Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_90-cv-00520/USCOURTS-caed-2_90-cv-00520-585/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 550
Nature of Suit: Prisoner - Civil Rights (U.S. defendant)
Cause of Action: 42:1983 Prisoner Civil Rights

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

RALPH COLEMAN, et al.,

Plaintiffs, NO. CIV. S-90-520 LKK/JFM (PC)

 

v.

 

EDMUND G. BROWN, JR., et al., O R D E R

Defendants.

 /

Plaintiffs are a class of prisoners with serious mental

disorders confined in the California Department of Corrections and

Rehabilitation (“CDCR”). In 1995, this court found defendants in

violation of their Eighth Amendment obligation to provide class

members with access to adequate mental health care. Coleman v.

Wilson, 912 F. Supp. 1282 (E.D. Cal. 1995). To remedy the gross

systemic failures in the delivery of mental health care, the court

appointed a Special Master to work with defendants to develop a

plan to remedy the violations and, thereafter, to monitor

defendants’ implementation of that remedial plan. See Order of

Reference, filed December 11, 1995 (Dkt. No. 640). That remedial

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process has been ongoing for over seventeen years. 

This matter is before the court on defendants’ motion pursuant

to 18 U.S.C. § 3626(b) and Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b)(5) to “terminate

all relief in this action, vacate the Court’s judgment and orders

and dismiss the case.” Notice of Motion and Motion to Terminate

Under the Prison Litigation Reform Act [18 U.S.C. § 3626(b)] and

Vacate the Court’s Judgement and Orders Under Federal Rule of Civil

Procedure 60(b)(5), filed January 7, 2013 (“Notice of Motion”) (ECF

No. 4275) at 1.1 The court heard oral argument on the motion on

March 27, 2013.

I. Motion to Terminate Under 18 U.S.C. § 3626(b)

Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3626(b), defendants seek termination

of all prospective relief and dismissal of this action. Defendants

contend that they have remedied the six core constitutional

1

 In 2009, a three-judge court found that overcrowding in

California’s prison system was the primary cause of the state’s

failure to remedy ongoing constitutional violations in the 

delivery of mental health care to prison inmates. That order was

affirmed by the United States Supreme Court in 2011. See Brown v.

Plata, 563 U.S. , 131 S. Ct. 1910 (2011). Pursuant to that

order, the state is currently under an order to reduce the state

prison population to 137.5% of capacity by the end of this year. 

As this court has previously noted, it cannot entertain a motion

to terminate the relief ordered by the three-judge court or to

vacate the population reduction order. See Order, filed January

29, 2013 (ECF No. 4316) at 3-4. Defendants have, concurrently with

the motion at bar, filed a motion in the three-judge court to

vacate or modify the population reduction order. Notice of Motion

and Motion to Vacate or Modify Population Reduction order, filed

January 7, 2013 (ECF No. 4280). Indeed, since the state has not

reached the required population cap, that would appear to dispose

of the instant motion. Nonetheless, both plaintiffs and defendants

insist that this court can resolve this motion without reference

to the three-judge court’s order. Given the posture of the

parties, the court will proceed to consider the motion.

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deficiencies identified in the court’s 1995 order, that they

provide timely access to mental health care, and that they are not

deliberately indifferent to the serious needs of class members for

mental health care. 

A. General Legal Standards

Section 3626(b) of Title 18 of the United States Code, enacted

as part of the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (“PLRA”),

provides in relevant part that “prospective relief” ordered in “any

civil action with respect to prison conditions” is “terminable upon

the motion of any party – 2 years after the date the court granted

or approved the prospective relief.” 18 U.S.C. § 3626(b)(1)(I). 

However, “[p]rospective relief shall not terminate if the court

makes written findings based on the record that prospective relief

remains necessary to correct a current and ongoing violation of the

Federal right, extends no further than necessary to correct the

violation of the Federal right, and that the prospective relief is

narrowly drawn and the least intrusive means to correct the

violation.” 18 U.S.C. § 3626(b)(3).

As the moving party, defendants have the burden of

demonstrating “that there are no ongoing constitutional violations,

that the relief ordered exceeds what is necessary to correct an

ongoing constitutional violation, or both.” Graves v. Arpaio, 623

F.3d 1043, 1048 (9th Cir. 2010) (citing Gilmore v. California, 220

F.3d 987, 1007-08 (9th Cir. 2000)). Plaintiffs do not, as

defendants contend, have the burden of proving either of those two

elements of defendants’ termination motion. “[N]othing in the

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termination provisions [of 18 U.S.C. § 3626(b)] can be said to

shift the burden of proof from the party seeking to terminate the

prospective relief.” Gilmore, 220 F.3d at 1007. Defendants argue

that the court is somehow free to disregard the specific holdings

in Gilmore and Graves that defendants bear the burden of proof on

this motion, holdings that are, after all, consistent with the

ordinary rule that the party seeking an order bears the burden of

proof.2 It is not.

2

 Defendants cite to Hallett v. Morgan, 296 F.3d 732 (9th

Cir. 2002) and Mayweathers v. Newland, 258 F.3d 930 (9th Cir. 2001)

for the proposition that plaintiffs have the burden of proving that

“a current and ongoing federal right violation supports continuing

prospective relief” under 18 U.S.C. § 3626(b). Memorandum of

Points and Authorities in Support of Motion to Terminate, filed

January 7, 2013 (“Termination Motion”) (ECF No. 4275-1) at 17. In

both Hallett and Mayweathers, the plaintiffs were the moving

parties on the motions at issue. In Hallett, the court noted that

the “‘general standard for granting prospective relief differs

little from the standard set forth in § 3626(b)(2) for terminating

prospective relief, or from the standard set forth in § 3626(b)(3)

for preserving relief to correct a current and ongoing violation.’” 

Id. at 743-44 (quoting Gilmore, 220 F.3d at 1006), but it did not

hold that plaintiffs had the burden of proof on a concurrent motion

to terminate filed by defendants in that action; instead, the court

held that the motion to terminate was mooted by the denial of

plaintiffs’ motion to extend jurisdiction. Id. at 739. In

relevant part the question in Mayweathers was whether certain

provisions of 18 U.S.C. § 3626 precluded entry of a second

preliminary injunction after expiration of a first such injunction. 

258 F.3d at 936. In holding that those provisions did not, the

court of appeals, in dicta, noted that the provision of the statute

that provides for expiration of a preliminary injunction after

ninety days “simply imposes a burden on plaintiffs to continue to

prove that preliminary relief is warranted” and that “[t]he

imposition of this burden conforms with how the PLRA governs

termination of final prospective relief.” Id. (thereinafter

quoting 18 U.S.C. § 3626(b)(3)). However much tension this dicta

might create, it goes without saying that this court is not free

to overrule the specific holdings of Gilmore and Graves. If indeed

Gilmore and Graves are not to be the law in this circuit, it is for

en banc court of this circuit or the Supreme Court to so hold, and

not another panel of the Ninth Circuit, much less a district court.

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The record on which this motion is decided must reflect

“‘conditions as of the time termination is sought.’” Gilmore, 220

F.3d at 1010 (quoting Benjamin v. Jacobson, 172 F.3d 144, 166 (2nd

Cir. 1999)). “Because the PLRA directs a district court to look

to current conditions, and because the existing record at the time

the motion for termination is filed will often be inadequate for

purposes of this determination, the party opposing termination must

be given the opportunity to submit additional evidence in an effort

to show current and ongoing constitutional violations.” Hadix v.

Johnson, 228 F.3d 662, 671-72 (6th Cir. 2000) (emphasis in text)

(and cases cited therein) (emphasis in original). 

Defendants’ motion, filed January 7, 2013, is supported by two

declarations of staff with the CDCR Division of Correctional Health

Care Services and declarations from the former Chief of the Health

Care Placement Oversight Program, the Acting Statewide Mental

Health Deputy Director for CDCR, and the Director of the Facility

Planning, Construction and Management Division for the CDCR, as

well as two expert reports, one of which is a joint report by three

experts and one of which is a solo report. With the exception of

evidence of planned and ongoing construction, the evidentiary

material tendered by defendants with their motion covers the period

through the end of 2012. 

On January 18, 2013, pursuant to court order, the Special

Master filed his Twenty-Fifth Round Monitoring Report (“TwentyFifth Round Report”) (ECF No. 4298). It was circulated to the

parties on December 28, 2012. It is the Special Master’s twenty5

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fifth report to the court on defendants’ compliance with the

remedial plan in this action, currently referred to as the Revised

Program Guide. It covers the period from May 1, 2012 through

September 11, 2012, and is based on visits by the Special Master

and his monitoring team to twenty-three prison institutions and

document reviews for the remaining institutions. Twenty-Fifth

Round Monitoring Report (ECF No. 4298) at 10.3 

In opposition to defendants’ termination motion, plaintiffs

filed five expert declarations totaling over 400 pages and

accompanied by numerous exhibits, as well as three declarations of

counsel with over one hundred additional exhibits. Plaintiffs have

also tendered numerous depositions of defendants’ declarants,

experts, and other witnesses. In reply to plaintiffs’ opposition,

defendants have filed fifty-four declarations and a declaration of

counsel to which are attached numerous additional exhibits.

3 Defendants interposed a number of objections to the TwentyFifth Round Monitoring Report and moved to strike or modify several

of its provisions. By order filed February 28, 2013, the court

overruled defendants’ objections as to all but specific

institutional objections raised by defendants. Order filed

February 28, 2013 (ECF No. 4361). With respect to the latter, the

court directed the Special Master to “review those objections in

section I(C) [of defendants’ objections] that contain specific

citation to material provided to him and file any corrections to

the Twenty-Fifth Round Monitoring Report as may be required by

those specific objections.” Id. at 11. The Special Master filed

a Notice of Corrections on March 19, 2013 (ECF No. 4420). That

notice contains the Special Master’s response to each of the

objections in section I(C) of defendants’ objections. The court

reserved for further consideration in connection with the motion

at bar the questions of whether defendants’ suicide prevention

efforts are consistent with the requirements of the Eighth

Amendment and the weight to be given any particular finding or

conclusion of the Special Master as it might relate to issues

raised in defendants’ termination motion. Id. at 8, 11. 

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The PLRA requires that the court “promptly rule on any motion

to modify or terminate prospective relief,” 18 U.S.C. § 3626(b)(1),

and an automatic stay goes into effect not later than ninety days

after the motion is filed unless the court timely rules on the

motion. See 18 U.S.C. § 3626(b)(2). As discussed above,

defendants have the burden of proof on the motion at bar, and the

motion is resolved with reference to prison conditions at the time

the motion is filed. As part of meeting their burden, defendants

must first meet their burden of producing evidence that they are

in constitutional compliance and that all prospective relief should

be terminated. 

The reply declarations filed by defendants are apparently

intended to raise factual and credibility disputes with plaintiffs’

evidence. The task of resolving these disputes, especially those

involving credibility determinations, would normally be

accomplished through an evidentiary hearing. However, as in any

motion, the court need not address disputes and credibility issues

that are not material and can have no effect on the outcome of the

motion.4 Moreover, in accordance with the allocation of the

burdens of production and proof, unless defendants meet their

initial burden of production, their motion must be denied. There

would, in that case, be no reason to consider the evidence produced

4

 Some of the disputes defendants raise here, for example, are

marginal to the core issues at bar. See, e.g., Reply Declaration

of Bradford M. Sanders, Jr., filed March 22, 2013 (ECF No. 4433)

(averring that he was present on the tour with plaintiffs’ expert,

Dr. Craig Haney, and that the cells Mr. Sanders observed “were

clean and no odor was present”).

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by plaintiffs, except to the degree necessary to protect their due

process rights, and no need to consider brand new evidence produced

by defendants in reply. In the absence of the required initial

showing by defendants, the subsequent disputes are rendered

immaterial.

In accordance with the above, except where due process

requires otherwise, see Hadix, supra, the court has focused on the

evidence tendered by defendants with their motion and the Special

Master’s most recent monitoring report.5 As discussed infra, this

evidence is analyzed with reference to key issues identified in the

court’s August 30, 2012 order to determine whether there are

ongoing constitutional violations in the delivery of mental health

care to seriously mentally ill prisoners in California.6 

5

 In an objection to plaintiffs’ post-hearing brief filed

April 2, 2013, defendants continue to argue that the Special

Master’s monitoring report does not identify constitutional

deficiencies and “in no way establishes that the State is

deliberately indifferent to inmates’ serious mental health needs.” 

Defendants’ Objections and Response to Pls. Post-Hearing Brief,

filed April 2, 2013 (“Objs. To Post-Hearing Brief”) (ECF No. 4536)

at 13. This court has considered and rejected defendants’ argument

that the Special Master is not monitoring with reference to a

constitutional standard. See February 28, 2013 Order (ECF No.

4361) at 3-6. 

6

 Plaintiffs raise at least two issues in their opposition

to defendants’ motion that do not fit squarely into areas examined

by the court on this motion, including clinical staffing shortages

at the Department of State Hospital (“DSH”) programs for CDCR

inmates, particularly the Salinas Valley Psychiatric Program

(“SVPP”); and adequacy of mental health care provided to

California’s condemned inmates. In addition, plaintiffs challenge

the adequacy of medication management, medical record keeping, and

problems with screening in CDCR’s reception centers and

administrative segregation unit. The constraints imposed by the

automatic stay provisions of the PLRA preclude this court from

undertaking in this order an exhaustive resolution of whether there

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B. Defendants’ Expert Reports

Before turning to the merits of defendants’ motion, the court

must address serious concerns raised in connection with two expert

reports filed by defendants with their motion. Plaintiffs filed

objections to these expert reports alleging, among other things,

that the experts conducted “secret” inspections of prisons, and

that they “conducted unprofessional and unethical interviews with

represented class members outside the presence and without the

consent of plaintiffs’ counsel.” Plaintiffs’ corrected objections

to termination motion, filed March 15, 2013 (“Objs. to Termination

Motion”) (ECF No. 4423 at 9-13). Plaintiffs assert that the ex

parte contact with their clients violated defense counsels’ ethical

obligations under Cal. R. Prof. Conduct 2-100 (the “no-contact”

rule). 

Of course, since the attorneys for defendants are members of

the California Bar, they are bound by the California rules of

ethical behavior. Their conduct is not only of concern to the

California Bar, however, as this court has “adopted [those rules]

as standards of professional conduct in this court.” Local Rules

of the United States District Court Eastern District of California,

180(e). Since it is accordingly of concern to this court, the

court reviews the matter, below.

are ongoing constitutional violations in these or other areas of

mental health care delivery. For purposes of this motion and the

relief sought by defendants, it is sufficient that ongoing

constitutional violations in other areas remain, and that

compliance with outstanding orders for prospective relief is

required.

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1. The expert reports.

The first expert report, signed by Drs. Joel A. Dvoskin,

Jacqueline M. Moore and Charles L. Scott, makes clear that the

experts planned and conducted ex parte interviews with inmates at

all thirteen CDCR institutions they visited. Clinical Evaluation

of California’s Prison Mental Health Services Delivery System by

Dyoskin, et al., filed January 7, 2013 (“Clinical Exp. Rpt.”) (ECF

No. 4275-5) at 18 (“At every facility we visited, we interviewed

randomly selected CCCMS inmates”). Those interviews were among the

critical pieces of information that formed the “basis” for the

experts’ report. Id. at 10 (“Basis and Reasons for Opinions: ...

Site visits (including confidential and private conversations with

inmates and staff)”). It is clear that the author of the second

expert report, Steve J. Martin, Esq., also spoke with inmates. See

Excerpts of February 28, 2013 Deposition of Steve J. Martin, filed

March 26, 2013 (“Excerpts of Feb. 28, 2013 Martin Depo.”) (ECF No.

4522-1) at 70-72.

2. The scope of the ex parte interviews.

The inmate interviews were not, despite defendants’

descriptions of them, simply occasional, unintended by-products of

the inspections. Rather, at every facility the defense experts

visited, they without fail sought out class members – inmates with

serious mental disorders – for their interviews. See Clinical Exp.

Rpt. (ECF No. 4275-5) at 21 (“At every prison visited with a Mental

Health Crisis Bed (MHCB) unit or Correctional Treatment Center

serving inmates experiencing mental health crises, a member of our

10

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team assessed the program by interviewing randomly selected

inmates”).7

3. The reasons for the ex parte interviews.

Notwithstanding defendants’ descriptions of these interviews,

they were not in the nature of pastoral visits to sick patients,

in which the experts simply were visiting the inmates because they

were “‘interested in how you’re doing,’” or to “ensure that they

were not lacking appropriate care.”8 See Resp. to OSC (ECF No.

4499) at 9 and 16. Nor were the visits conducted to enable

defendants to find problems in the system “so that the State could

resolve them.”9 See id. at 8.

To the contrary, the experts were retained expressly for

litigation purposes in this case. See Exhibit 1 to Declaration of

Michael Bien (Excerpts of February 27, 2013 Deposition of Joel

Dvoskin, Ph.D), filed March 26, 2013 (“Excerpts of Feb. 27, 2013

Dvoskin Depo.”) (ECF No. 4522-1) at 6 (Dvoskin confirms that he was

“retained for litigation purposes”), 18 (Ex. 2 to Dvoskin

7

 Moreover, the expert report gives the impression that a

large number of inmates were interviewed, since it often refers to

“the vast majority of individual inmates we interviewed.” See,

e.g., Clinical Exp. Rep. (ECF No. 4275-5) at 16, 18, 19, 22, 24,

25, 26 and 29. If a majority of the whole is “vast,” the whole

itself must be large also (unless the experts were simply

exaggerating).

8

 Defendants describe these contacts as “harmless

interactions” and “minimal.” Defendants’ Response to Order to Show

Cause (Resp. To OSC”), filed March 25, 2013 (ECF No. 4499) at 8. 

9

 In more candid moments, defendants come close to admitting

that the experts were hired for this termination motion. See Resp.

to OSC (ECF No. 4499) at 8 (defendants hired the experts to help

them “decide whether to bring a termination motion”).

11

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Deposition) (Dvoskin retained for the “defense of the case

referenced herein”). As defendants themselves put it, the experts

inspected the prison and interviewed the inmates “to fairly and

accurately determine whether the State’s mental health care system

remedied the constitutional deficiencies the Court identified in

1995.” Termination Motion (ECF No. 4275-1) at 15.

4. How the interviews were used.

Defendants used the information they gleaned from the inmates

against the inmates, in support of their motion to terminate and

to vacate the injunction.10 For example:

At every facility we visited, we interviewed randomly

selected CCCMS inmates. The vast majority of CCCMS

inmates interviewed knew the name of their Primary

Clinician, how to contact him or her, the name of their

psychiatrist, the name of their medication, the purpose

of the prescribed medication, and the process for

arranging an earlier appointment with their psychiatrist

or primary clinician if they wanted one. In our

experience, this is a very unusual finding, and one that

speaks to the extensive efforts that have been made to

have inmates seen on a timely and predictable basis by

their psychiatrist and clinician.

Clinical Exp. Rpt. (ECF No. 4275-5) at 18, 23 (“We conducted

randomly selected interviews of CCCMS inmates housed in

Administrative Segregation Units (ASU). All CCCMS inmates we

identified in ASU were provided appropriate services and

periodically assessed to evaluate if they needed a higher level of

10 However, the Court notes that the experts did include some

prisoner comments that tended to undermine defendants’ motion. 

See, e.g., Clinical Exp. Rpt. (ECF No. 4275-5) at 12 (“Inmates

reported that there were instances where they were forced to choose

between their yard time and mental health treatment groups”).

12

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care”); see also id. at 14 (“inmates expressed concerns” about

participating in mental health treatment), 19 (“Inmates

consistently reported that their Primary Clinician met with them

according to the Program Guide parameters”), 31 (“interviews with

inmates did not confirm” a medication availability problem

complained about by a mental health staff member).11

The court concludes that these experts were hired for a

litigation purpose – to file this termination motion. The ex parte

interviews of represented inmates were then used against those

inmates, directly, in this motion. The court does not mean to

imply that defendants would have filed the motion even if they had

interpreted the expert reports as precluding such a motion.

However, there is no dispute, from the record before the court,

that they were hired in anticipation of filing this motion, and

that their resulting reports were submitted for this motion.

5. Consent to the interviews.

Defendants insinuate that plaintiffs consented to these

interviews. Resp. to OSC (ECF No. 4499) at 9. In support,

11 The “vast majority” of the inmates who were interviewed by

defense experts had the same things to report, all of which would

be used against them in this motion:

The vast majority of [CCCMS / SHU [CCCMS] / MHCB / EOPASU / PSU] inmates interviewed knew the name of their

Primary Clinician and how to contact him or her if they

wished to do so. [The vast majority of EOP / MHCB /

EOP-ASU] Inmates also reported that they could request

to see their Primary Clinician in addition to the

minimum required visit frequency.

See ECF No. 4275-5 at 16, 17, 20, 22, 23 and 24.

13

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defendants cite a single conversation that Steve Martin, one of the

defense experts, had with plaintiffs’ counsel Donald Specter: “I

believe it was understood that we would be talking to inmates

during the site visits, as is the case in any prison tour.” See

Reply Declaration of Steve J. Martin, Filed March 22, 2013 (“Reply

Decl. Martin”) (ECF No. 4483) ¶ 24.12 This statement establishes

nothing. The no-contact rule, Cal. R. Prof. Conduct 2-100, does

not concern itself with what defense counsel’s expert now claims

to “believe” about what was going on in the mind of plaintiffs’

counsel. It requires that defense counsel get the consent of

plaintiffs’ counsel before conducting these types of interviews.

In any event, plaintiffs’ counsel testified in open court to

the conversation at issue. Mr. Specter testified that the

conversation was principally a casual conversation between him and

Dr. Martin. Reporter’s Transcript of Proceedings held on March 27,

2013 (“RT”) (ECF No. 4538) at pp. 32-34. While the expert

mentioned that he would participate in a site inspection, Specter

testified, there was no mention of whether plaintiffs’ attorneys

would be present, or whether he or any other expert would interview

inmates.13 Id. This is not even a slender reed upon which to base

an assertion that plaintiffs’ counsel consented to ex parte

12 Martin’s reference to “any prison tour,” leaves defendants

quite a bit of wiggle room, since it leaves open the possibility

that he is referring to prison tours where there is no on-going

litigation, or prison tours where he is accompanied by the lawyers

representing the inmates he is going to interview. In short, it

does not explain why he thought he could read counsel’s mind.

13 Defendants’ counsel declined to cross-examine Mr. Specter.

14

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contacts with their clients. It is simply culled from thin air. 

Thus, even if notice were enough, the evidence shows conclusively

that such notice was never given.

However, even if the expert had fully disclosed his plans to

plaintiffs’ counsel, that would not have cured the ethical problem

that defense counsel face. Nothing in Rule 2-100 permits counsel

(or his expert) to simply inform opposing counsel that he will be

talking with a represented party in violation of the Rule. 

Moreover, the only notice that was even alleged is not enough,

since at best it was notice that defense experts would inspect the

prisons, not that they would also interview the plaintiff class

with no counsel present.14

6. Applicability of the no-contact rule.

Defendants next assert that the no-contact rule does not

apply, or is “relaxed,” in the remedial phase of litigation. Resp.

to OSC (ECF No. 4499) at 8 and 10. However, they cite no relevant

authority for this proposition. Further, they make no mention of

the California authority plaintiffs cite, which states that contact

by a person retained by counsel for an adverse party is prohibited

by Rule 2-100:

There is no question that communication by the

investigator for FFOR&K (indirect communication) with

Slowe (a covered employee of a corporate party) violated

rule 2-100, if FFOR&K knew AT&SF was represented by a

lawyer in the Truitt matter at the time of the

communication.

14 Defendants assert that they notified someone on the Special

Master’s team that the defense experts would be touring the prison

system. Assuming this to be true, it has no legal relevance.

15

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Truitt v. Superior Court, 59 Cal. App. 4th 1183, 1187-88 (2d Dist.

1997) (emphasis in text).

Defendants do cite a 1980 opinion from the Supreme Judicial

Court of Massachusetts, and a 1979 law review article in support. 

Id. at 10. The Massachusetts decision has nothing to do with the

issue at hand. It addressed an ex parte communication made by a

judge. See Perez v. Boston Hous. Auth., 379 Mass. 703, 741-42

(1980) (addressing ex parte communications with defendant). The

court did not condone the judge’s conduct in talking with the

defendant housing authority, but noted that it came in the context

of the remedial phase of the case “where the judge tends to be more

active in such proceedings and to use less formal procedures.” Id.

at 741-42 (“We do not condone such communications, but the nature

of the case suggests some palliation of the misbehavior”).15 The

court made no reference to California’s no-contact rule,

Massachusetts’ equivalent rule, nor to any “model” no-contact rule. 

The court made no reference to any counsel’s ex parte contact with

represented opposing parties. That is because the Massachusetts

case has absolutely nothing to do with the no-contact rule, which

is the only rule at issue here.

Even if there were authority in support of defendant’s

15 The law review article defendants cite has even less to do

with this case, as it addresses the possibility that for the

remedial phase of a case, a court might call in “an outside expert

judge with similar experience elsewhere who, without vote, might

sit in on hearings and consult.” Frank M. Coffin, Frontier of

Remedies: A Call for Exploration, 67 Cal. L. Rev. 983, 996 (1979).

16

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argument, and such contacts could be permitted while all sides were

working cooperatively to make a consent decree work – and

defendants have cited no such authority – that is not the situation

here. The results of these ex parte interviews are being presented

in an adversarial litigation context, against the interest of the

interviewees, in an attempt to terminate and vacate the injunction

plaintiffs had obtained through protracted litigation against

defendants.

7. Plaintiffs’ contacts with CDCR personnel.

For their remaining responses, defendants assert that

plaintiffs engaged in the same conduct.16 Specifically, they

assert that “Plaintiffs’ counsel have commonly discussed the

substance of this case with Defendants’ key decisionmakers without

notifying Defendants’ counsel or receiving their approval.” Resp.

to OSC (ECF No. 4499) at 10.

Even if this were a valid defense to defendants’ conduct – and

it is not – the declarations cited do not even support the charge. 

In support of this assertion, defendants cite the Reply Declaration 

of Martin Hoshino, filed March 25, 2013 (“Reply Decl. Hoshino”)

(ECF No. 4495), the Reply Declaration of Matthew Cate, filed March

25, 2013 (“Reply Decl. Cate”) (ECF No. 4497), and the Reply

Declaration of Debbie Vorous, filed March 25, 2013 (Reply Decl.

Vorous”) (ECF No. 4496).

16 Defendants appear to argue that they figured it was okay

for them to violate Rule 2-100 because, they say, plaintiffs did

it too. As far as the court is aware, this is not a valid defense

for grown-ups.

17

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a. Hoshino and Cate Declarations.

The Hoshino declaration does not state or imply that any

conversation Hoshino had with plaintiffs’ counsel was done without

notice to, or the consent of, defendants’ counsel. Reply Hoshino

Decl. (ECF No. 4495). It does not even address the issue of notice

or consent. Moreover, defendants’ assertion that these contacts

“commonly” occurred, or were “pervasive,” is flatly belied by the

Hoshino declaration. Hoshino makes clear that he spoke alone with

plaintiffs’ counsel “two or three” times.17 Id. ¶ 2. These “two

or three” times, further, included times Hoshino spoke to

plaintiffs’ counsel about “Hecker.”18 Thus, it is not clear from

the declaration that Hoshino ever spoke alone to plaintiffs’

counsel about this case.

The Cate declaration states that he spoke with plaintiffs’

counsel without the presence or “specific” approval of defense 

counsel. Reply Decl. Cate (ECF No. 4497) ¶ 2. There is no

explanation for what “specific” approval refers to, or whether it

is distinguished from any “general” or “blanket” approvals that

may, or may not, have been given. Cate goes on to state that “to

my knowledge,” the plaintiffs (who are mentally ill inmates) never

17 Meanwhile, Hoshino spoke with plaintiffs’ counsel seven or

eight times with CDCR counsel present. Reply Decl. Hoshino (ECF No.

4495 ¶ 2.) The remainder of Hoshino’s discussion of these

conversations fails to distinguish between times when CDCR counsel

was present and those when he was not.

18 This is apparently a reference to Hecker v. California

Dept. of Corr. and Rehab., 2007 WL 836806 (E.D. Cal. Mar. 15, 2007)

(Karlton, J.).

18

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sought the consent of defense counsel for the conversation. Id.

Cate does not, however, set forth why this information would ever

be within his knowledge. Accordingly, the fact that he does not

know about whether or not consent was given is irrelevant.

In contrast, plaintiffs’ counsel has presented a declaration

stating, of his own personal knowledge, that of his conversations

with CDCR officials, including Hoshino and Cate, “[i]n virtually

every case, Benjamin Rice, CDCR General Counsel, or another

attorney representing the State or CDCR was present, had been

informed or gave permission.” Declaration of Michael Bien, filed

March 26, 2013 (“Becl. Bien”) (ECF No. 4522) ¶ 6.

b. The Vorous Declaration.

The declaration of Debbie Vorous, a Deputy Attorney General

for the State, is troubling. Vorous asserts that during a site

inspection of a prison by plaintiffs’ expert and plaintiffs’

counsel, she “observed” plaintiffs’ counsel “talking to prison

staff without counsel present.” Reply Decl. Vorous (ECF No. 4496)

¶ 4. Vorous never addresses the obvious questions raised by this

assertion. For example, how could she have been present at the

inspection and “observed” this conduct, without being “present” for

purposes of Rule 2-100? Also, if she “observed” this conduct, why

did she not make her objection known at the time, when it could

have been stopped?

Most troubling about this declaration is the insinuation that

plaintiffs’ counsel spoke with CDCR staff apart from the time

Vorous was making her observations. Here, Vorous states that

19

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counsel engaged prison staff “without my ability to participate,”

and “without my presence.” Id. Vorous does not indicate whether her

participation or presence was even relevant, since she does not

indicate whether other defense lawyers were present who did

participate or were present. In fact, plaintiffs’ counsel states

in his declaration that Vorous was not alone on that inspection. 

Rather, she was accompanied by two other defense lawyers, Katherine

Tebrock and Heather McCray. Decl. Bien ¶ 17. Vorous does not state

that any conversation with plaintiffs’ counsel took place outside

of the presence or consent of any of the other two CDCR lawyers who

were present. If the other CDCR lawyers were present, then the

declaration gives a decidedly false impression.19

Defendants also seem to complain that plaintiffs’ counsel

spoke with the inmates, their own clients, with defense counsel not

present. Resp. to OSC (ECF No. 4499) at 14. It hardly needs

explaining that plaintiffs’ counsel and agents are entitled to

speak privately with their own clients without violating either

Rule 2-100, or any prior order of this court or for that matter,

the three-judge court.

8. Disposition of defendants’ expert reports.

In sum, it appears clear that defendants’ conduct violated

Cal. R. Prof. Conduct 2-100, in having its experts conduct these

ex parte interviews with represented class members, especially 

19 In addition, Vorous does not explain how these matters came

her knowledge such that she can now testify about them, since she

says that she did not observe them.

20

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since those interviews were used against the plaintiffs in support

of defendants’ Termination Motion. 

The reports are problematic for an additional reason. 

During the time period when defendants’ experts were carrying

out the prison inspections and inmate interviews that went into

their reports, defendants were opposing efforts by plaintiffs, in

the three-judge court, to conduct their own discovery. See

Defendants’ Response and Motion To Strike Plaintiffs’ “Application

for Limited Discovery and Order To Show Cause re Contempt” filed

September 5, 2012 (“Response to App. for Limited Discovery”)(ECF

No. 4234). Plaintiffs’ discovery request was for information

relating to defendants’ efforts to reduce prison overcrowding, the

principal cause of the constitutional violations. The court denied

the discovery request. Order of three-judge court filed September

7, 2012 (ECF No. 4235). This raises issues of fairness to

plaintiffs, who were denied discovery they could have used for

their own expert reports, while defendants were conducting ex parte

communications for their expert reports.

Given all the above, it is clear that plaintiffs were

prejudiced. Defendants’ assertion that this conduct was

“harmless” is plainly belied by the expert reports themselves,

which directly use these tainted interviews against the

interviewees in this termination motion. However, the defense

experts made no attempt to hide the fact of interviews – after they

had occurred. Thus the court can theoretically attempt to discount

those portions of the report that appear to be based upon, or

21

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influenced by, those statements.20 This is problematic, however,

as the court cannot really know what portions of the report are

dependent upon the tainted inmate interviews. Moreover, Dr.

Martin’s report makes no reference to his interviews with inmates,

leaving the court completely unable to identify which portions of

his report are tainted.

The court thus believes that it is entirely proper to strike

these expert reports and not consider them in connection with this

motion. Under normal circumstances, defendants could then correct

this problem by retaining untainted experts to re-inspect the

prisons, and give their report. However, the PLRA places such a

strict time limit on the court’s decision-making that this approach

is not possible. As a consequence of striking these reports, the

court must deny the motion, since defendants’ remaining evidence

is plainly insufficient to meet their burden to show that they have

cured the constitutional violations.

In sum, the court finds that defendants violated their

professional duty and the plaintiffs were prejudiced thereby. 

Accordingly, the court strikes the experts’ reports, and finds

therefore that there is insufficient evidence to support

defendants’ motion, and thus, denies it.

20 In the absence of unfair advantage, it may be that the

possible ethics violations here are best left to be dealt with by

the California Bar. See Continental Ins. Co. v. Superior Court,

32 Cal. App. 4th 94, 111 n.5 (1995).

In addition, the Clerk is directed to deliver a copy of this order

to the State Attorney General, to ensure that she is made aware of

the conduct.

22

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Nonetheless, the court recognizes that, given the paucity of

authority, a reviewing court might find the sanction inappropriate. 

Accordingly, the court will consider whether, even considering the

affidavits, the defendants have made their case.21 Having done so,

the court concludes as an additional ground to deny the motion,

that defendants have not borne their burden of proof. 

C. Standards for Eighth Amendment Violation

The Eighth Amendment violation in this action is defendants’

“severe and unlawful mistreatment” of prisoners with “serious

mental disorders,” through “grossly inadequate provision of . . .

mental health care.” Brown v. Plata, 131 S. Ct. at 1922 & 1923. 

As the United States Supreme Court noted, the serious and

persistent constitutional violation in this action is based on

“systemwide deficiencies in the provision of . . . mental health

care that, taken as a whole, subject ... mentally ill prisoners in

California to ‘substantial risk of serious harm’ and cause the

delivery of care in the prisons to fall below the evolving

standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society.” 

Id. at 1925 n.3 (quoting Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 834

(1994)). “For years the . . . mental health care provided by

California’s prisons has fallen short of minimum constitutional

requirements and has failed to meet prisoners’ basic health needs. 

Needless suffering and death have been the well-documented result.” 

Id. at 1923.

21 In any event, under the circumstances, the weight to be

given those affidavits is significantly diminished.

23

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As recently as August 30, 2012, this court identified several

“critically important” goals which are necessary to remedy the

Eighth Amendment violation in this action. These include:

• Re-evaluation and updating of CDCR

suicide prevention policies and

practices;

• Ensuring that seriously mentally ill

inmates are properly identified,

referred, and transferred to receive

necessary higher levels of mental health

care, including inpatient care only

available from DMH22;

• Addressing ongoing issues related to

placement of EOP (Enhanced Outpatient)

inmates in administrative segregation,

particularly those housed in such units

for over 90 days;

• Completion of the construction of mental

health treatment space and beds for

inmates at varying levels of care;

• Full implementation of defendants’ new

mental health staffing plan; and

• Refinement and implementation of MHTS.net

to its fullest extent and benefit.23

See Order, filed August 30, 2012 (ECF No. 4232) at 5 n.3. These

goals, identified by the Special Master two years ago in his

Twenty-Second Round Monitoring Report, have been the most recent

focus of the extended remedial phase of this litigation.

The specific goals track ongoing violations identified by this

22 Department of Mental Health, now known as Department of

State Hospitals.

23 MHTS.net is defendants’ internet-based mental health

tracking system. Twenty-Fifth Round Report (ECF No. 4298) at 11. 

24

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court in its July 23, 2007 order recommending that a three-judge

court be convened to consider a prisoner release order. See Order,

filed July 23, 2007 (ECF No. 2320) at 6 (ongoing violations include

delays in access to mental health crisis beds, acute inpatient

care, and intermediate inpatient care; inadequate capture,

collection, and analysis of data necessary to long-range planning

for adequate delivery of mental health care; unacceptably high

staffing vacancies; insufficient program space; and insufficient

beds for mentally ill inmates). The specific goals also directly

connect to evidence of conditions through August 2008 presented to

the three-judge court, which showed serious ongoing constitutional

violations in the delivery of mental health care to CDCR inmates,

including severe shortages in treatment space, beds, and staffing;

inadequate medication management; inadequate medical recordkeeping;

and an unacceptably high number of inmate suicides. See Order of

three-judge court, filed August 4, 2009 (ECF No. 3641) at 60-87. 

Finally, several of the goals set forth in the court’s August

30, 2012 order (ECF. No. 4232) are tied to constitutional

deficiencies described by the United States Supreme Court in its

2011 Opinion affirming the three-judge court’s population reduction

order, which include:

• A shortage of treatment beds, causing suicidal

inmates to be “held for prolonged periods in

telephone-booth sized cages without toilets”,

other inmates to be “held for months in

administrative segregation, where they endure

harsh and isolated conditions and receive only

limited mental health services,” and inmates

to commit suicide while awaiting treatment. 

131 S. Ct. at 1924, 1933.

25

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• “Wait times for mental health care rang[ing]

as high as 12 months.” Id. at 1924.

• A suicide rate that in 2006 “was nearly 80%

higher than the national average for prison

populations;” and “72.1% of suicides involved

‘some measure of inadequate assessment,

treatment, or intervention, and were therefore

most probably foreseeable and/or

preventable.’” Id. at 1924-25 (internal

citation omitted). See also id. at 1925 n.2.

• An “absence of timely access to

appropriate levels of care at every point

in the system.” Id. at 1931 (quoting

2009 Special Master report).

• Unacceptably high staffing vacancy rates

when measured against the state’s

staffing formula, with expert testimony

showing that the staffing need had been

significantly underestimated. Id. at

1932 & n.5. Mental health staff

“managing far larger caseloads than is

appropriate or effective” and a prison

psychiatrist reporting that they are

“doing about 50% of what we should be

doing to be effective.” Id. at 1932.

• Insufficient space in which to perform

“critical tasks and responsibilities” and

staff operating out of “makeshift

facilities.” Id. at 1933.

D. Analysis

Defendants’ motion is premised on their contention that they

now have a mental health care delivery system that includes each

of the “six basic, essentially common sense, components of a

minimally adequate prison mental health care delivery system,”

////

////

////

26

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Coleman, 912 F. Supp. at 1298,24 and that those components have

been adequately implemented.25 Defendants’ motion, which proceeds

from the erroneous assumption that plaintiffs bear the burden of

proof on a motion to terminate under 18 U.S.C. § 3626(b), is itself

woefully inadequate.26

24 “The six components are: (1) a systematic program for

screening and evaluating inmates to identify those in need of

mental health care; (2) a treatment program that involves more than

segregation and close supervision of mentally ill inmates; (3)

employment of a sufficient number of trained mental health

professionals; (4) maintenance of accurate, complete and

confidential mental health treatment records; (5) administration

of psychotropic medication only with appropriate supervision and

periodic evaluation; and (6) a basic program to identify, treat,

and supervise inmates at risk for suicide.” Id. at 1298 n.10

(citing Balla v. Idaho State Board of Corrections, 595 F. Supp.

1558, 1577 (D. Idaho 1984)). 

25 In their motion, defendants contend that in its 1995

decision this court “did not find that the State’s mental health

care delivery system was inadequate, but rather that it did not

provide ‘reasonably speedy’ access to care.” Termination Motion

(ECF No. 4275-1) at 10 (citing Coleman, 912 F. Supp. at 1308). 

This cramped reading of the foundational order in this case is

without merit. See, e.g., Coleman, 912 F. Supp. at 1318 (“Whatever

variances exist between the various studies that have been made,

they consistently find a woefully inadequate system of mental

health care with all its tragic consequences.”)

26 In the analysis that follows, the court frequently relies

on the Special Master’s reports. This is both sensible and

appropriate. Unlike the parties, who have viewpoints colored by

their status, the Special Master is responsible only to the court,

a responsibility that he has discharged with both care and great

propriety. The defendants’ initial attempt to deprecate his

reports, based upon monetary interests, and subsequently withdrawn

see ECF Nos. 4414 and 4353, is both plainly false and unworthy of

consideration. Indeed, Dr. Patterson, the Special Master’s suicide

expert, is leaving his position because of his frustration arising

from the defendants’ repeated failure to implement his

recommendations. See Report on Suicides completed in the California

Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation January 1, 2012 - June

30, 2012, filed March 13, 2013 (“First Half 2012 Suicide Report”)

(ECF No. 4376) at 23. 

27

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The motion also disregards most of the relevant context in

which it arises. As a general proposition, proof of an Eighth

Amendment violation in the delivery of health care to inmates has

two components: an objective component that identifies

deficiencies in the provision of inmate health care, and a

subjective component that requires a finding that defendants are

“deliberately indifferent” to those deficiencies. See Estelle v.

Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 106 (1976); see also Wilson v. Seiler, 501

U.S. 298-99 (1991). Here, the objective component turns generally

on whether there are ongoing deficiencies in the delivery of mental

health care to class members that subject them to “substantial risk

of serious harm,” see Brown v. Plata, supra. The subjective

component is discussed infra.

As this court observed in its 1995 decision, the standards for

compliance with the Eighth Amendment must and indeed “can only be

developed contextually.” Coleman, 912 F. Supp. at 1301. At the

time of trial in this matter, among other “woeful inadequacies,”

defendants did not “have a systematic program for screening and

evaluating inmates for mental illness.” Id. at 1305. Evidence at

trial in 1994 showed that in 1987, the state prison system had

identified 2,966 inmates with psychiatric classifications, while

studies estimated that there were over 4,000 inmates suffering from

serious mental disorders who had not been detected. Id. at 1306

n.29. By July 1997, a year and a half into the remedial phase of

this action, the state prison system had identified 14,293 inmates

with serious mental disorders. As of November 2, 2012, there were

28

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32,106 inmates in CDCR’s mental health services delivery system. 

See February 28, 2013 Order (ECF No. 4361) at 6 n.6. 

In order to prevail on this motion, defendants must prove that

there are no ongoing constitutional violations in the delivery of

mental health care to the plaintiff class.27 This contention must

be analyzed with reference to its particular context: delivery of

mental health care to over 32,000 mentally ill inmates housed

throughout the thirty-three prisons in the California Department

of Corrections and Rehabilitation.28 

As the history of this “complex and intractable constitutional

violation” shows, the prospective relief required for the delivery

of constitutionally adequate mental health care to over 32,000

mentally ill prison inmates is not “susceptible of simple or

straightforward solutions.” Brown v. Plata, 131 S. Ct. at 1936. 

See also Armstrong v. Schwarzenegger, 622 F.3d 1058, 1070 (9th Cir.

2010)(“Prospective relief for institutions as complex as prisons

is a necessarily aggregate endeavor, composed of multiple elements

that work together to redress violations of the law.”) 

27 Had defendants moved for termination of specific orders, 

they might have been required to show, in the alternative, that

“the relief ordered exceeds what is necessary to correct an ongoing

constitutional violation.” Graves, 623 F.3d at 1048. As

plaintiffs observed at the hearing, however, with this motion

defendants have “gone for the home run ball.” RT (ECF No. 4538)

at 26:4-5.

28 Only twenty-eight of California’s prisons have a

“designated mental health mission.” Declaration of Rick Johnson,

filed January 7, 2013 (“Decl. Johnson”) (ECF No. 4276) at ¶ 5. 

Inmates at the other five prisons are not without mental health

issues; they are, however, transferred to one of the other twentyeight prisons. Id. 

29

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The first remedial order in this action directed defendants

to work with the Special Master and his staff to develop and

implement plans to remedy the Eighth Amendment violation. See

Coleman, 912 F. Supp. at 1323-24.29 Over a decade of effort led to

development of the currently operative remedial plan, known as the

Revised Program Guide. The Revised Program Guide “represents

defendants’ considered assessment, made in consultation with the

Special Master and his experts, and approved by this court, of what

is required to remedy the Eighth Amendment violations identified

in this action and to meet their constitutional obligation to

deliver adequate mental health care to seriously mentally ill

inmates.” February 28, 2013 Order (ECF No. 4361) at 3.30 Over

seven years ago, this court ordered defendants to immediately

29 “The remedial phase of this litigation has been guided by

the court’s core view that the obligation to comply with the

Constitution rests with the defendants and that it is defendants

who must choose and implement the mechanisms for meeting that

obligation.” Order, filed August 15, 2011 (ECF No. 4069) at 5. 

See also Coleman, 912 F. Supp. at 1301 (“The Constitution does not

. . . prescribe the precise mechanisms for satisfying its mandate

to provide access to adequate mental health care. . . . [I]n cases

challenging conditions of prison confinement, courts must strike

a careful balance between identification of constitutional

deficiencies and deference to the exercise of the wide discretion

enjoyed by prison administrators in the discharge of their

duties.”) 

30 In most of the papers filed recently in this action,

defendants have argued that the Special Master is not monitoring

to a constitutional standard when he monitors their compliance with

the Revised Program Guide. However, at the hearing, defense

counsel acknowledge that “[t]he program guide is the remedial plan

designed to get the State up to a constitutional level of

care . . . .” RT (ECF No. 4538) at 27:5-7. Thus, the degree to

which defendants are complying with the Revised Program Guide is

an appropriate way to assess whether defendants are meeting their

constitutional obligations.

30

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implement all undisputed provisions of the Revised Program Guide.31

Id. at 5-6. 

Over the past seventeen years this court has issued over one

hundred other substantive orders to defendants in an ongoing effort

to bring the CDCR’s mental health care delivery system into

compliance with Eighth Amendment standards.32 Those orders have

been focused on core issues including but not limited to staffing,

bed planning, suicide prevention, and access to inpatient care. 

Monitoring of defendants’ remedial efforts has been ongoing as

well, and the Special Master has filed periodic monitoring reports

which both report on defendants’ progress and the tasks that

remain.33 See, e.g., Twenty-Second Round Monitoring Report, filed

31 Ninety-five percent of the provisions of the Revised

Program Guide were undisputed by the parties when submitted to the

court in 2006. See Special Master’s Report and Recommendations on

Defendants’ Revised Program Guide, filed February 3, 2006 (ECF No.

1749) at 4.

32 As of July 2007, prior to the convening of the three-judge

court, this court had issued over seventy-seven such orders. See

July 23, 2007 Order (ECF No. 2320) at 4 & n.3. Since that time,

this court has issued at least thirty-five additional orders

directed at adequate design and implementation of necessary

remedial measures.

33 The Special Master has also observed, correctly, that

“[t]he ultimate goal of Coleman monitoring is to eventually render

itself obsolete as more and more institutions obtain adequate

compliance levels and are prepared to assume self-monitoring

responsibilities. . . . The hope is that as more and more

institutional mental health programs progess toward adequately

higher levels of functioning, they too will be shifted to a selfmonitoring and reporting status. If their progress proves to be

stable and maintainable, the special master’s oversight will no

longer be needed, and monitoring and review of institutional

performance will eventually be turned back over to CDCR.” TwentyFourth Round Report (ECF No. 4205) at 62.

31

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March 9, 2011 (ECF No. 3990) at 461-62; Twenty-Third Round

Monitoring Report, filed December 1, 2011 (ECF No. 4124) at 74-77;

Twenty-Fourth Round Monitoring Report, filed July 2, 2012 (ECF No.

4205) at 59-66; Twenty-Fifth Round Monitoring Report, (ECF No.

4298) at 16-51. As this court recently reminded defendants,

“[b]ecause the Revised Program Guide is grounded in the

requirements of the Eighth Amendment as they have been developed

in the context of this action, . . ., the Special Master’s Report

to the court on defendants’ compliance with the provisions of the

Revised Program Guide is also grounded in the requirements of the

Eighth Amendment . . . .” February 28, 2013 order (ECF No. 4361)

at 3. 

This motion comes before the court focused on a basic

structure identified by the court almost two decades ago. 

Defendants have, through the Revised Program Guide, designed an

adequate system for the delivery of mental health care to prison

inmates. Their motion fails to address in any meaningful way the

more recent specific findings concerning ongoing constitutional

violations that have continued to plague adequate implementation

of that system. This failure notwithstanding, the court must

determine whether defendants have met their burden of proving that

those ongoing violations no longer exist.

1. Suicide Prevention

In 2011, the United States Supreme Court cited California’s

inmate suicide rate and the percentage of those suicides that

involved “‘some measure of inadequate assessment, treatment, or

32

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intervention, and were therefore most probably foreseeable and/or

preventable’” as evidence that “[p]risoners in California with

serious mental illness do not receive minimal, adequate care.” 

Brown v. Plata, 131 S. Ct. at 1924-25. The Court cited the

following specific facts: California’s 2006 inmate suicide rate

was “nearly 80% higher than the national average for prison

populations” and that pattern appeared to have continued in 2007;

72.1 percent of the inmate suicides in 2006 involved “‘some measure

of inadequate assessment, treatment, or intervention, and were

therefore most probably foreseeable and/or preventable’”, and that

percentage rose to 82% in 2007; the Special Master’s report that

those “‘numbers clearly indicate no improvement in this area during

the past several years, and possibly signal a trend of ongoing

deterioration,’”; and the Special Master’s report that “‘the data

for 2010 so far is not showing improvement in suicide prevention.’” 

Brown v. Plata, 131 S. Ct. at 1924-25 & 1925 n.2. 

Despite the fact that current evidence shows that inmate

suicides are occurring at virtually the same rate34 and with 

34 California’s inmate suicide rate reached an all-time high

of 26.2 inmates per 100,000 in 2005, and was not significantly

better in 2006, at 25.1 per 100,000. Report on Suicides Completed

in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in

Calendar Year 2011, filed January 25, 2013 (“2011 Suicide Report”)

(ECF No. 4308) at 7. In 2009, the suicide rate dipped to 15.7 per

100,000, near the national average of 15.2 per 100,00. Id. at 7-8. 

Since then, however, it has climbed back up to 23.72 per 100,000

inmates in 2012. Id. at 8. The suicide rate is going in the wrong

direction.

The percentage of suicides that involved “‘some measure of

inadequate assessment, treatment, or intervention, and were

therefore most probably foreseeable and/or preventable’” has been

at or above 72.1 percent since 2006. See discussion infra. 

33

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virtually the same degree of inadequacies in assessment, treatment

and intervention, defendants now seek termination of all relief in

this action. The facts show, however, that the rate of inmate

suicide is not declining, and more than seventy percent of inmate

suicides in California involve significant inadequacies about which

defendants have known for years. These facts demonstrate an

ongoing violation of the Eighth Amendment rights of members of the

plaintiff class. 

With respect to suicide prevention, defendants’ motion is

premised on two basic contentions. First, they contend that “[t]he

Eighth Amendment does not mandate that prisons eliminate all

suicide risks.” Termination Motion (ECF No. 4275) at 27 (citations

omitted).35 Second, they assert that they have “fully implemented

35 In their reply brief, defendants contend that they

“successfully prevented 347 attempted suicides” in 2012. They

support this assertion with a citation to paragraph 4 of the Reply

Declaration of Kathleen Allison, Deputy Director of the Division

of Adult Institutions (DAI), Facilities Support, for CDCR and

Exhibit A to said declaration. See Reply Declaration of Kathleen

Allison filed March 22, 2013 (ECF No. 4478) ¶ 4, Ex. A. In part,

Ms. Allison avers that “CDCR is able to successfully prevent

suicides throughout the state through timely and professional

clinical intervention but also through good communication and

observation by custodial staff. Attached as Exhibit A is a report

reflecting that CDCR successfully prevented 347 attempted suicides

between January 1, 2012, and December 31, 2012.” Id. Plaintiffs

object to this evidence as new evidence presented for the first

time in a reply brief, and to Exhibit A as inadmissible hearsay on

the grounds that it has no identifying information and is not

authenticated in any way. Plaintiffs’ objections to this evidence

are well-taken. [... Plaintiffs’ objections to this evidence are

well-taken.]

The time and place for defendants to submit this declaration, along

with properly authenticated exhibits, was in their moving papers,

not in their Reply. Defendants’ error creates no hardship for them

however, as the PLRA appears to permit them to file successive

34

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and staffed a thorough, standardized program for the

identification, treatment, and supervision of inmates at risk for

suicide.” Id. at 28 (case citations omitted). Defendants’ first

argument misses the mark, and they have not proved the second.

To state the obvious, “‘suicide is a serious harm.’” Estate

of Miller, ex rel. Bertram v. Tobiasz, 680 F.3d 984, 989 (7th Cir.

2012) (internal citation omitted). The suicide rate, and the

number of inmate suicides, provide notice to defendants that

inmates in their custody have been, and continue to be, suffering

the serious harm of suicide. Defendants seek to avoid

responsibility for the problem of inmate suicide in California’s

prisons by making a number of arguments concerning particular

statistical methodologies.36 This analysis misses the point

motions to terminate at appropriate times in the future. See 18

U.S.C. § 3626(b)(1)(A)(ii). If defendants do so, they will be able

to file their papers next time with an awareness of their burden

of production and proof. Defendants will also have the benefit of

this court’s order, which identifies for them at least some of the

work that remains to be done to bring the prison’s mental health

system into constitutional compliance.

36 The court is persuaded that suicide rate is the proper

method for assessment of suicide trends. As Dr. Patterson suggests

in his most recent report, “even assuming that the raw number of

suicides was a meaningful metric for evaluating” CDCR’s suicide

prevention, Report on Suicides Completed in the California

Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation January 1, 2012 - June

30, 2012, filed March 13, 2013 (First Half 2012 Suicide Report)

(ECF No. 4376) at 13, those numbers do not help defendants. From

1999 through 2012, 437 inmates have committed suicide in

California’s prisons. Id. Three hundred twenty-six of those

suicides were committed in the decade from 2001 to 2010. Id. at 

13. California’s total number of inmate suicides for that period

was substantially higher than any other prison system in the United

States, including the federal prison system. Id. Texas had the next

highest number of inmate suicides from 2001-2010, with 248. Id.

35

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relative to termination of this action. Where, as here, defendants

know that they house prison inmates at risk for suicide, they are

required to take all reasonable steps to prevent the harm of

suicide. 

For the past several years, and continuing, over seventy

percent of inmate suicides in California have involved “‘at least

some degree of inadequacy in assessment, treatment, or

intervention,” also described as “significant indications of

inadequate treatment.” See, e.g., 2011 Suicide Report (ECF No.

4308) at 3, 28; Report on Suicides Completed in the California

Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in calendar years 2008

and 2009, filed May 15, 2011 (ECF No. 4009) at 9 (82 percent rate

in 2007 suicides; 78.4 percent rate in 2008 suicides); Report on

Suicides Completed in the California Department of Corrections and

Rehabilitation in calendar year 2010, filed November 9, 2011 (ECF

No. 4110) at 9-10 (84 percent rate in 2009 suicides; 74 percent

rate in 2010). In 2011, 25 of 34 completed suicides, or 73.5% of

the suicides involved significant indications of inadequate

treatment and “were, therefore, most probably foreseeable or

preventable.” 2011 Suicide Report (ECF No. 4308) at 3, 10.37 On 

37 Defendants take issue with the findings of the Special

Master’s suicide expert, Dr. Raymond Patterson, concerning

foreseeability or preventability, contending that many of the 25

suicides should not be categorized as “foreseeable and/or

preventable.” Defendants’ Objections to 2011 Suicide Report, filed

Marc h28, 2013 (“Objs. to 2011 Suicide Report”) (ECF No. 4526) at

12-31. A review of Dr. Patterson’s report, however, indicates that

defendants, in their characterization of Dr. Patterson’s analysis,

failed to acknowledge or address a number of probative facts

underlying Dr. Patterson’s conclusions. 

36

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As an example, defendants objected to Dr. Patterson’s

assessment of Inmate H, finding that “[Inmate H’s] statement to his

psychiatrist that he would be going home to Mexico and that his

mother was there may very well have been an indication of his

intent to go home to Mexico after his death given that his mother

was already dead,’” as “retroactive speculation” without a “factual

basis for th[e] assertion.” Objs. To 2011 Suicide Report (ECF No.

4526) at 17. However, defendants failed to note Dr. Patterson’s

overt reliance on the fact that a suicide risk evaluation (“SRE”)

performed at Salinas Valley Psychiatric Program (“SVPP”), before

his release to a lower level of care, failed to recognize Inmate

H’s “serious suicide attempt in 2010" and his “imminent

deportation.” See 2011 Suicide Report (ECF No. 4308) at 107. 

Even CDCR’s suicide reviewer acknowledged the inadequacies in

the SRE performed at SVPP prior to Inmate H’s discharge, because

it was “not completed with the aid of an interpreter, nor was there

more than a cursory record review.” Id. at 106.

As to Inmate P, defendants contended that Dr. Patterson’s

finding that Inmate P’s suicide was “very likely preventable” lacks

a foundation because “[d]espite a challenging clinical

presentation, staff continued to provide this inmate with mental

health care–-immediately prior to his death, his treatment team

considered a Keyhea petition, but determined he did not meet the

grave disability requirement.” Objs. to 2011 Suicide Report (ECF

No. 4526)at 19-20. Defendants further argued that “given the

staff’s efforts to treat this inmate, [it] should not be considered

an error in clinical care.” Id. at 20. Defendants, however,

omitted reference to: (1) the inmate’s “clear deterioration in

mental health functioning,” which Dr. Patterson found required that

Inmate P be “referred to a higher level of care for more

comprehensive and adequate examination”; (2) the inmate’s placement

in SHU, “despite the requirement that inmates with serious mental

illness be placed in a PSU,” and with only “minimal consideration

that he should have had an evaluation to determine his ability to

remain mentally healthy in a SHU”; and (3) the fact that, because

a “recently hired psychiatrist inappropriately completed a Removal

Chrono after his first meeting with the inmate because the inmate

[had] refused medications and treatment,” the inmate was “errantly

removed from the MHSDS on 2/10/11 and was not seen again until

5/5/11,” even though his condition “had clearly deteriorated and

continued to do so.” 2011 Suicide Report (ECF No. 4308) at 168,

170-71.

The CDCR suicide reviewer in Inmate P’s case similarly noted

that “it was concerning that the response and decision making of

the IDTT with respect to the primary clinician’s concerns as to the

inmate’s increasing symptoms and possible need for a level of care

change, especially in the context of no established therapeutic

relationship and extreme diagnostic uncertainty, was ‘concerning’,”

given that “ample clinical justification was present for a level

37

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March 13, 2013, the Special Master filed Dr. Patterson’s Report on

Suicides Completed in the First Half of 2012. Dr. Patterson

reports that for the first half of 2012, the rate climbed to 86.6

percent, or 13 of the 15 suicides. First Half 2012 Suicide Report,

filed March 13, 2013 (ECF No. 4376) at 3. Defendants have objected

to that report; their objections to that report are still pending.

These “significant indications” continue to fall into an

ongoing pattern of repeating inadequacies. In the 2011 Suicide

Report, Dr. Patterson’s findings as to each of the suicides in

question repeatedly include the following (or some combination of

the following) systemic inadequacies: (1) failures to refer inmates

of care change at IDTT reviews on 6/9/11 and 6/16/11,” including

“the inmate’s deteriorating condition and that his functioning was

‘most definitely no longer stable’.” Id. at 166-67. The CDCR

reviewer further found that no SREs “were completed during the

inmate’s second term of incarceration,” despite the inmate’s

documented history of a suicide attempt in 2006, and that “another

SRE should have been completed at some time during the obvious

decline in his functioning beginning at the end of May 2011.” Id.

at 167. The reviewer also noted that two areas of concern

“ultimately under the control of custody” were “the inmate’s single

cell status without adequate documentation,” given that single cell

housing is a risk factor for suicide, and the lack of “out-of-cell

time for the inmate to have had regular breaks from SHU

confinement,” even though “regular breaks from the confinement of

a SHU cell is an important stress reducer.” Id. at 167-68.

As a final example, defendants objected to Dr. Patterson’s

assessment that Inmate R’s suicide was “very likely . . .

preventable”, and argued that Dr. Patterson’s finding that the

inmate “was discharged from APP to an EOP level of care in a

psychiatrically fragile state,” lacks a foundation because

“[i]mprovement had been noted.” (ECF No. 4308) Objs. To 2011

Suicide Report (ECF No. 4526) at 20-21. Defendants, however, failed

to address either Dr. Patterson’s finding that “the level of

improvement d[id] not appear to have justified his return to an EOP

level of care” or the fact that “the inmate was discovered in rigor

mortis, which raised appropriate questions from the warden

regarding monitoring by custody staff.” 2011 Suicide Report (ECF

No. 4308) at 192.

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to higher levels of care when clinically appropriate; (2) failures

to conduct indicated mental health evaluations and/or assessments;

(3) failure to conduct adequate or timely mental health status

examinations; (4) failure to carry out basic clinical procedures,

such as consultations between mental health and medical providers,

conducting UHR/eUHR reviews following discharges from DSH, or

obtaining necessary clinical records from the UHR/eUHR; (5)

inadequate completion of SRE’s; or (6) inadequate emergency

responses. 2011 Suicide Report at 9. 

As to the suicides that occurred in segregated housing units,

Dr. Patterson repeatedly found systemic failures as to (1)

documentation and completion of 30-minute welfare checks; (2)

completion of the 31-item screen for newly-arriving inmates in

administrative segregation; (3) emergency response protocols; and

(4) clinical follow-up for inmates discharged from crisis care. 

Id. at 10. 

In the First Half of 2012 Suicide Report (ECF No. 4376), Dr.

Patterson surveys the suicide prevention measures that he has

repeated over the past fifteen years and which defendants have

failed to implement. First Half 2012Suicide Report (ECF No. 4376)

at 8-10. These recommendations fall into three areas: 

• Ongoing failure in compliance with

specific existing requirements, including

five-day clinical follow-ups; custody

staff adherence to policies and

procedures regarding conduct of custody

welfare checks and others; and proper

supervision of inmates who have histories

of increased suicide risk.

39

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• Close clinical monitoring of suicidal

inmates; proper and timely referral of

decompensating inmates to higher levels

of care, particularly mental health

crisis beds and inpatient care;

appropriate clinical management of

suicidal inmates pending referral to

higher levels of care, including proper

assessment of suicidal risk factors,

particularly upon placement in

administrative segregation.

• Improvement in necessary emergency

response procedures. 

Id. These recommendations have been repeated periodically since

1999. See id. These and other repeatedly identified inadequacies,

including “the need for adequate consideration of information

available in the medical records of Coleman class members” were

also described in this court’s April 14, 2010 order. Order, filed

April 14, 2010 (ECF No. 3836) at 4-6.

Defendants’ clinical experts also report on inmate suicides.38

38 Much of this part of defendants’ clinical expert report is

not particularly useful to the issues at bar. Whether or not the

Department has or lacks “a passionate commitment to the prevention

and elimination of suicides,” Clinical Exp. Rpt. (ECF No. 4275-5)

at 32, for example, is not relevant to whether defendants have

taken all reasonable steps to remedy the identified pattern of

deficiencies in suicide prevention. In addition, the suggestion

that the Special Master’s suicide reports should be provided more

timely to defendants, see Id. at 36-37, is completely misguided. 

The report of Dr. Patterson, the Special Master’s expert, is based

entirely on CDCR’s own information and data about inmate suicides. 

As noted above, Dr. Patterson has reported a pattern of

inadequacies for years. This pattern has been known to defendants

and can and should have provided a useful framework for defendants

to apply in their own internal reviews of inmate suicides, as well

as their assessment of required measures going forward. It is,

after all, defendants who are responsible for timely investigating

and reviewing inmate suicides and for implementing procedures to

address recurring issues that, if corrected, might have prevented

suicides in the past and may prevent them in the future. 

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They report that they “are aware that CDCR has experienced a rate

of suicide that is higher than the reported national average for

state prisons for the last several years” and they report on

“statistical overrepresentation” of inmate suicides that occur in

the “non-therapeutic” environment of administrative segregation. 

Clinical Evaluation of California Prison Mental Health Services

Delivery System by Dvoskin, et al., filed January 7, 2013

(“Clinical Exp. Rpt.”) (ECF No. 4275-5) at 20, 23, 34. They also

note the critical importance of appropriate consideration and

accurate documentation of suicide risk factors on the suicide risk

evaluation instrument now available. Id. at 4, 39 (quality of

suicide risk evaluations “remains an area of concern.”) These

findings are congruent with relevant findings by Dr. Patterson.39

39 In addition, plaintiffs have presented evidence that in

2010 defendants hired a nationally recognized expert on suicide

prevention, Lindsay Hayes. The contract between CDCR and Mr. Hayes

recognizes that “[i]n the last ten years the CDCR has experienced

an increase in the rate of suicide,” that “[f]or most years in the

last decade the suicide rate in CDCR has exceeded the national rate

of suicide among state prisoners,” and that “[r]ecently the CDCR

has stumbled in the timeliness of its suicide reviews and the

adequacy of the responses to these reviews by institutions and the

CDCR as a whole.” Exhibit 113 to Declaration of Michael Bien,

filed March 15, 2013 (ECF No. 4404) at 2. The contract further

provided that Mr. Hayes was hired as a consultant for the express

purpose of addressing numerous deficiencies in CDCR’s suicide

prevention efforts, including “subpar and inadequate” assessments

that in turn lead “to poor follow-up trajectories that may

contribute to an eventual suicide”; developing assurance that

institutional policies and practices reflect department standards

and are “consistent across institutions”; and remedying CDCR’s

inability to “adequately track, monitor, and prevent suicide

attempts [which] ha[d] eroded until at the current time [of Hayes’

contract] the CDCR has no active database of suicide attempts and

no plan to systematically collect data on attempts as a way to

better understand who may and who may not attempt and ultimately

complete a suicidal act. . . .” Id. In short, CDCR contracted

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with Lindsay Hayes so that his “experience (more than 25 years)

with correctional suicide prevention programs will allow the CDCR

to make immediate, short-term, and long-term changes in its suicide

prevention program to begin to decrease the overall rate of suicide

over the long term. . . [and] to implement a more effective suicide

prevention policy . . . .” Id. 

In August 2011, the first year of the three year

contract, Mr. Hayes delivered a report to defendants with his

findings and recommendations. See Order, filed February 14, 2013

(ECF No. 4341) at 5 (citing Declaration of Lindsay Hayes, filed

February 12, 2013 (“Decl. Hayes”) (ECF No. 4328) ¶ 5). The “report

was written with the explicit intent to provide CDCR with a

strategy to reduce inmate suicides within the prison system.” 

Decl. Hayes ¶ 5. Despite explicit contractual provisions for

additional services, Mr. Hayes was not contacted by CDCR again

except to redact his report in order for certain parts to be

provided to the Special Master and plaintiffs’ counsel. See

February 14, 2013 Order (ECF No. 4341) at 5.

In what he now describes as an “unfortunate off-hand

remark,” in June 2012, Robert Canning, PhD, CDCR’s Suicide

Prevention and Response Coordinator, told Mr. Hayes in an email

that when his “report landed it was not roundly applauded and in

fact was buried.” Reply Declaration of Robert Canning, Ph.D.),

filed March 22, 2013 (ECF No. 4474) at ¶ 4. He now avers that he

asked additional questions in the same email because he “wanted to

know whether the department could have done anything else to help

Mr. Hayes produce a more useful product for the department.” Id.

at ¶ 5. Dr. Canning also avers that CDCR has “analyzed” all of the

recommendations in Mr. Hayes’ report and “has acted on several of

them, including installing hundreds of suicide resistant beds in

the Mental Health Crisis Bed Units.” Id. at ¶ 6; see also Reply

Declaration of Tim Belavich, filed March 22, 2013 (ECF No. 4472)

at ¶¶ 5, 20 (same). No explanation, however, is provided as to why

the other recommendations were not adopted. 

In fact, the Special Master recommended that defendants

develop a plan for installation of suicide resistant beds in mental

health crisis bed units in a report and recommendations on

defendants’ review of their suicide prevention policies filed

September 27, 2010. See Order, filed September 27, 2010 (ECF No.

3918). Of five recommendations contained in that report, defendants

objected only to the recommendation to furnish suicide resistant

beds in mental health crisis bed units. See Order, filed November

18, 2010 (ECF No. 3954) at 3. Defendants’ objections were

overruled on July 21, 2011 (ECF No. 4044) and defendants were

ordered to file with the court and submit to the Special Master a

plan to furnish suicide resistant beds. Order, filed July 21, 2011

(ECF No. 4044) at 8. While this court is refraining from making

credibility assessments in connection this alternative disposition

of defendants’ motion, defendants’ representation concerning the

42

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In summary, for over a decade a disproportionately high number

of inmates have committed suicide in California’s prison system. 

Review of those suicides shows a pattern of identifiable and

describable inadequacies in suicide prevention in the CDCR.

Defendants have a constitutional obligation to take and adequately

implement all reasonable steps to remedy those inadequacies. The

evidence shows they have not yet done so. In addition, while

defendants represent that they have fully implemented their suicide

prevention program, they have not.40 An ongoing constitutional

violation therefore remains. 

2. Administrative Segregation

Another “critical goal” centers on treatment of mentally ill

inmates in administrative segregation, particularly those whose

stays in these units exceed ninety days and those who are placed

implementation of this recommendation by Mr. Hayes would appear to

ignore some relevant history with respect to the provision of

suicide resistant beds in their mental health crisis bed units.

40 For example, in opposition to defendants’ motion,

plaintiffs present evidence that on January 19, 2013, Shama

Chaiken, the Chief of Mental Health at California State PrisonSacramento (SAC) and other prison mental health chiefs received an

email from the CDCR Supervisor of the Suicide Risk Evaluation

Mentor Program, Kathleen O’Meara. It reads: “Suicide remains ‘the

low hanging fruit for coleman. Please MAKE SURE your SRE Mentor

Program is up and running.” Exhibit 61 to Declaration of Michael

Bien, filed Marc h15, 2013 (“Ex. 61 to Decl. Bien”) (ECF No. 4402)

at 3. Dr. Chaiken replied on the same day: “OK – This has been

on the back burner at SAC, but we’ll come up with an implementation

plan next week.” Id. Ms. O’Meara requested that the plan be

forwarded “upon completion,” to which Shama Chaiken replied that

she and the person taking over the program at SAC “want to go

through the mentoring so we understand what is required, and then

Catherine will likely take some supervisors through the process so

we will have a team of mentors.” Id. Ms. O’Meara’s response was: 

“Call me . . . . I’m floored by what you’re telling me.” Id. 

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in administrative segregation for non-disciplinary reasons. These

inmates face substantial risk of serious harm, including

exacerbation of mental illness and potential increase in suicide

risk. See Twenty-Fifth Round (ECF No. 4298) at 36. The evidence

before the court shows that a disproportionate number of inmate

suicides occur in administrative segregation units. Remedial

efforts over the past six years have focused on reducing the length

of time EOP inmates remain in administrative segregation and

providing appropriate clinical care for EOP inmates housed in such

units. See id. at 34-35. 

In their motion, defendants contend that they have “developed

and implemented procedures for placing and retaining inmates with

mental health needs in any administrative segregation or security

housing unit.” Termination Motion (ECF No. 4275-1) at 29. 

Defendants contend that while mentally ill inmates are in these

units their mental health needs are “being appropriately met” and

that there is no evidence to the contrary. Id. This contention

is not supported by defendants’ own experts.

Defendants’ experts describe the “environment of

administrative segregation” as “generally non-therapeutic.” 

Clinical Exp. Rpt. (ECF No. 4275-5) at 20. They recommend that

housing inmates with serious mental disorders be “as brief as

possible and as rare as possible.” Id. at 25.41 Defendants’

41 They also “applaud CDCR’s efforts to expedite the transfer

of EOP inmates out of administrative segregation” but they don’t

describe what those efforts are. Id. at 20.

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experts noted the “statistical overrepresentation of completed

suicides” in administrative segregation units when compared to

other housing units, accordingly, recommend that “placement of

inmates who require an EOP level of care be housed in

Administrative Segregation Units only when absolutely necessary for

the safety of staff or other inmates, and only for as long as it

absolutely necessary.” Id. at 23. They also reported finding, at

two prisons, “some inmates waiting for EOP Special Needs Yard beds

and reportedly housed in an Administrative Segregation Unit for

their own protection; not because they posed a danger to others.” 

Id. at 21.42 They recommended that such inmates be “placed in the

front of any waiting list.” Id.

In the Twenty-Fifth Round Report, the Special Master reported

an ongoing need for improvement in treatment provided to inmates

needing an Enhanced Outpatient (EOP) level of care who are placed

into administrative segregation units. See Twenty-Fifth Round

Report (ECF No. 4298) at 34-38. The Special Master reports an

“elevated proportion of inmates in administrative segregation who

are mentally ill” and describes a series of issues to be addressed,

including

reduction of risks of decompensation and/or

suicide, alternatives to use of administrative

segregation placements for non-disciplinary

reasons, access to treatment/mitigation of

harshness of conditions in the administrative

42 Defendants’ experts describe a single case at California

Medical Facility (CMF) as having “no systemic implications” but

they reiterate their recommendation that such inmates be “moved to

the top of the transfer list.” Id. at 24.

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segregation units, suicide prevention, and

reduction of lengths of stay in administrative

segregation.

Id. at 38. The Special Master’s findings identify remaining issues

that are also identified by defendants’ experts. These issues,

until remedied, mean that seriously mentally ill inmates placed in

administrative segregation units continued to face a substantial

risk of harm. 

3. Transfer to Higher Levels of Care

Evidence of ongoing constitutional violations in this action

has included evidence of “an ‘absence of timely access to

appropriate levels of care at every point in the system.’” Brown

v. Plata, 131 S. Ct. at 1931 (quoting report filed by Special

Master in July 2009). Delays in access to inpatient care have been

shown by evidence in this action dating back to 1993, and serious

delays have existed until as recently as last year. See Order,

filed July 22, 2011 (ECF No. 4045), passim (discussing history of

delays in access to inpatient care and ordering specific relief);

Order, filed July 13, 2012 (ECF No. 4214) at 1 (commending “the

parties and the Special Master for the remarkable accomplishments

to date in addressing the problems in access to inpatient mental

health care.”)43 Defendants assert they have remedied this

43 Significant events in the long history of efforts to remedy

ongoing delays in timely access to care, particularly inpatient

care, are described by the Special Master in his Twenty-Fifth Round

Report. See Twenty-Fifth Round Report (ECF No. 4298) at 25-31. 

Among other things, that history shows the interrelationship

between bed shortages and failures to identify and treat inmates

in need of higher levels of care. An insufficient number of beds

has led to long wait lists for inpatient care; the two assessments

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violation. Termination Motion (ECF No. 4275-1) at 17-18.

In assessing defendants’ constitutional compliance, the

relevant requirement is defendants’ constitutional obligation to

provide “a system of ready access to adequate [mental health]

care.” Hoptowit v. Ray, 682 F.2d 1237, 1253 (9th Cir. 1982)

(emphasis added), abrogated in part on other grounds by Sandin v.

Connor, 515 U.S. 472, 481-84 (1995). Defendants’ mental health

care delivery system provides four levels of mental health care and

is designed to provide inmates at all custody levels both inpatient

and outpatient mental health care. See Decl. Johnson (ECF No.

4276) ¶¶ 4-12; Declaration of Tim Belavich, filed January 7, 2013

(“Decl. Belavich”) (ECF No. 4277) ¶¶ 6-8. Defendants’ remedial

plan, the Revised Program Guide, contains “the time frames which

CDCR must meet for the transfer of MHSDS inpatient-patients between

described by the Special Master, the Unidentified Needs Assessment

(UNA) completed in March 2005 and the 2009 Mental Health Assessment

and Referral Project (MHARP) each, respectively, revealed hundreds

of inmates in need of higher levels of care who had not been

identified or referred for such care. See Special Master’s Report

on Defendants’ Plan Re: Intermediate Care Facility and Acute

Inpatient Wait Lists, filed June 13, 2011 (ECF No. 4020) (in March

2005 defendants reported to the Special Master that 400 inmates had

been identified “who otherwise would not have been referred to

higher levels of care”); Ex. B to Declaration of Jane E. Kahn in

Support of Plaintiffs’ Status Conference Statement Regarding

Defendants’ Initial Report on the Mental Health Assessment and

Referral Project (MHARP) and the ICF Pilot Program, filed March 24,

2010 (ECF No. 3825-1) at 7 (As result of MHARP 987 inmates “were

either recommended for referral by the . . . assessment teams or

directly referred by the institutions.”) The wait list for

inpatient care in early 2010 was 574 male inmates waiting for

intermediate inpatient care and 64 male inmates waiting for acute

care. Twenty-Fifth Round Report (ECF No. 4298) at 33. The history

set forth by the Special Master also shows how relatively recent

defendants’ gains in access to inpatient care are. See id. at 25-

33.

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levels of care, whether within the same institution or to another

institution”, set out in a chart. Revised Program Guide, 2009

Revision,44 at 12-1-14, 12-1-16. The time frames in the Revised

Program Guide represent defendants’ considered assessment of what

is sufficiently “ready access” to each level of care.

a. Inpatient Beds

Citing to this court’s July 13, 2012 order (ECF No. 4214),

defendants contend that “[b]y July 2012, the State had successfully

guaranteed timely access to inpatient mental health care for all

class members needing hospitalization.” Termination Motion at 17. 

Defendants also present evidence that “[a]s of December 17, 2012,

there were no inmates waiting for acute or inpatient care” past the

timelines set in the Revised Program Guide. Johnson Decl. at ¶ 13. 

Thirteen inmates were waiting for acute inpatient care but none had

been waiting more than ten days. Id. There were forty-five

inmates waiting for admission to intermediate hospital care, “the

majority pending two weeks or less.” Id. 

In the Twenty-Fifth Round Monitoring Report, the Special

Master reported in relevant part that by the end of June 2012,

“defendants had substantially implemented the objectives” of a

sustainable self-monitoring process developed over the preceding

year. Twenty-Fifth Round Monitoring Report at 31. The objectives

of that self-monitoring process are “to timely identify, refer, and

transfer inmate-patients needing DSH inpatient care and to

44 www.cdcr.ca.gov/dchcs/docs/mental%20health%20program

%guide.pdf.

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internally monitor and improve the process.” Id. The July 12,

2012 completion of a project at California Medical Facility (CMF)

permitted placement of high-custody inmates waiting for inpatient

care in hospital beds, “a milestone in the process of eliminating

the intermediate care wait list.” Id. The Special Master reports

that “[f]rom an overall perspective, identification, referral and

transfer of inmates in need of inpatient care have improved greatly

in the past two years.” Id. at 32-33. He confirmed that there

were thirty-six inmates accepted to inpatient care who had been

waiting less than thirty days, one whose admission had been delayed

because of a scheduled hearing, and three waiting assessment to

determine whether they were competent to stand trial who had been

waiting more than thirty days. Id. at 33. As he reports, this is

a “vast improvement over the wait lists in early 2010, when there

were 574 male inmates awaiting transfer to intermediate inpatient

care, and 64 male inmates awaiting transfer to acute care.” Id.

The gains in timely and adequate access to inpatient care are

new.45 And they are not complete. Access to hospital care begins

45 They are also challenged, at least in part, by plaintiffs,

who present evidence that defendants have “tried to disguise the

inpatient waitlist” by starting an inmate’s wait time on the date

the inmate is accepted for hospital care by DSH, rather than the

date the inmate is referred for such care. Corrected Plaintiffs’

Opposition to defendants’ Motion to Terminate Under the PLRA and

to Vacate under Rule 60(b)(5) (ECF No. 4422) at 44. Plaintiffs

also challenge Mr. Johnson’s averment that there was no wait list

for inpatient care, pointing to his deposition testimony that he

had relied on a summary from DSH and had not reviewed the actual

bed utilization report. Id. Plaintiffs contend review of that

report “shows that the majority of the patients currently housed

in the DSH programs waited longer than transfer time frames to get

to those inpatient programs” and that inmates waiting in December

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at the institutional level with a process for referral to inpatient

care. As the Special Master explains, timely and complete

referrals at the institutional level are “an important aspect of

the entire process of moving seriously mentally ill patients to

inpatient care.” Id. The Special Master reports that “a number

of institutions’ levels of performance continued to lag on the

basic elements” of the process for referring inmates to inpatient

care. Id. at 33. For example, one-third of the men’s prisons do

not adequately track referrals to higher levels of care, and over

two-thirds of prisons do not timely complete the necessary referral

packets. Id. In addition, “[o]nce inmates were accepted at DSH

programs, transfers to both acute level care and intermediate

inpatient care continued to be slow at a number of institutions.” 

Id. See also Twenty-Fifth Round Monitoring Report at 72-75

(discussing referral and transfer issues at institutional level).

The substantial improvement in access to inpatient care cannot

be gainsaid. Defendants have made significant progress in

remedying one of the most tragic failures in the delivery of mental

health care – the unconscionable delays in access to inpatient care

and the sequlae therefrom, including periodic substantial decline

in clinical referrals to necessary hospital care. As noted above,

however, the gains are new and work remains. The gains that have

been made, however significant, do not entitle defendants to

2012 and January 2013 had been waiting longer than the relevant

time frames. Id. (citing, inter alia, Ex. 73 to Bien Decl.) (ECF

No. 4402) at 228-229.

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termination of all relief in this action.

b. Mental Health Crisis Beds

Mental health crisis beds (MHCBs) are for inmates who are

suffering “[M]arked Impairment and Dysfunction in most areas . . .

requiring 24-hour nursing care” and/or dangerous to others as a

result of a serious mental illness or to themselves for any reason. 

Revised Program Guide, 2009 Revision, 12-1-8. They are also used

for “short-term inpatient care for seriously mentally disordered

inmate-patients awaiting transfer to a hospital program or being

stabilized on medication prior to transfer to a less restrictive

level of care.” Id. They are short-term care units, with inmates

discharged within ten days unless administrative approval is given

for a longer stay. Id.

In support of their motion, defendants present evidence that

there were no inmates waiting for placement in a mental health

crisis bed as of December 17, 2012. Decl. Johnson (ECF No. 4276)

at ¶ 9. This statement, however true, obscures the relevant issue

with respect to access to mental health crisis care. While it may

be technically true that the inmates are not waiting for a crisis

bed, that is only because they are being housed in facilities

totally inappropriate for a person in need of a mental health

crisis bed.

Defendants do not presently have a sufficient number of mental

health crisis beds (MHCBs) to meet the need for such beds. TwentyFifth Round Report (ECF No. 4298) at 21. For an extended period

of time, inmates in need of mental health crisis care have been

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placed in a variety of alternative holding areas when MHCBs are

unavailable. During the twenty-fifth round monitoring period, only

eight prisons with mental health crisis beds had sufficient beds

to meet the need. Id. at 76. Ten other prisons had insufficient

beds and had to use “alternative holding areas” to monitor inmates

in need of mental health crisis bed care. Id. During the

monitoring period, 722 inmates at California State PrisonSacramento (CSP/Sac) in need of crisis bed care were placed in

“medical OHU beds, ZZ cells, and contraband cells” when crisis beds

were unavailable. Id. Two hundred-sixty nine of these inmates

were eventually transferred to MHCBs. Id. Eight other prisons

also placed numerous inmates in need of crisis care in these

“alternative holding areas.” Id. Lengths of stay ranged from four

hours to four to five days. Id. Folsom Prison used “eight

alternative holding cells in administrative segregation” to monitor

inmates in need of mental health crisis beds “via continuous

watch.” Id. at 77.

On June 15, 2012, the court ordered defendants to continue to

work with the Special Master to incorporate the number of inmates

placed in alternative housing areas into their future planning for

necessary MHCBs and to meet any increased need for such beds

identified by this process. Order, filed June 15, 2012 (ECF No.

4199) at 2. In the Twenty-Fifth Round Report, the Special Master

reports that it appears defendants have now planned for sufficient

MHCBs. Twenty-Fifth Round Report (ECF No. 4298) at 21. “Work on

the provision of those beds is continuing.” Id.

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Until the necessary number of mental health crisis beds are

complete and operational, mentally ill inmates in need of this care

are held in conditions that defendants have now agreed should not

be used to house inmates in need of crisis care. This aspect of

the Eighth Amendment violation is ongoing.

4. Treatment Space/Beds

Shortages in treatment space and access to beds at each level

of mental health care have plagued the entire remedial phase of

this action. Defendants identify several ongoing construction

projects in their termination motion, some of which are at very

preliminary stages, yet they seek termination of this action before

critically important construction is complete. See Termination

Motion (ECF No. 4275-1) at 12-13. Those projects are underway

pursuant to a bed plan that took at least four attempts and

numerous court orders to complete so that defendants had a plan for

sufficient beds and treatment space at each level of the mental

health care delivery system. Creation of that plan for a

constitutionally adequate number of beds has taken years. The

construction required by the bed plan is ongoing. Until all

necessary projects are complete, the state’s prison system is

operating with a constitutionally inadequate amount of treatment

space and a constitutionally inadequate number of beds necessary

for adequate care. That is an ongoing constitutional violation

that must be remedied.

////

////

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5. Staffing

Inadequate staffing has plagued the delivery of mental health

care in CDCR prisons for decades, and chronic understaffing and

high vacancy rates in mental health staff positions are evidence

of an ongoing Eighth Amendment violation. See Brown v. Plata, 131

S. Ct. at 1926, 1932-33 & n.5. In their motion, defendants

acknowledge that the Constitution “requires the employment of

‘trained mental health professionals . . . in sufficient numbers

to identify and treat in an individualized manner those treatable

inmates suffering from serious mental disorders.’” Termination

Motion (ECF No. 4275-1) at 24 (quoting Ruiz v. Estelle, 503 F.

Supp. 1265, 1339 (S.D. Tex. 1980)). Defendants acknowledge ongoing

mental health staffing vacancies, but contend that these vacancies

do not “significantly impair the level of care being provided to

inmates, and that ‘the clinical care itself places CDCR in the

upper echelon of state prison mental health systems.’” Termination

Motion (ECF No. 4275-1) at 25 (quoting Clinical Exp. Rpt. (ECF No.

4275-5) at 1, 14; and citing Twenty-Fourth Round Report (ECF

No. 4205) at 41). 

In 2009, pursuant to this court’s June 18, 2009 Order (ECF No.

3613), defendants developed a staffing allocation plan (ECF

No. 3693) (2009 Staffing Plan). Defendants’ 2009 Staffing Plan

sets forth how defendants’ mental health delivery system is to be

staffed. See Declaration of Diana Toche, filed January 7, 2013

(“Decl. Toche”) (ECF No. 4275-3) ¶ 6. The 2009 Staffing Plan is

driven by ratios of clinical and support staff to inmate population

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at each level of the mental health delivery system. See 2009

Staffing Plan (ECF No. 3693), passim. Defendants’ experts opine

that the 2009 Staffing Plan “will provide adequate resources to

meet the mental health needs of inmates in a reasonable manner and

within the standard of care.” Clinical Exp. Rpt. (ECF No. 4275-5)

at 14. That opinion comports with defendants’ representation to

the California Legislature that full implementation of that plan

was necessary.

Prior to development of defendants’ 2009 Staffing Plan, expert

testimony showed that the state had underestimated its mental

health staffing needs. See Brown v. Plata, 131 S.Ct. at 1932 n.5. 

After submitting the 2009 Staffing Plan to this court, defendants,

at the end of 2009, submitted a budget change proposal to the

California Legislature to “fully implement” the staffing model

described in the 2009 Staffing Plan. Exhibit K to Declaration of

Jane E. Kahn in Support of Plaintiffs’ Response to Defendants’

Motion to Strike or Modify Portions of the Twenty-Fifth Round

Monitoring Report of the Special Master, filed February 11, 2013

(Ex. K to Decl. Kahn) (ECF No. 4325) at 93. The budget change

proposal described the critical flaws in defendants’ prior staffing

model, and represented that the 2009 Staffing Plan “identifies

appropriate staffing levels to meet constitutional

standards . . . .” Id. at 95.46 

46 It also asserts that the plan would allow defendants to

“provide the quantity and quality of Resources needed to achieve

compliance with policies and procedures contained in the . . .

Revised Program Guide” and was “consistent with models for program

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With their motion, defendants present evidence that for Fiscal

Year 2012/2013, the ratios in the 2009 Staffing Plan require

2268.26 staff positions. Decl. Toche (ECF No. 4275-3) ¶ 6.47

Defendants admit that as of the end of November 2012, there were

653.86 mental health staffing vacancies. Id. at ¶ 8. This

represents a total vacancy rate of approximately 29 percent. The

cited declaration does not provide specific vacancy rates by staff

classification or mental health delivery service level. Thus,

there is no way to tell from defendants’ motion what the vacancy

rate is for mental health providers. 

The Special Master, on the other hand, provided the parties

and the court with a detailed report of staffing vacancies in his

his Twenty-Fifth Round Report. That report covers much of the same

time period, May 1 2012 through September 11, 2012, as defendants’

declaration. (ECF No. 4298) at 10. The Special Master reports a

vacancy rate among staff psychiatrists of 42 percent, with use of

contract psychiatrists reducing that rate to 26 percent. Id at 45. 

The vacancy rate among staff psychologists and social workers was

reported at 21 and 24 percent, respectively. Id. at 45-46. 

staffing in similarly situated models in other states.” Ex. K to

Decl. Kahn at 98. 

47 Funding for FY 2012/2013 covers “nearly 100%” of those

positions. Decl. Toche at ¶ 6. To provide salary savings, the

state is not funding “approximately two non-critical positions at

each institution . . . includ[ing]: (1) a second Chief

Psychologist, except at Pelican Bay State Prison; (2) the

Correctional Health Services Administrator II; and (3) one Clinical

Psychologist at the five prisons without designated mental health

programs.” Id.

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Contractors reduced those vacancy rates to 17 and 20 percent,

respectively. Id.

The 29% staffing vacancy rate at the end of November 2012

attested to by defendants is higher than that reported by the

Special Master in his Twenty-Fifth Round Report. The Special

Master reported an overall vacancy rate of 21.2 percent, lowered

only marginally to 18.3 percent through use of contractors. 

Twenty-Fifth Round Report (ECF No. 4298) at 44. Significantly, the

Special Master reported that “[t]his was a reversal of the trend

of consistently declining vacancy rates across preceding monitoring

periods. It signaled a significant departure from the overall

mental health vacancy rate of 14 percent and the overall functional

vacancy rate of 7.7 percent that was reported for the twenty-third

monitoring period”, from October 2010 to April 2011, “the most

recent review period in which all institutions were audited.” Id.

at 44.

Altogether, the vacancy rates in these three clinical

categories significantly exceed the 10 percent maximum vacancy rate

in those positions required by this court’s June 12, 2002 Order

(ECF No. 1383). See Twenty-Fifth Round Report (ECF No. 4298) at

44. The Special Master concluded, 

Clinical staff are the conduit for the

delivery of care to patients. Without

necessary staff, the chain of care is broken

and patients are not treated. This sort of

breakdown manifests itself in, among other

things, inadequate attendance by required

clinical staff at IDTT meetings, delays in

clinical contacts, and untimely completion of

referrals for inmates who require higher

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levels of care, all of which undermine

progress that has been made with the delivery

of care.

Id. at 47.44 The Special Master’s expert on suicide prevention, 

44 The Special Master reported on vacancies in the following

staffing classifications. All of the staffing classifications are

required by the Revised Program Guide and provided for in

defendants’ 2009 Staffing Plan. 

• Chief Psychiatrists: 33 percent vacancy rate in 18

allocated positions; no contract coverage for any vacant

position. Six institutions “operated without chief

psychiatrists,” including CSP/LAC, which was without a chief

psychiatrist for the fourth consecutive monitoring period.

• Senior Psychiatrists: 50 percent vacancy rate; nine

institutions filled all positions; one institution had one of

three positions filled; nine institutions had 100 percent

vacancy rates; no vacancies covered by contractors.

• Staff Psychiatrists: 42 percent vacancy rate; use of

contractors reduced functional vacancy rate to 26 percent;

including contract coverage, six institutions had vacancy

rates of 10% or less; seventeen institutions had vacancy

rates from 11 percent to 50 percent; seven institutions had

vacancy rates from 54 percent to 83 percent, and four

institutions “did not fill any of their line psychiatry

allocations with full-time psychiatrists.” 

• Chief Psychologists: 7 percent vacancy rate; 26 of 28

positions filled; no contract coverage for remaining two

positions.

• Senior Psychologists: 39 percent vacancy rate; no

contractors used to cover vacancies; seven institutions were

filled or nearly filled; fifteen institutions had vacancy

rates from 20 to 50 percent; six institutions had vacancy

rates from 60 percent to 75 percent; and four institutions,

each with one position, had not filled the position.

• Staff Psychologists: 21 percent vacancy rate; use of

contractors reduced functional vacancy rate to 17 percent. 

Fifteen institutions had all their positions or a vacancy

rate under 10 percent either through filled positions or use

of contractors; eleven institutions had vacancy rates from

13 percent to 30 percent; and six institutions had vacancy

rates from 31 percent to 65 percent. 

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Dr. Patterson, also reported that the lack of adequate mental

health staff “continues to exacerbate” the inadequacies in

assessment, treatment and interventions that were present in 73.5%

of the inmate suicides committed in CDCR prisons in 2011. 2011

Suicide Report (ECF No. 4308) at 16. CDCR suicide reviews have

also identified the impact of staffing shortages in their reviews

of several inmate suicides in 2011 and 2012. See Decl. Kahn (ECF

No. 4325) ¶¶ 6f, g, h, 9c.45

Despite this, defendants assert, in conclusory fashion, that

• Social Workers: 24 percent vacancy rate; use of contractors

made functional vacancy rate 20 percent; five institutions

filled all their positions; two had functional vacancy rates

below ten percent; ten institutions had vacancy rates from 11

to 29 percent; nine institutions had vacancy rates from 30

percent to 59 percent; and two institutions had vacancy rates

of 67 percent and 69 percent, respectively.

• Psych techs: 6.5 percent vacancy rate; functional vacancy

rate of five percent.

• Recreational therapists: 26 percent vacancy rate; negligible

use of contractors; six institutions filled all positions;

three institutions had vacancy rates under 10 percent; ten

institutions had vacancy rates between 13 and 50 percent;

three institutions had vacancy rates of 57 percent, 71

percent, and 75 percent, respectively, and three institutions

did not fill their recreational therapist positions.

• Office techs: 33 percent vacancy rate; use of contractors

reduced functional vacancy rate to 32 percent. Five

institutions had full coverate; twenty-one institutions had

vacancy rates from 14 to 50 percent; four institutions had

vacancy rates ranging from 56 to 67 percent; and two

institutions, each with a .5 position, had no office tech.

Twenty-Fifth Round Report (ECF No. 4248) at 52-56. 

45 The staffing shortages referred to in two of these reviews

appear to be shortages of custody staff (¶ 6g) and medical staff

(¶ 9c).

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notwithstanding these vacancies, “[a]dequate numbers of mental

health professionals and administrators” are providing class member

inmates with “access to high-quality mental health care.” Decl.

Toche at ¶ 10.46 This conclusory assertion is belied by

substantial evidence in the record, including the fact that as of

the end of November 2012 defendants had a vacancy rate approaching

46 In addition, in their objections to the Special Master’s

Twenty-Fifth Round Report reserved for consideration on this

motion, defendants challenge the requirement that clinical vacancy

rates not exceed ten percent; object to “the special master’s

conclusion that mental health clinical staff positions were

established because CDCR mental health deemed they were clinically

necessary to meet the needs of the inmate population”, contending

instead that the staffing allocation plan “‘represents a

comprehensive, optimal staffing model with regard to CDCR’s mental

health program needs’” that is subject to reexamination and

revision; and contend that no particular staffing rate is mandated

by the Constitution. Amended Defendants’ Objections and Motion to

Strike or Modify Portions of the Twenty-Fifth Round Monitoring

Report of the Special Master, filed February 19, 2013 (ECF No.

4347) at 23.

Defendants’ current objections to the Special Master’s

findings concerning staffing shortages bear a striking resemblance

to their objections to the Magistrate Judge’s 1994 findings

concerning constitutionally inadequate staffing levels. Here,

defendants contend: (1) they do have mental health staff; (2) the

Constitution does not specify the specific number of staff

required; and (3) their staffing allocation plan is designed to

provide optimal staffing. Then, they contended: (1) they did have

mental health staff; (2) the magistrate judge failed to specify a

constitutional minimum number of staff; and (3) a staffing plan in

a consultants’ report offered at trial exceeded constitutional

minima. See Coleman, 912 F. Supp. at 1306. 

 Moreover, the evidence tendered by defendants to support their

current specific objections consists of “comments” by one of their

experts, Dr. Joel Dvoskin. Dvoskin Comments Regarding Twenty-Fifth

Round Report, filed February 19, 2013 (ECF No. 4347-1). Dr.

Dvoskin reports that he was asked by defendants’ counsel to “offer

[his] initial impression of the 25th Round Monitoring Report of the

Special Master.” Id. at 3. Dr. Dvoskin’s “impression” of the

Special Master’s Report is of no utility to the matters at bar. 

Indeed, his only relevant comment is that he was leaving the

assessment of the quality of psychiatric services being provided

to another defense expert, Dr. Scott. Id. at 7. 

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30% in staffing levels that defendants themselves have represented

are “appropriate” to “meet constitutional standards,” (ECF No.

4325), which exceeds the vacancy reported by the Special Master

from data gathered through September 11, 2012, and by findings of

defendants’ own experts.

To meet the requirements of the Eighth Amendment, defendants

are required to “employ mental health staff in ‘sufficient numbers

to identify and treat in an individualized manner those treatable

inmates suffering from serious mental disorders.’” Coleman v.

Wilson, 912 F. Supp. at 1306 (quoting Baila, 595 F. Supp. at 1577). 

The Clinical Experts’ Report tendered by defendants with their

termination motion (ECF No. 4275-5), does not show that defendants

have “sufficient numbers” of mental health staff in place. Even

if it were proper for defendants to back away from the 2009

Staffing Plan, they have not met their burden of proving that they

can meet their constitutional obligations with the existing levels

of staffing vacancies.47 To the contrary, defendants’ experts

themselves describe worrisome staffing vacancies and significant

negative impacts of those vacancies on the delivery of mental

health care. Clinical Exp. Rpt. (ECF No. 4275-5) at 13-15.

For example, defendants’ experts report that at Salinas Valley

47 As discussed above, evidence cited by the United States

Supreme Court showed that a previous staffing plan was inadequate

Defendants represented to the state legislature that the 2009

Staffing Plan would meet their constitutional obligations. As

described in the text, defendants have failed to show how they can

meet their constitutional obligations by retreating from the

current plan.

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State Prison, “[t]he mental health director expressed concerns

regarding staffing and space shortages” and the defense experts

“were especially concerned with the number of psychiatrists on

staff there.” Id. at 14. Concerns regarding mental health

staffing shortages were also reported to the defense experts at

Pelican Bay State Prison; at California Men’s Colony, where staff

reported that the shortages “adversely impacted their ability to

provide care to inmates”; and at the Substance Abuse Treatment

Facility (SATF), where “mental health staff reported dramatic

mental health staffing shortages.” Id. at 15. Defendants experts

found the staffing shortages at SATF “particularly apparent for

recreational therapy and psychiatry” and that “[d]ue to significant

psychiatric staffing shortages, psychiatrists were not present for

many Interdisciplinary Treatment Team meetings, with the exception

of the Mental Health Crisis Bed Unit” even though they are

“essential members of the treatment team and should be present.” 

Id. These findings mirror the conclusion of the Special Master in

his Twenty-Fifth Round Monitoring Report.

In short, defendants have not met their initial burden of

showing that seriously mentally ill inmates in the CDCR no longer

face substantial risk of serious harm due to significant shortages

in mental health staffing. Chronic understaffing continues to

hamper the delivery of constitutionally adequate medical care and

is a central part of the ongoing constitutional violation in this

action.

////

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6. Deliberate Indifference

Relying on the opinion of their experts, defendants contend

that they are no longer acting with deliberate indifference to the

serious mental health needs of the plaintiff class. See, e.g.,

Termination Motion (ECF No. 4275-1) at 11. (citing Clinical Ex.

Rpt. at 2, 8). The court is not persuaded that defendants have

focused on the proper analysis of this factor in this context. 

In order to obtain injunctive relief for an Eighth Amendment

violation, plaintiffs must present evidence sufficient to give rise

to an inference that defendants are “knowingly and unreasonably

disregarding an objectively intolerable risk of harm” and that

defendants will continue to disregard the risk into the future. 

Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. at 846. To avoid entry of an

injunction, defendants may prove either that they were unaware of

the risk of harm or that they have responded reasonably to it. Id.

Defendants were found to be deliberately indifferent at the

initial phase of these proceedings. Since then, they have been

under a series of court orders to develop and implement plans to

remedy the serious inadequacies in the delivery of mental health

care to prison inmates. The court also appointed a Special Master

whose very purpose, among other things, has been to insure that

defendants do not remain deliberately indifferent to their duty to

remedy the constitutional violation in this action. Where, as

here, defendants were found to be deliberately indifferent in the

initial phase of these proceedings, they must either comply with

the court-ordered relief to remedy the identified violation or

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establish that the identified violation has been remedied in

another way. They can no longer act in a manner that is

deliberately indifferent to the objective violation without risking

contempt. 

At most, the relevant subjective inquiry turns on the policies

defendants have adopted to remedy the harm and the manner and

extent to which those policies have been implemented and are being

administered. See Helling v. McKinney, 509 U.S. 25, 36 (1993); see

also Hadix v. Johnson, 367 F.3d 513, 516 (6th Cir. 2004) (where

court is concerned with “future conduct to correct prison

conditions,” finding of objectively unconstitutional conditions

also satisfies subjective prong because the same information that

leads to court’s conclusion is also available to prison

officials).48 As discussed above, defendants have either failed to

adequately implement and administer necessary components of their

suicide prevention program and other critical parts of their

remedial plan, the Revised Program Guide, or they have not yet

completed tasks essential to full implementation of those component

parts of their mental health delivery system. Systemic failures

persist in the form of inadequate suicide prevention measures,

48 To the extent that defendants contend certain specific

steps are not constitutionally required, the argument misses the

mark. “A court may order ‘relief that the Constitution would not

of its own force initially require if such relief is necessary to

remedy a constitutional violation’.” Sharp v. Weston, 233 F.3d

1166, 1173 (9th Cir. 2000) (quoting Toussaint v. McCarthy, 801 F.2d

1080, 1087 (9th Cir. 1986)). In addition, defendants have the

burden of demonstrating that relief ordered by this court exceeds

what is necessary to remedy ongoing constitutional violations.

Graves, 623 F.3d at 1051. Defendants have not met this burden.

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excessive administrative segregation of the mentally ill, lack of

timely access to adequate care, insufficient treatment space and

access to beds, and unmet staffing needs. Per Hadix, supra, these

objectively unconstitutional conditions evidence the subjective

component of deliberate indifference.

Further, based on defendants’ conduct to date, the court

cannot rely on their averments of good faith as a basis for

granting termination. There is overwhelming evidence in the record

that much of defendants’ progress to date is due to the pressure

of this and other litigation. While defendants take credit for

building the Correctional Health Care Facility (CHCF), which will

substantially remedy the ongoing shortages in necessary beds, that

project came into existence because of the Receiver in Plata. 

Defendants’ current mental health bed plan, current mental health

staff plan, and sustainable process for referring inmates to

necessary inpatient care were the result of numerous court orders

and years of effort by the Special Master, defendants, and

plaintiffs’ counsel.

In light of the foregoing, I am satisfied that outstanding

orders for prospective relief remain necessary to correct current

and ongoing violations in the delivery of adequate mental health

care to plaintiff class members and extend no further than

necessary to correct those violations. I am also satisfied that

these orders are narrowly drawn and the least intrusive means to

correct the ongoing violations. The court emphasizes again that

the court and the Special Master have been guided throughout the

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remedial phase of this action by the view that it is the court’s

obligation to identify constitutional deficiencies and defendants’

obligation to remedy them. See Coleman, 912 F. Supp. at 1301. The

Special Master has been required numerous times to make specific

recommendations for further action by defendants to remedy ongoing

constitutional violations, and the court has been required numerous

times to issue specific orders to defendants to develop and/or

implement plans to remedy ongoing constitutional violations. 

Defendants have had full and fair opportunities to object to each

of the Special Master’s recommendations, and to litigate fully the

propriety of orders issued by the court. They must comply with

outstanding court orders and complete remediation of ongoing Eighth

Amendment violations in the delivery of mental health care to

seriously mentally ill inmates in the state’s prison system.

7. Prospective Relief Remains Necessary

Defendants bear the burden of showing that outstanding orders

for prospective relief “exceed[] what is necessary to correct an

ongoing constitutional violation.” Graves, 623 F.3d at 1048. 

Defendants seek termination of all outstanding prospective relief. 

They have not identified or addressed particular orders for

prospective relief which they contend should be set aside. 

With their opposition, plaintiffs filed a separate statement

of orders issued by this court over the past four years. (ECF No.

4409.) Plaintiffs have identified each outstanding order, as well

as those that have expired by their own terms. Id. Plaintiffs

have also included one or more reasons why outstanding orders

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remain necessary and otherwise meet the PLRA standards for

prospective relief. Id. 

The court is satisfied that its outstanding orders for

prospective relief remain necessary to correct current and ongoing

violations in the delivery of adequate mental health care to

plaintiff class members and extend no further than necessary to

correct those violations. The court is also satisfied that these

are narrowly drawn and the least intrusive means to correct the

ongoing violations. 

For the foregoing reasons, this court finds that ongoing

constitutional violations remain in this action and the prospective

relief ordered by this court remains necessary to remedy those

violations. Defendants’ motion to terminate under the Prison

Litigation Reform Act, 18 U.S.C.§ 3626(b) will be denied. 

II. Rule 60(b)(5)

Defendants also move to vacate the judgment of this court and

orders for prospective relief pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b)(5)

on the ground that they are delivering constitutionally adequate

mental health care to the plaintiff class. In relevant part, Rule

60(b)(5) provides for relief from a final judgment or other order

on the grounds that “the judgment has been satisfied, released, or

discharged; . . . or applying it prospectively is no longer

equitable.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b)(5). Defendants contend that

the court must “vacate its judgment and orders for prospective

relief” because they are delivering constitutionally adequate

mental health care. Termination Motion (ECF No. 4275-1) at 31. 

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The court construes this as a request for finding that the judgment

has been satisfied and prospective relief is no longer equitable.

For the reasons set forth supra, defendants have not met the

“more exacting” standard of 18 U.S.C. § 3626(b) for termination of

relief in this action. See Gilmore, 220 F.3d at 1007. A fortiori,

they are not entitled to relief under Rule 60(b)(5) at this time.

In accordance with the above, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that

defendants’ January 7, 2013 motion to terminate this action (ECF

No. 4275) is DENIED.

IT IS SO ORDERED. 

DATED: April 5, 2013.

 

 

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