Roubideaux v. North Dakota Dept. of Corrections, 1:04-cv-013.
| Decision Date | 19 November 2007 |
| Docket Number | No. 1:04-cv-013.,1:04-cv-013. |
| Citation | 523 F.Supp.2d 952 |
| Parties | Julie ROUBIDEAUX, and Shelly Grossman, Plaintiffs, v. NORTH DAKOTA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND REHABILITATION, Elaine Little, Timothy Schuetzle, Don Redmann, Southwest Multi-County Correctional Center, and Leann Bertsch, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of North Dakota |
Christopher Brancart, Brancart & Brancart, Pescadero, CA, John G. Humphrey, Humphrey Law Firm, Alexandria, VA, for Plaintiffs.
Jean R. Mullen, Attorney General's Office, Civil Litigation, Michael C. Waller, Fleck, Mather & Strutz, Ltd., Bismarck, ND, for Defendants.
ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
Before the Court is the Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment filed by Defendants North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Elaine Little, Timothy Schuetzle, Don Redmann, and Leann Bertsch (collectively "State Defendants") on October 13, 2005. Defendant Southwest Multi-County Correction Center joined the State Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment on December 4, 2006. The Plaintiffs filed a response opposing the motion on June 16, 2007. The State Defendants and the Southwest Multi-County Correction Center filed replies on June 29, 2007, and July 3, 2007, respectively. The Plaintiffs requested an opportunity for additional briefing, which the Court granted, and on July 31, 2007, the Plaintiffs filed a surreply brief. The State Defendants and the Southwest Multi-County Correction Center both filed their final briefs on August 27, 2007. For the reasons set forth below, the Defendants' motion is granted.
The Plaintiff class1 ("female inmates"), former and present female inmates of the North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, filed suit alleging that the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has "violated the rights of female inmates under the equal protection clauses of the United States and North Dakota constitutions and Title IX of the federal Educational Amendments Act of 1972 by discrimination on the basis of sex." See Complaint, ¶ 19 (Docket No. 1). The female inmates contend that the "Defendants have provided female inmates, in comparison with their male counterparts, with unequal and inferior housing, facilities, classification systems, orientation programs, educational programs, vocational programs, work opportunities, and substance abuse treatment opportunities." See Complaint, ¶ 19 (Docket No. 1). The female inmates' complaint encompasses a period beginning in November 1997 to the present. The relief requested by the female inmates is primarily injunctive and declaratory.2 See Order Adopting Report and Recommendation (Docket. No. 84). Any request for monetary damages is incidental. See Order Adopting Report and Recommendation (Docket No. 84).
At the outset; the Court notes that the task of summarizing the facilities at which male and female inmates have been housed in North Dakota, and the programs that have been available to male and female inmates since. November 1997, has been difficult due to the ever-changing prison populations and program offerings. Nevertheless, the Court has carefully reviewed the voluminous documents provided by the parties and finds the following facts are undisputed.
Since November of 1997, female inmates have been housed in four separate facilities — the North Dakota State Penitentiary, the Missouri River Correctional Center, the James River Correctional Center, and the Dakota Women's Correction and Rehabilitation Center.3 See Affidavit of Timothy Schuetzle (Docket No. 90). Prior to June 1998, female inmates were housed with male inmates at either the North Dakota State Penitentiary or the Missouri River Correctional Center. See Affidavit of Timothy Schuetzle, ¶ 4 (Docket No. 90). In June 1998, the female inmates at the North Dakota State Penitentiary were transferred to the James River Correctional Center. See Affidavit of Timothy Schuetzle, ¶ 5 (Docket No. 90). Since 2003, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has contracted with the Southwest Multi-County Correction Center in Dickinson, North Dakota, to house, provide services, and conduct programming for female inmates at the Dakota Women's Correction and Rehabilitation Center. In November 2003, all of the minimum custody female inmates were transferred to the Dakota Women's Correction and Rehabilitation Center. See Affidavit of Timothy Scheutzle, ¶ 6 (Docket No. 90). In August of 2004, the medium custody female inmates at the James River Correctional Center were transferred to the Dakota Women's Correction and Rehabilitation Center.
Male inmates are housed at the North Dakota State Penitentiary, the James River Correctional Center, the Tompkins Rehabilitation and Corrections Center, a transitional living center in Bismarck, North Dakota, and out-of-state correctional facilities or in-state county jails. See Affidavit of Timothly Schuetzle, ¶ 3 (Docket No. 90).
Over the past seven years, the male to female population has averaged around a 10:1 ratio. See Affidavit of Timothly Schuetzle, ¶ 3 (Docket No. 90). In 2004, the average sentence of male inmates was 41.8 months. See Affidavit of Timothy Schuetzle, ¶ 14 (Docket No. 90). For the same period, the average sentence of female inmates was 33.1 months. See Affidavit of Timothy Schuetzle, ¶ 14 (Docket No. 90). Between January 2003 and February 2004, female inmates received an average of 206 parole days, and male inmates received an average of 184 parole days. See Affidavit of Timothy Schuetzle, ¶ 15 (Docket No. 90).
The North Dakota State Penitentiary was the original prison for the state of North Dakota, with its first building being constructed in 1910. The North Dakota State Penitentiary is located in Bismarck, North Dakota, the capitol of North Dakota and a metropolitan area with a population of approximately 70,000. See Affidavit of Timothy Schuetzle, ¶ 10 (Docket No. 90). The North Dakota State Penitentiary is a multi-story, rambling facility. See Affidavit of Timothy Schuetzle, ¶ 3 (Docket No. 90). As of October 1, 2005, the population of the North Dakota State Penitentiary was 438 male inmates, excluding 54 unclassified orientation inmates. See Affidavit of Timothly Schuetzle, ¶ 10 (Docket No. 90). Thirty-four inmates were classified as minimum custody and the remainder were classified as medium and maximum custody. See Affidavit of Timothy Schuetzle, ¶ 10 (Docket No. 90). The cost to house an inmate at the North Dakota State Penitentiary during the 2005-2007 biennium was expected to average $72 per day. See Affidavit of Timothy Schuetzle, ¶ 8 (Docket No. 90). The North Dakota State Penitentiary has approximately 550 beds. See Deposition of Elaine Little, pp. 99-100 (Docket No. 177, Disc 1).
There are a variety of educational programs for inmates at the North Dakota State Penitentiary, including GED classes, computer classes, a non-credit accounting course taught by a North Dakota State Penitentiary teacher, and work-force training classes. See Affidavit of Timothy Schuetzle, ¶¶ 20-22, 26 (Docket No. 90). The North Dakota State Penitentiary offers independent college study correspondence classes and one on-site course for college credit. See Deposition of Dan Wrolstad, pp. 39-40 (Docket No. 177, Disc 1). A course in accounting is usually offered at least once a year. See Deposition of Dan Wrolstad, p. 56 (Docket No. 177, Disc 1). For a period of time, a restaurant management class was offered to inmates in the treatment unit, but it has been replaced with a heating and air conditioning program. See Deposition of Timothy Scheultze, p. 245 (Docket No. 177, Disc 1); Deposition of Dan Wrolstad, pp. 48-49 (Docket No. 177, Disc 1). A computer skills training course taught by inmates has been offered, but it was discontinued in 2005. See Deposition of Dan Wrolstad, p. 38-39 (Docket No. 177, Disc 1). In the past, the North Dakota State Penitentiary has offered on-site classes in speech and pre-algebra. See Deposition of Dan Wrolstad, p. 51-52 (Docket No. 177, Disc 1).
Inmates placed at the North Dakota State Penitentiary have a number of industry jobs available through Rough Rider Industries, an independent state agency, which includes a sign shop, furniture shop, upholstery shop, metal factory, and license plate factory. See Deposition of Elaine Little, pp. 40, 88 (Docket No. 177, Disc 1); Deposition of Dennis Fracassi, p. 31 (Docket No. 177, Disc 1). The Rough Rider furniture factory produces office furniture, nursing home furniture, and case goods (i.e., desks, credenzas, bookcases, hutches). See Deposition of Dennis Fracassi, p. 45 (Docket No. 177, Disc1). The sign shop receives about 95 percent of its business from the Department of Transportation and makes traffic road signs and highway delineators. See Deposition of Dennis Fracassi, p. 47 (Docket No. 177, Disc 1). The metal shop supplies garbage dumpsters, park furniture, and does power painting and light welding for other manufacturers. See Deposition of Dennis Fracassi, p. 50 (Docket No. 177, Disc 1). However, when women were housed at the North Dakota State Penitentiary, only the upholstery shop was open to female inmates. See Deposition of Elaine Little, p. 42 (Docket No. 177, Disc 1). Inmates were also assigned to prison jobs, such a janitorial, kitchen, laundry, and groundskeeping. See Deposition of Elaine Little, p. 92 (Docket No. 177, Disc 1).
The North Dakota State Penitentiary offers mental health treatment, substance abuse treatment programs (Level 2.1 and 3.5), sex offender treatment, anger management treatment, and psychological/psychiatric services. See Deposition of Michael Froemke, ...
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