Patin v. Leblanc
| Decision Date | 18 May 2012 |
| Docket Number | CIVIL ACTION NO. 11-3071 SECTION "C"(4) |
| Parties | HURSEN PATIN v. JAMES LEBLANC, SECRETARY, JEFFERY TRAVIS, REGIONAL WARDEN, AND ROBERT TANNER, RAYBURN CORRECTIONAL CENTER - HEAD WARDEN |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Louisiana |
This matter was referred to a United States Magistrate Judge to conduct a hearing, including an evidentiary hearing, if necessary, and to submit proposed findings and recommendations for disposition pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B) and (C), § 1915(e)(2), and § 1915A, and as applicable, 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(c)(1) and (2). Upon review of the entire record, the Court has determined that this matter can be disposed of without an evidentiary hearing.
The plaintiff, Hursen Patin, is an inmate incarcerated in the B.B. "Sixty" Rayburn Correctional Center ("RCC") in Angie, Louisiana. Patin filed this pro se and in forma pauperis complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Secretary James LeBlanc of the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections ("DOC"), Regional Warden Jeffery Travis, and RCC Warden Robert Tanner challenging the conditions of his confinement at RCC.
Patin alleges that the Wind Unit at RCC houses 316 medium custody prisoners,1 and there are only four or five tables for the prisoner to use. Patin alleges that when any of these inmates are off-duty from their prison work assignment, they are still required to go outside to stand or sit on the wet or dew soaked grass. He also complains that inmates crush their cigarettes in and spit saliva and tobacco juice onto the same grass where the off-duty inmates must stay. He also complains that the inmates remain unprotected in the sun and weather, including hot and cold temperatures with inadequate clothing. He concedes that the inmates are left outdoors on Monday through Friday from 6:45 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. and 12:15 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. to allow the dormitory orderlies to clean the dorms and to allow the unit supervisors to inspect the dorms.
On the B-team shift, a dorm is left opened at 8:00 a.m. until 10:15 a.m. and 1:00 to 3:15 p.m. to allow the inmates to take bathroom breaks. When the A-team is on duty, however, a dorm is only opened for bathroom breaks for 10 minutes on the hour starting at 8:00 a.m. He complains that this causes inmates to have to urinate and defecate outside.
Patin contends that the other DOC prisons do not put the inmates outside in the weather. He also suggests that if the other prisons are short on officers, they close some of the dorms and rotate the dorms to the outside so that there is enough seating.
Patin further complains that his Eighth Amendment right to safety is violated because of the reckless disregard for or lack of water sprinklers and smoke detectors on the Wind Unit. He contends that the lack of an adequate number of working smoke detectors and sprinklers on the Wind Unit exposes the prisoners to an excessive safety risk. He complains that some areas have no sprinklers or smoke detectors at all. He indicates that these areas include the area where there arepilot lights atop of the clothes dryers and nearby exposed gas lines, the kitchen, the vo-tech welding area, the AS&R department where gas tanks are stored, the maintenance welding area, and the computer buildings. He also alleges that the prison's electrical wiring was done "hazardly."
Patin next indicates that most of the units in the prison, including Wind, have a law library with two small desks for the two assigned prison counselors and other units have different library set ups. He complains that these libraries fall below acceptable standards, except the one in Sun Unit. He alleges that the libraries do not have any law books recommended for prisons by the American Association of Law Libraries Committee. He concedes that the libraries each have civil and criminal codes, Georgetown Law Journals, Black's Law Dictionary, two computers, and, in the Wind Unit, about one-hundred outdated Southern Reporters. He complains that there are no Federal Reporters, Criminal Law Digests, Shepard's Citators, basic treatises on habeas corpus, self-help litigation manuals, or prison civil rights books.
He further complains that, while there are a couple of knowledgeable prison counselors, the prison has no civil litigation staff members with legal or paralegal training to supervise the libraries or to assist inmates with research. He also complains that the law libraries are only opened from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., if other prison officials are not holding disciplinary court or job board interviews. He complains that this conflicts with the daily work shift period time. He further complains that there are no chairs or tables for inmates to sit at to do research. He also alleges that when a prisoner requests a case, it can take one to three working days to receive it depending on whether the computer and printer are working and whether the information requested is available from the prison.
Patin also alleges that RCC does not have adequate rehabilitation programs and that the officials discriminate against long-term prisoners. He asserts that he has a lengthy sentence, and will be up for his first parole hearing in April of 2013. Because of his long sentence, he is effectively precluded from getting into vo-tech trade school, because he is in line behind those with shorter sentences and earlier parole eligibility. He also generally complains that some DOC prisons do not have any trade school programs. Patin alleges that he applied for admission to the auto body/collision repair trade or brick masonry schools, based on his pre-prison experience and earlier training, but RCC does not offer either of those trades.
Patin alleges that the prison officials at RCC also told him that a transfer would not help, because he would still be placed in line behind those with shorter sentences. Patin complains that, although he is familiar with roofing work, the parole or clemency board would require some proof of his experience in the area. Patin further alleges that his mother's efforts to get the Deputy Secretary of the DOC to transfer him to get into a trade program were also denied.
Patin next claims that the prison officials have discriminated against him for job placement at the prison. He claims that he is a good worker. He, however, submitted a job request application to work as a dorm orderly or kitchen worker. His request was denied as a result of his past prison disciplinary record. Specifically, he claims the denial was based on a four-year-old disciplinary conviction for violation of Rule 21, as a result of a "lying letter" written by another inmate which apparently targeted Patin as having threatened the safety of a female laundry supervisor, Master Sergeant M. Johnson. He was found guilty and placed in administrative segregation and reassigned to field crew 11. He also lost his job, bed, and dorm location and was reassigned to the lawnmower crew about two months later.
He is angered that the prison still uses this incident against him in his efforts to get a better job. He alleges that he asked the classification officers, Kathy Seals, Major Kennedy, and Lieutenant Colonel Anderson, but they deferred to the Warden.
He complains that he has been denied certain jobs since his arrival at RCC on March 2, 2009, even though there are other prisoners who violated Rule 21. He claims some even live in dorms run by female officers and work in dorms as orderlies, in the kitchen and gym, and attend schools. He claims there are even "street conviction rapists" and child molesters working in those jobs.
Patin further complains that the prison officials show mail to other inmates in violation of security protocol. He claims that, when officers cannot read the envelopes during mail call, they may show the envelope to other inmates to get help. He further alleges that some officers may give a prisoner someone else's mail to deliver without the recipient's consent. They also leave inmate mail sitting around in the officers' station. He claims this exposes the identity of a prisoners' friends and family, as well as their addresses, to all of the other inmates.
Next, Patin alleges that there are cameras in the bathroom and that prisoners are watched by male and female security officers when they shower, defecate, and urinate. He claims that the inmates are consistently watched by all of the various officials on the tier at all times, and the security post is directly in front of the bathroom area. He complains that he has no privacy in the bathroom.
Patin also complains that, in maximum security, extended lockdown, and administrative segregation, prisoners do not have access to cold drinking water or any water other than what can be sipped from his hand from the sink faucet, which he also claims is corroded. He otherwise only gets drinking water at meals and pill call, if he is getting medication.
He also complains that he is not provided with an ink pen except in the afternoons, even if he has legal work to do. He only receives a small pea-sized amount of toothpaste three times a day. It is placed by the day shift supervisors, who are twin brothers, onto each inmates food tray. If an inmate has a problem with these supervisors, the inmate is treated badly by the night shift supervisor, who is the day shift supervisor's cousin.
He further complains that each of the four tiers has multiple cameras and microphones. The cell walls were extended to prevent the passing of contraband which prevents the fans from blowing air in to the cells.
The Sun Unit also has double bunks in each cell with no guardrails. The cells do not have tables or chairs, leaving only the lid-less toilet on which to sit.
Patin alleges that, when he arrived at RCC on March 2, 2009, he was assigned a social worker and assigned to see the prison psychiatrist every few weeks or months as he has for the...
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