a health measure. Pipes are not equipped with vacuum breakers, creating an ever-present danger that waste water will back up into the fresh water system, even in the food preparation area. There is no regular maintenance program to guard against this threat. Plumbing leaks throughout the cell tiers, particularly in the service areas which run down the middle of each tier dividing the front from the back cells. Because these service areas house the electrical wiring, the leaking pipes present a serious risk of electrical fire. The damp conditions in the service areas are an ideal breeding area for the swarming cockroaches, which exist in all stages of development.

In the lavatories, the Court observed large pools of standing water on the floor, and apparently this is always present. There was a stench of urine coming from this water. The shower areas were filthy, covered with mold and mildew on the floors and the walls. Glass, trash, and dead cockroaches are everywhere on the shower floors. Not infrequently, inmates burn themselves on the hot water pipes which rise uncovered in the showers.

Lighting is inadequate for prisoners to read safely in their cells. Minimum standards require 30 foot-candles; the average range in Maximum was between 10 and 15. Aside from the adverse effects on prisoners' vision, inadequate lighting increases tension and fatigue among prisoners and guards. Not incidentally, adequate lighting could serve as a significant deterrent to the appearance of roaches and rodents.

The noise level throughout Maximum is deafening and maddening, and must inevitably increase the levels of both tension and psychological distress. There is a constant din from radios and televisions, each attached by a wire antenna from the cells to the outer windows in a grotesque Maypole effect.

The heating and ventilation system is antiquated and incapable of providing minimally adequate heat and ventilation. Heating pipes are all located on the outer walls. There is no mechanical system to transfer and spread hot air, or fresh air. As a result, most cells...