Santiago v. Miles

• Decision Date: 01 October 1991
• Docket Number: No. Civ. 86-694L.,Civ. 86-694L.
• Citation: 774 F. Supp. 775
• Parties: Raymond SANTIAGO, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Ronald MILES, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of New York

774 F. Supp. 775

Raymond SANTIAGO, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Ronald MILES, et al., Defendants.

No. Civ. 86-694L.

United States District Court, W.D. New York.

October 1, 1991.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

John Boston, Claudette Spencer, Legal Aid Soc., New York City, for plaintiffs.

Elizabeth J. McDonald, Asst. Atty. Gen., Joseph Gelormini, Dept. of Law, Rochester, N.Y., for defendants.

DECISION AND ORDER

LARIMER, District Judge.

This is a class action brought by black and hispanic inmates at the Elmira Correctional Facility ("Elmira") in Elmira, New York claiming widespread discrimination at the facility on the basis of race in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution and 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981 and 1983.

In general, plaintiffs claim that officials in charge of Elmira have, for the most part, ignored blatant racism that pervades Elmira and that such conduct violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Plaintiffs claim, specifically, that blacks and hispanics are routinely discriminated against by the mostly white guards and administration with respect to housing, employment and discipline. Plaintiffs claim that white inmates are given better jobs, preferable housing and disciplined less frequently than is the case with black and hispanic inmates.

Plaintiffs request that the Court declare that these policies violate the Equal Protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and enjoin the policies and procedures at Elmira that result in discrimination on the basis of race. Plaintiffs request that the court fashion appropriate prospective relief to ensure that decisions concerning housing, job assignments and discipline are based only on race-neutral factors.

This action was commenced in 1986. The defendants are the top administrators of the prison at that time.

Defendant Ronald Miles was the Superintendent of the prison from April 1985 to August 1988, and defendants Howard Novak and Donald McLaughlin previously served respectively as Deputy Superintendents of Security and Programs under Superintendent Miles. These defendants deny any personal responsibility or involvement in any alleged acts of racism.

Defendants deny the existence of race discrimination at Elmira at the present time, although they concede that prior to commencement of the lawsuit there may have been some practices and procedures in effect that caused whites to receive preferential treatment in certain matters. Defendants claim that whatever discriminatory practices existed previously have now been corrected, in part, because of this lawsuit, and at this time race is no factor in making job assignments, allocating housing or imposing discipline on inmates.

The case was tried to the Court and the Court took several weeks of testimony and received substantial documentary evidence as well. In support of their case, plaintiffs called twenty-three witnesses,¹ including four former staff members and administrators at the facility, an expert witness who did a statistical analysis concerning housing, jobs and discipline as well as eighteen former and present black and hispanic inmates. Thirteen former and present prison employees testified for the defense. In addition, the parties have submitted extensive posttrial briefs.

This decision constitutes my findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 52.

I find that plaintiffs have proven the existence of a pattern of racism at the Elmira Correctional Facility. This racism goes beyond verbal taunts and racial slurs uttered by guards to minority inmates. The racism affects job placement, housing assignments and discipline at Elmira to a degree that is unacceptable under the principles of equality that form the basis of our government. Therefore, court intervention is warranted and an injunction must be entered to guarantee that such practices cease.

Prisons are ugly places. The inmates are often society's worst failures. The job of maintaining prisons and supervising its inmates is a very difficult, dangerous and often unappreciated task. But no matter how difficult the task facing prison administrators, racism must play no part in the operation of a prison. Racism is never justified; it is no less inexcusable and indefensible merely because it occurs inside the prison gates. As a society we have made a commitment to equality under the law. This goal has not yet been achieved and perhaps never will be unless those who govern take firm steps to eradicate racism whenever they are able to do so. When racism is proven, federal courts must be especially vigilant to insure that all citizens — even the most unpopular — are guaranteed the equal protection guaranteed by the Constitution.

I. FACTS

Plaintiffs' proof consisted of both direct and circumstantial evidence that race was a factor in making decisions at Elmira concerning housing, jobs and discipline. Plaintiffs presented substantial anecdotal evidence of racism relating to these areas. Most of plaintiffs' witnesses and some defense witnesses testified concerning instances of racial harassment and verbal abuse by white corrections officers.

Plaintiffs also presented extensive statistical evidence of discrimination in housing, jobs and discipline by Dr. Ronald Christensen. Dr. Christensen testified about the significant statistical disparities between white inmates and minority inmates as to placement in preferred housing, assignment of jobs or programs and as to the imposition of discipline.

A. Housing

The Elmira Correctional Facility is a maximum security prison with approximately 1,352 inmates. Inmates are housed in nine separate buildings called blocks. These blocks vary in size, cleanliness, and safety. Certain blocks are definitely considered to be preferred by inmates. The evidence established that the preferred housing units were well known by both inmates and staff.

The two largest blocks, G Block and I Block are considered the least desirable. I Block, in particular, is often referred to as a "slum" and a "jungle." These two blocks are much larger than the others and are considered much nosier, dirtier and in many cases much more dangerous. There was testimony that in these larger blocks, many inmates prefer to be placed in the front area of the block so that they would be more observable and closer to the guards if trouble should occur. Other, smaller blocks are much more pleasant and much more desirable. These blocks include E and F which had approximately 100 inmates per unit and H and D Block which were the smallest blocks with approximately 54 beds.

Plaintiffs' claim, in a nutshell, is that there is, and has always been, a disproportionate number of whites assigned to the preferred housing blocks than is the case with black and hispanic inmates. Plaintiffs claim, and I believe the statistical evidence supports the claim, that whites are more often placed in the smaller blocks and in D Block, the Honor Block, than should be the case based on their percentage of population.

Blocks A and B are connected with the Elmira Reception Center for Juveniles and are not at issue in this lawsuit. As now constituted Block C is primarily used for inmates going through orientation and for inmates employed in food services and in the hospital. D Block is the Honor Block. E Block primarily houses those working in the prison industries, the employee staff restaurant and the Reception Center. F Block is for college students and those working outside the prison. H Block, since June of 1988, houses those in the Intermediate Care Program which is run in conjunction with the Office of Mental Health and is a facility designed to give mental health counseling to inmates in order to get them back into the general population. G Block and I Block are described as general program blocks housing a large number of inmates involved in various job programs.

The size of the blocks vary. D Block, the Honor Block, and H Block are the smallest, housing 54 inmates. E and F Block had about 100 inmates each. C Block had 250 inmates. G and I Block were the largest with about 300 inmates each.

The evidence was quite clear that the smaller Blocks, E, F and H and the Honor Block, were the preferable housing blocks and that the larger Blocks, G and I, were much less desirable. Many of the inmate witnesses described this as did several prison administrators.

Former Superintendent Bert Ross and a former guard, Roland Coleman, corroborated witness testimony concerning the preferred housing blocks. Inmate counselors Thomas Rupp and Jerome Kaplan both corroborated inmate testimony that G and I Blocks were often referred to as "ghetto" or "slum" blocks.

Both prior to and subsequent to the filing of this lawsuit, the general perception of the inmates was that there was a disproportionate number of whites in the preferred housing units and also a greater proportion of minorities in the less desirable housing blocks. That the inmates understood and perceived this disparity is not really in dispute. What is remarkable is that many prison administrators noticed the same discrepancies but did little to correct the situation.

Bert Ross became Superintendent at Elmira in September 1988. At trial, he admitted that there was a long "tradition" at Elmira that white inmates would get preference for housing in the Honor Block. When he became Superintendent, he recognized that this Block had a disproportionately high number of white inmates which he believed to be about 40% at that time. He also admitted that when he first met with the Inmate Liaison Committee, they complained about discrimination in housing. Ross also testified that when he was assigned to Elmira in 1985 as the First Deputy Superintendent, he observed a disproportionate number of whites in D Block and in other blocks. This tradition of placing whites in certain cell blocks also applied to certain jobs which consistently were given to whites.

Mel Hollins, who served...