Singletary v. Costello

• Decision Date: 03 January 1996
• Docket Number: No. 95-0774,95-0774
• Citation: 665 So.2d 1099
• Parties: 21 Fla. L. Weekly D83 Harry K. SINGLETARY as Secretary of the Florida Department of Corrections, et al., Appellant, v. Michael V. COSTELLO, Appellee.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

Page 1099

665 So.2d 1099

21 Fla. L. Weekly D83

Harry K. SINGLETARY as Secretary of the Florida Department of Corrections, et al., Appellant, v. Michael V. COSTELLO, Appellee.

No. 95-0774.

District Court of Appeal of Florida Fourth District.

Jan. 3, 1996.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Tallahassee, Charles M. Fahlbusch and Amanda Wall, Assistant Attorneys General, Hollywood, for appellant.

William R. Amlong and Maria Kate Northrup of Amlong & Amlong, P.A., Fort Lauderdale, and Andrew H. Kayton, American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Florida, Inc., Miami, for appellee.

GUNTHER, Chief Judge.

Appellants, Harry K. Singletary, as Secretary of the Florida Department of Corrections, Franklin H. Becker, Chester Lambdin and the Department of Corrections, defendants below (Appellants), appeal a temporary injunction enjoining them from providing any medical treatment, assistance, testing or procedure of any form or kind to or upon the appellee, Michael V. Costello (Costello). Because we determine Appellants failed to prove that compelling state interests outweighed Costello's privacy right, we affirm.

In 1969, Costello was sentenced to life imprisonment for first degree murder. On or about January 11, 1995, Costello filed a pro se complaint against Appellants for declaratory and injunctive relief. Costello alleged that he had been on a total fast since January 3, 1995 to object to and protest the actions of the Department of Corrections (DOC). Apparently, Costello was fasting to protest his punitive transfer from Polk Correction Institution to Martin Correctional Institution as well as to protest an allegedly false disciplinary report filed against a Chaplain in the Polk Correctional Institution. Accordingly, Costello sought a declaratory judgment permitting him to "continue his fast devoid of non-consensual medical intervention." Thus, Costello sought to enjoin and restrain Appellants from "imposing non-consensual medical intervention ... or hindering or interfering with [Costello's] fast."

Shortly thereafter, Costello filed a temporary injunction again seeking to enjoin Appellants from imposing non-consensual medical treatment during his fast. Appellants responded claiming that they possessed a compelling state interest in preserving life, preventing suicide, protecting innocent third parties, maintaining the integrity of the medical profession, preserving internal order and discipline, maintaining institutional security, and finally, the rehabilitation of prisoners. Therefore, Appellants requested the trial court to deny the motion for temporary injunction.

A two-day evidentiary hearing was held wherein Costello proceeded pro-se. At the hearing, only Dr. Becker and Costello testified. Initially, Dr. Becker testified that Costello was in an infirmary lockdown cell due to his self-declared hunger strike. According to Dr. Becker, Costello's weight had dropped from 189 pounds to 159 1/2 pounds in slightly over three months. Portentously, Dr. Becker testified that at the point he believed Costello to be in danger of imminent death, he would

have him sent to the emergency room, and have the Court Order there permitting non-consensual medical intervention; and have him tied down, strapped, and a tube placed into his nose, down into his stomach, and given nutriments through that.

According to the doctor, not intervening in such a circumstance would result in suicide.

Costello stated that he was maintaining a fast to protest the actions of the DOC for two reasons:

(1) The unjust and unfounded accusations that were lodged against Chaplain Hankins; and (2) The unjust transfers that were imposed on me, and which directly resulted in the imposition of burdens on my visitation rights; ... My fasting is a form of protest with the Department of Corrections, requesting that two wrongs be righted.

Costello further testified that he successfully conducted two previous hunger strikes to correct wrongs committed by the DOC. Finally, Costello realized that if he continued his hunger strike without medical intervention from Appellants, death was imminent.

Eventually, the trial court entered an order granting Costello's motion for temporary injunction. The trial court determined that Costello had a constitutional and fundamental right to refuse medical treatment and that Appellants failed to establish a compelling state interest to override the same. Therefore, the trial court ordered the following:

... the Defendants Harry K. Singletary and the Florida Department of Corrections, and their officers, agents, servants, employees, attorneys, and all other persons in active concert or participation with any of them, are hereby enjoined from:

1) providing any medical treatment, assistance, testing or procedure, of any form or kind, to or upon the Plaintiff without the specific consent of the Plaintiff; ....

Thereafter, Appellants filed a timely notice of appeal seeking review of that part of the trial court's order dealing with non-consensual medical intervention. Subsequent to this filing, Costello voluntarily dismissed the declaratory action. According to Costello's notice, he terminated his fast on 3-6-95 in view of receipt of a letter from Chaplain Steve Hankins which expressed satisfaction with a review of the investigation complained of by [Costello], and who urged [Costello] to terminate his fast for scriptural reasons. ¹

A temporary injunction is an extraordinary remedy which should be granted sparingly and only after the movant has alleged and proven facts entitling the movant to relief. Hiles v. Auto Bahn Fed'n, Inc., 498 So.2d 997 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986). In order for a temporary injunction to be granted, a plaintiff must prove that:

(1) he will suffer irreparable harm unless the status quo is maintained; (2) he has no adequate remedy at law; (3) he has a clear legal right to the relief requested; and (4) a temporary injunction will serve the public interest.

South Fla. Limousines, Inc. v. Broward County Aviation Dep't, 512 So.2d 1059, 1061 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987). A trial court's ruling on a motion for an injunction arrives at the appellate court clothed in a presumption of correctness and will be reversed only upon a showing of a clear abuse of discretion. Id. at 1062; M.G.K. Partners v. Cavallo, 515 So.2d 368 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987).

Quite obviously, the instant case centers around whether Costello has the legal right to the injunctive relief requested. That is, whether Costello has the legal right, as a prisoner, to refuse medical treatment and intervention when the need for the treatment and intervention stems from a self-induced hunger strike. In order to resolve this issue, it is necessary to determine the breadth of an individual's right to refuse medical treatment.

Both the federal and Florida constitutions protect an individual's right to refuse medical care. In the seminal case of Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health, 497 U.S. 261, 110 S.Ct. 2841, 111 L.Ed.2d 224 (1990), the United States Supreme Court determined that Missouri's clear and convincing evidentiary standard, before the termination of a life support system, did not interfere with a competent person's right to refuse medical treatment. More importantly, the Supreme Court concluded, after a thorough review of informed consent cases, that a competent person has a liberty interest under the Due Process Clause in refusing unwarranted medical treatment. 497 U.S. at 277, 110 S.Ct. at 2851, 111 L.Ed.2d at 241. The high court reasoned that the logical corollary to the doctrine of informed consent is the conclusion that the patient generally possesses the right not to consent. 497 U.S. at 270, 110 S.Ct. at 2847, 111 L.Ed.2d at 236. Thus, for the purposes of that case, the Supreme Court assumed that the United States Constitution would grant a competent person a constitutionally protected right to refuse lifesaving hydration and nutrition. 497 U.S. at 279, 110 S.Ct. at 2852, 111 L.Ed.2d at 242.

Nevertheless, under the federalist system of government, states may place more rigorous restraints on governmental intrusions than those imposed by the federal constitution. Traylor v. State, 596 So.2d 957, 961 (Fla.1992). As explained by the Florida Supreme Court, "in any given state, the federal Constitution thus represents the floor for basic freedoms; the state constitution, the ceiling." Id. at 962. Unlike the federal and most state constitutions, Florida has a specific provision regarding an individual's right to privacy. Article I, Section 23 of the Florida Constitution provides:

Every natural person has the right to be let alone and free from governmental intrusion into his private life except as otherwise provided herein. This section shall not be construed to limit the public's right of access to public records and meetings as provided by law.

This explicit constitutional right embraces more privacy interests and extends more protection that the right to privacy provided under the Due Process Clause of the federal constitution. In re T.W., 551 So.2d 1186, 1192 (Fla.1989). As recognized by the supreme court,

[t]he citizens of Florida opted for more protection from governmental intrusion when they approved article I, section 23, of the Florida Constitution. This amendment is an independent, freestanding constitutional provision which declares the fundamental right to privacy. Article I, section 23, was intentionally phrased in strong terms. The drafters of the amendment rejected the use of the words "unreasonable" or "unwarranted" before the phrase "governmental intrusion" in order to make the privacy right as strong as possible. Since the people of this state exercised their prerogative and enacted an amendment to the Florida Constitution which expressly and succinctly provides for a strong right of privacy not found in the United States Constitution, it can only be concluded that the right is much broader in scope than that of the...