Wickham v. Fisher
| Decision Date | 22 April 1981 |
| Docket Number | No. 16322,16322 |
| Citation | 629 P.2d 896 |
| Parties | Mark WICKHAM, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. George FISHER, Weber County Sheriff, Defendant and Respondent. |
| Court | Utah Supreme Court |
James R. Hasenyagen, Ogden, for plaintiff and appellant.
David L. Wilkinson, Craig L. Barlow, Salt Lake City, Robert Newey, Ogden, for defendant and respondent.
Petitioner Mark Wickham was a pretrial detainee at the Weber County jail at the time this case was at issue in the trial court. He attacked the conditions of confinement at the jail as being in violation of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and the cruel and unusual punishment prohibition of the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution. The District Court for Weber County granted partial relief in response to Wickham's petition for a writ of habeas corpus, and he appeals. Wickham contends that the relief granted by the district court is insufficient and requests this Court to order that "the place and conditions for confinement of pretrial detainees in the Weber County Jail facility be brought into alignment with constitutionally mandated minimum standards ...."
On October 26, 1978, eight pretrial detainees incarcerated on the twelfth floor of the Weber County jail filed a pro se petition for a writ of habeas corpus challenging the conditions and place of their confinement. The district court appointed counsel to represent petitioners, and an amended petition was filed on behalf of the original petitioners. At the time of the hearing, only one of the originally named petitioners, Mark Wickham, remained in pretrial detention, and the claims of the other original petitioners were dismissed.
A hearing was held on the writ, and, after personally touring the jail, talking with some of the prisoners, and reviewing the records of the detainees, the Honorable John F. Wahlquist filed a comprehensive memorandum decision describing the conditions of that portion of the jail used for pretrial detainees. Findings of fact, conclusions of law, and an order based thereon were subsequently filed.
The trial court found the following facts, which are undisputed by the defendant. The pretrial detainment section of the jail involved in this case is divided into cells, used only for sleeping, and a day room. There are no facilities for exercise. When the day room area is filled to capacity, there is an average of 12.1 square feet of space per detainee. The court stated that:
the square footage allowable for these detainees on a current basis would fall below that set forth in all correctional literature. Undoubtedly it would not be tolerated in a Federal Court contest if the confinement was for a long period of time.
And in its conclusions of law, the Court stated:
By federal correctional standards and federal court decisions which are chiefly concerned with long term confinements whether it be for prisoners that are sentenced for felonies or prisoners who have to wait a number of months for trial, there is no doubt that the present confinement of detainees in the Weber County Jail would be considered as constitutionally cruel and inhumane if the detainees were so held for a long period .... The Weber County Jail is inadequate in this respect and therefore severely overcrowded.
The trial court also found that there was no possibility of sun rays ever entering the day room; that there was no interior lighting in the cells or day room, making reading almost impossible, although books were provided for the inmates; that it is impossible to provide "steady comfortable temperature" in the jail and that the temperature fluctuates between "very hot and very cold within the same 24 hour period"; that the condition of the portholes in the wall of the day room used for visitation "would tend to discourage visitations except under an extreme emotional need or necessity to exchange messages"; that detainees, while given reasonable allowances for stationery and envelopes, must either purchase their own stamps or trade their food to other detainees to acquire them; and that there is "no access for an ordinary exercise space, fresh air, or sunlight." Although detainees may do sit-ups or push-ups in the day room, most exercise consists of "stretching, leaning on walls, or walking around for not more than one or two steps at a time."
At the hearing, the chief corrections officer at the jail testified that inmates were not given toothbrushes or toothpaste because they could clean their teeth with salt, and that they could not receive toothpaste from visitors because of the danger of contraband being hidden in the tubes. Also introduced in evidence at the hearing was a copy of a report on the jail's eleventh floor, identical to the twelfth floor, from the Weber County Health Director. The report stated that Although some changes suggested by the report had been made, the basic conditions appear to have remained unchanged. The trial court concluded that "there is no doubt that the present confinement of detainees in the Weber County jail would be considered as constitutionally cruel and inhumane if the detainees were held for a long period. Because they were not held for a long time and for the reason that there were no funds available to correct the situation, the court entered an order instituting procedures for the purpose of shortening pretrial confinement. Based on its findings, the district court ordered:
1. Each week the jailers must supply the court concerned, whether district, circuit, or justice of the peace, with the names of all pretrial detainees. After thirty days of confinement, a detainee shall be considered to have made a motion for release, and he shall be brought to court to determine "whether there is any possible way at that time to lessen the ordeal of his confinement"; court administrators are required to give scheduling priority to criminal cases consistent with the State statute.
2. The county was invited to propose an improved form of visitation, although contact visitation was not ordered.
3. It was suggested that the county contact the state welfare department to see if it could procure toothbrushes and other personal hygiene items for the detainees.
Plaintiff Mark Wickham appealed from this order contending that the overcrowding in the jail, lack of contact visitation, and lack of recreational and exercise opportunities violated his constitutional rights, including the right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. The plaintiff also contends that the jail's refusal to provide him with stamps is a violation of his constitutional right of access to the courts, and that the housing of pretrial detainees with sentenced inmates is in direct violation of § 17-22-5, Utah Code Ann. (1953), as amended. 1
Preliminarily, defendants submit that appellant has no standing to sue since he is no longer a pretrial detainee. We disagree. The situation in this case is such that the issue, involving constitutional considerations, cannot be raised and adjudicated, especially on appeal, by an inmate subjected to the conditions complained of here. The length of time during which a pretrial detainee is subjected to the conditions set forth above is between 30 and 90 days. At the end of that time, a detainee is tried and either discharged or sentenced to serve prison time in an area which provides living conditions that are far less oppressive, and it is therefore not possible to adjudicate the legality of the conditions complained of during the period of detention. We are thus presented with a classic example of a situation "capable of repetition, yet evading review." Southern Pacific Terminal Co. v. Interstate Commerce Commission, 219 U.S. 498, 515, 31 S.Ct. 279, 283, 55 L.Ed. 310 (1911). Even though plaintiff in this case has moved beyond the pretrial stage, the conditions at the Weber County jail giving rise to constitutional issues remain, and clearly there is a strong public interest in having the legality of the conditions settled. See Carroll v. Commissioners of Princess Anne, 393 U.S. 175, 178-79, 89 S.Ct. 347, 350, 21 L.Ed.2d 325 (1968); United States v. W. T. Grant Co., 345 U.S. 629, 632, 73 S.Ct. 894, 897, 97 L.Ed. 1303 (1953).
The principles that determine the justiciability of the instant case are the well-established rules which permit a court to litigate an issue which, although technically moot as to a particular litigant at the time of appeal, is of wide concern, affects the public interest, is likely to recur in a similar manner, and, because of the brief time any one person is affected, would otherwise likely escape judicial review, Carroll v. Commissioners of Princess Anne, supra; United States v. W. T. Grant Co., supra; People v. Labrenz, 411 Ill. 618, 104 N.E.2d 769, cert. denied, 344 U.S. 824, 73 S.Ct. 24, 97 L.Ed. 642 (1952); Dunn v. Dunn, 96 Ind.App. 620, 185 N.E. 334 (1933); Close v. Southern Maryland Agricultural Assoc., 134 Md. 629, 108 A. 209 (1919); O'Laughlin v. Carlson, 30 N.D. 213, 152 N.W. 675 (1915). The law provides no exemption from judicial scrutiny of unlawful acts which are likely to be repeated because they do not fall within the usual principles of standing and justiciability. Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, 93 S.Ct. 705, 35 L.Ed.2d 147 (1973); Southern Pacific Terminal Co. v. Interstate Commerce Commission, supra.
Generally, an actual controversy must exist at the stage of appellate review, but an exception to that rule allows a technically mooted controversy to be adjudicated in certain circumstances. In Roe v. Wade, supra, the Court stated:
But when, as here, pregnancy is a significant fact in the litigation, the normal 266-day human gestation period is so short that the pregnancy will...
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