Tillman v. Lebanon County Correctional Facility
| Decision Date | 10 May 2000 |
| Docket Number | No. 99-3656,99-3656 |
| Citation | 221 F.3d 410 |
| Parties | (3rd Cir. 2000) LEONARD G. TILLMAN, Appellant v. LEBANON COUNTY CORRECTIONAL FACILITY; ROBERT L. RAIGER, Warden |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit |
APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA (D.C. Civ. No. 98-cv-01188) District Judge: Honorable William W. Caldwell
[Copyrighted Material Omitted]
[Copyrighted Material Omitted]
Counsel for Appellant: Donald A. Bailey, Esquire (Argued) 3540 N. Progress Avenue Suite 209 Harrisburg, PA 17110
Counsel for Appellees: Todd B. Narvol, Esquire (Argued) Thomas, Thomas & Hafer, LLP 305 N. Front Street P.O. Box 999 Harrisburg, PA 17108-0999
Before: MANSMANN, NYGAARD, and RENDELL, Circuit Judges.
Leonard G. Tillman is a former prisoner who was assessed a fee of $10.00 per day for housing costs stemming from two periods of incarceration in a county facility for state parole violations. When Tillman was confined for the second term, officials confiscated half of the funds in his wallet and half of all funds sent on his behalf, in order to pay for the assessments. Tillman ultimately accumulated a debt exceeding $4,000.00, for which his account was turned over to a collection agency after his release from prison.
In a pro se complaint filed against the prison and its warden, Tillman alleged that the levying and collection of these sums violated 42 U.S.C. S 1983. The defendants moved for dismissal, or in the alternative, for summary judgment, but the Magistrate Judge recommended denial of the motion on the basis of an analysis of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. After the defendants filed supplemental affidavits, the District Court granted summary judgment and dismissed the complaint. We will affirm.
The underlying facts are, as Tillman concedes, "essentially undisputed." After committing unspecified parole violations, Tillman was incarcerated in the Lebanon County Correctional Facility in Pennsylvania between January 30, 1997 and August 21, 1997. Parole was again granted, but similar violations led to his recommitment to the same facility on October 24, 1997.
Upon recommitment, prison authorities confiscated half of the money in Tillman's wallet and subsequently took half of all funds sent on his behalf. These actions were taken pursuant to the facility's Cost Recovery Program. Under this program, prisoners are assessed a daily charge of $10.00 towards their housing expenses. Any money generated through the program goes into the county's general fund, which pays the facility's operating costs.
Significantly, the availability of prison services is not contingent upon keeping a clean account. Failure to pay does not result in the denial of room, board, clothing, or other services. Neither can it result in extended prison time or reincarceration.
Instead, when a prisoner lacks sufficient funds to pay the assessments, a negative account balance is created. Authorities may then take half of any funds, from any source, sent to a prisoner in order to satisfy the negative balance. Any remainder is credited to the prisoner's inmate account for his or her personal use.
If there is still an outstanding negative balance upon a prisoner's release from jail, any funds remaining in his or her inmate account are put towards the debt. If any debt still remains unpaid upon release, the ex-prisoner remains responsible for the debt as a civil liability. The prison attempts to work out a payment plan, but if the debt remains unpaid after release, the account may be turned over to a collection agency. Warden Robert L. Raiger notes in an affidavit, however, that an account will not be turned over for collection if the ex-prisoner maintains a minimal payment such as $5.00 per week. The outstanding balance is also kept on the prison's records, so if the ex-prisoner is later reincarcerated, the prior debt remains in full force while new debt begins to accumulate.
Because Tillman had not paid off the assessments from his previous term of incarceration, he had an outstanding balance upon recommitment. Consequently, as noted, authorities confiscated half the money in his possession and took half of all funds sent on his behalf to satisfy the debt. The confiscated funds still did not satisfy the assessments, however, leaving the plaintiff with a debt of over $4,000.00 after his final discharge in July of 1998. His account was ultimately turned over to a collection agency.
Not all prisoners fall within the Cost Recovery Program. "Trusty" inmates, who perform work assignments that are essential to the day-to-day operation of the prison, are excused from the program. Also excused are prisoners participating in the Work Release Program because they are already required to pay a minimum of $70.00 per week towards their room and board.
Authorities mistakenly failed to assess the fees against one inmate, Anthony Ashford, who had previously been exempt as a work release prisoner. After Ashford was removed from the Work Release Program, authorities neglected to begin charges under the Cost Recovery Program. Upon receiving notice via the plaintiff 's complaint, however, they back-charged Ashford's account.
The Cost Recovery Program had been put into effect prior to both terms of the plaintiff 's parole violation incarceration. It was adopted by the Lebanon County Prison Board on June 19, 1996, and effective July 1 of that year. At that time, a memorandum regarding the program and a copy of the program itself were posted throughout the prison. When Tillman was incarcerated in January of 1997, these notices were still posted in all cell blocks, including the one to which he had access.
At that time, Tillman was also given an inmate handbook detailing the prison's grievance program, which allowed prisoners to "state any grievance concerning any matter you feel is unjust . . . ." In June of 1997, during the plaintiff 's initial term of parole violation incarceration, the handbook was updated to include a description of the Cost Recovery Program, as well as an expanded grievance program that allowed for direct appeal to the warden. The plaintiff was given a copy of the updated handbook, and upon recommitment in October of 1997, was again provided with a copy.
Although prisoners were assessed $10.00 per day through the Cost Recovery Program, the actual cost of the plaintiff 's room and board amounted to $32.00 per day. Incarcerated in a county facility, however, the plaintiff here was a state prisoner. Although the plaintiff 's pro se complaint alleged that the state reimbursed the county prison for his costs of incarceration, an affidavit filed by Lebanon County Commissioner William G. Carpenter states that no such repayment is given to the county facility for prisoners who are committed for state parole violations.
While still incarcerated,1 the plaintiff filed a pro se complaint in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania on July 22, 1998. He named as defendants Warden Raiger and the Lebanon County Correctional Facility. In the complaint, the plaintiff charged violations of 42 U.S.C. S 1983 arising from the daily assessments, which were imposed despite the alleged fact that the for his expenses. He further claimed that the prison took half the money in his wallet and half of the money orders "sent in to help me live better." He complained that "some" inmates were not charged and that prisoner Anthony Ashford was neither charged nor had any money taken from him. Tillman also made cursory references to assessments for medical treatment and to "false incarceration."
After the plaintiff was granted permission to proceed in forma pauperis, the defendants moved for dismissal under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6), or in the alternative, for summary judgment under Rule 56(c). Counsel subsequently entered an appearance on the plaintiff 's behalf and filed a response.
A Magistrate Judge treated the defendants' motion as one for summary judgment and in a memorandum opinion filed April 9, 1999, recommended that the motion be denied. Although Tillman did not specify any particular legal theory or authority in his response, the Magistrate Judge engaged in a detailed analysis of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. First, held the Magistrate Judge, although prisoners could avoid medical fees by declining to seek treatment, they could not avoid residing in an institution. That fact and the amount of debt created a triable question of fact regarding cruel and unusual punishment. Second, it could not be shown as a matter of law that the fees were not excessive fines in violation of the Eighth Amendment. Third, the defendants failed to demonstrate what due process, if any, was provided to the plaintiff. Finally, the Court held that it lacked sufficient information to conclude that there was no material question of fact regarding any equal protection claim.
The defendants objected to the Magistrate Judge's report and filed supplemental affidavits from Warden Raiger and Commissioner Carpenter. They detailed the notice given to prisoners, the availability of grievance procedures, and asserted that the prison was not reimbursed by the state for maintenance expenses. The defendants provided copies of relevant sections from the superceded and updated prisoner handbooks. They also stated that the Cost Recovery Program was not intended to punish, but rather to rehabilitate by teaching inmates financial responsibility by sharing in the costs of their food, housing, clothes, and protection.
The District Court granted summary judgment to the defendants and dismissed the plaintiff 's complaint in an opinion filed on August 2, 1999. Due in part to the additional evidence, the District Court took a very different approach to the case. First, as to the claim of cruel and unusual...
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