Taylor v. Sterrett

• Decision Date: 16 August 1979
• Docket Number: No. 77-2241,77-2241
• Citation: 600 F.2d 1135
• Parties: Joseph TAYLOR et al., Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. W. L. STERRETT et al., Defendants, Judge John Whittington et al., Cross-Claimants-Appellants, Oak Lawn Preservation Society, etc., et al., Cross-Defendants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

Page 1135

600 F.2d 1135

Joseph TAYLOR et al., Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. W. L. STERRETT et al., Defendants Judge John Whittington et al., Cross-Claimants-Appellants Oak Lawn Preservation Society, etc., et al., Cross-Defendants.

No. 77-2241.

United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit.

Aug. 16, 1979.

Earl Luna, Dallas, Tex., for defendants.

John F. Jordan, Dallas, Tex., for plaintiffs-appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

Before WISDOM, AINSWORTH and RONEY, Circuit Judges.

AINSWORTH, Circuit Judge:

The Commissioners Court of Dallas County, Texas ("County") appeals two orders of the district court requiring modifications in the facilities and operating procedures of the County jail system. These orders are the latest stage in prolonged litigation involving conditions in the Dallas County jails. ¹ We vacate the orders, along with all other orders and stays still in effect, and remand with directions to the district court to discontinue further exercise of its retained jurisdiction and to dismiss the cause.

I. Background

This case began on October 26, 1971, when four inmates of the Dallas County Jail filed a class action suit alleging that they and other prisoners were being subjected to cruel and unusual punishment and otherwise deprived of due process and denied equal protection. ² Plaintiffs also claimed that conditions at the jail violated Texas statutory law. On June 5, 1972, after a trial on the merits, the district court issued a memorandum opinion and judgment. Taylor v. Sterrett, N.D.Tex., 1972, 344 F.Supp. 411. Noting that the County did "not contest the pendent jurisdiction of this Court to adjudicate the State law question," Id. at 418, the trial judge found "that the county does not provide the minimum facilities required by" Texas state law. Id. at 421. She enjoined the County "from further violating" state law and directed it "to provide immediately" extensive changes in the jail's physical makeup and operating procedures. ³ The district court did not hold that conditions at the jail violated the Constitution.

The County appealed and we affirmed the trial court's judgment with only slight modification. ⁴ Taylor v. Sterrett, 5 Cir., 1974, 499 F.2d 367. We observed that "(i)t could hardly be expected that a United States District Court, in the exercise of appropriate pendent jurisdiction, would decline the enforcement of laws which the state, of its own volition, had enacted for the improvement of prison conditions within its jurisdiction," and concluded that the County's criticisms of "the decree with reference to state requirements at this jail" should be "left to the sound judicial discretion of the trial court, with full power to assay the merits of these criticisms and decree accordingly." Id. at 368. We remanded "the entire cause . . . to the District Court for the exercise of a retained jurisdiction." Id. at 369.

Since entering judgment in 1972, the district court has vigorously monitored the County's attempts to upgrade its prison system. The trial judge has paid numerous personal visits to the original jail and to subsequently opened facilities and has required the County to file a series of reports detailing its progress in improving conditions. Following each report, the court has issued an order appraising the County's efforts to date and identifying the topics to be covered in the next account. The court's orders and the County's ensuing reports have gone much beyond the scope of the 1972 decree, discussing in great detail both day-to-day administrative matters and issues of long-term policy planning. ⁵

In an order dated February 8, 1977, the district judge expressed concern "about the overcrowded condition and security of the downtown jail and likewise of the underuse of" a new minimum security facility "as well as the activities carried on in all areas of the jail, and . . . the little progress being made in providing expanded quarters." To assist the court "in obtaining complete information" and "in evaluating the present Dallas County jail system," the judge appointed a Special Master the retired warden of the Federal Correctional Institution at Fort Worth and gave him "full authority" to visit facilities in the County system, question employees and prisoners and examine jail records.

The Special Master issued a report on April 14, 1977. After stating that he "was instructed to obtain comprehensive information about activities and conditions in Dallas County jail facilities," the Master proceeded to enumerate 25 wide-ranging recommendations concerning, among other things, jail design, training of officers and supervisors and relations between guards and inmates. ⁶ The report also commented upon the County's "progress toward compliance" with the 1972 decree. ⁷

On April 25, the County filed a "Response to the Written Report of the Special Master." Besides attacking the Master's qualifications, ⁸ this document asserted that the district court "has repeatedly held that this case merely involves compliance with state law." While "there was no agency for enforcing state laws" when the court originally "retained jurisdiction of this case," the County pointed out that Texas had since established by statute a "Commission on Jail Standards," with "authority to promulgate and enforce minimum standards for county jails" and "broad powers . . . to close a county jail which does not comply with the standards and rules, as well as to enjoin violation of its orders, rules, or procedures or of" Texas law. Accordingly, the County prayed "that the Court . . . decline to retain further jurisdiction of this cause and remand same to the Texas Commission on Jail Standards."

The district judge entered an order on April 27 that referred in passing to "the completely irresponsible reply of the Commissioners' report to the Special Master's report." Though she concluded that the County "is in compliance with most of the orders contained in the Court's order of June 5, 1972," the judge also approved all 25 of the Special Master's recommendations and issued 11 further directions to the County. On May 2, the County filed a "Motion for Separate Order," asking the court "to enter a separate document containing the eleven paragraphs of directions . . . found (in) its order dated April 27 . . . ." The court issued the requested separate order on May 12; its contents are set forth in the margin. ⁹

The County appeals the orders of April 27 and May 12, which, in sum, informed the County that "(i)t is expected that" the Master's 25 recommendations "will be followed" and required the County to implement 11 additional changes in the jail system's organization and operating procedures. In addition, we necessarily construe the April 27 order as a denial of the County's motion that the district court "decline to retain further jurisdiction of this cause." ¹⁰

II. The District Court is Directed to Stop Exercising Jurisdiction and Dismiss

As Mr. Justice Powell declared in Procunier v. Martinez, federal courts hearing inmate challenges to prison conditions must "take cognizance of constitutional claims whether arising in a federal or state institution. When a prison regulation or practice offends a fundamental constitutional guarantee, federal courts will discharge their duty to protect constitutional rights." 416 U.S. 396, 405, 94 S.Ct. 1800, 1807-1808, 40 L.Ed.2d 224 (1974). This court has consistently fulfilled its obligation to safeguard the constitutional rights of prisoners in state institutions, affirming numerous decisions of the district courts that granted inmates extensive relief and ordered fundamental change in prison facilities and procedures. See, e. g., Newman v. Alabama, 5 Cir., 1977, 559 F.2d 283; Williams v. Edwards, 5 Cir., 1977, 547 F.2d 1206; Gates v. Collier, 5 Cir., 1974, 501 F.2d 1291. In this case, moreover, even without a finding of constitutional infirmity we upheld a wide-ranging order requiring the County's jail system to comply with Texas state law. However, we have always recognized that "(t)he Supreme Court has articulated for the federal courts a policy of minimum intrusion into the affairs of state prison administration; state prison officials enjoy wide discretion in the operation of state penal institutions." Williams v. Edwards, supra, 547 F.2d 1206, at 1211-1212. This "policy of minimum intrusion" flows from an awareness that "courts are ill equipped to deal with the increasingly urgent problems of prison administration and reform. Judicial recognition of that fact reflects no more than a healthy sense of realism. Moreover, where state penal institutions are involved, federal courts have a further reason for deference to the appropriate prison authorities." Procunier v. Martinez, Supra, 416 U.S. at 405, 94 S.Ct. at 1807. See, e. g., Newman v. Alabama, supra, 559 F.2d at 286; Williams v. Edwards, supra, 547 F.2d at 1211-12; Newman v. Alabama, 5 Cir., 1974, 503 F.2d 1320, 1328; Gates v. Collier, Supra, 501 F.2d at 1301; Taylor v. Sterrett, supra, 499 F.2d at 369; Cruz v. Hauck, 5 Cir., 1973, 475 F.2d 475, 476; Taylor v. Sterrett, supra, 344 F.Supp. at 412. Thus, we have cautioned that ". . . in the prison context . . . federal courts should keep their eyes on the main objective, the Eighth Amendment command for the eradication of cruel and unusual punishment. The remedy must be designed to accomplish that goal, not to exercise judicial power for the attainment of what we as individuals might like to see accomplished in the way of ideal prison conditions." Newman v. Alabama, Supra, 559 F.2d at 287.

The district judge deserves the commendation of this court and the Dallas community for her vigilance in ensuring that the County obey the 1972 judgment. We are convinced, however, that the district court's role in the process of improving the Dallas jails is now complete. The objects sought to be accomplished in the...