Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_90-cv-00520/USCOURTS-caed-2_90-cv-00520-147/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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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

RALPH COLEMAN, et al.,

Plaintiffs, No. CIV S-90-0520 LKK JFM P

vs.

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER,

et al.,

Defendants. ORDER

 /

On May 14, 2007, the special master filed a supplemental report and

recommendations on defendants’ plan to prevent suicides in administrative segregation. The

report contains a series of recommendations for court orders requiring action by defendants. On

May 29, 2007, defendants filed a response and objections to the special master’s report and

recommendations.

In the report, the special master finds that “the reliance on inmate day labor may

be a major obstacle to more rapid completion” of small management yards which are necessary

for outdoor exercise for inmates in administrative segregation. (Report, filed May 14, 2007, at

3.) Defendants request that this finding be amended to indicate that, for several reasons, the use

of inmate day labor may expedite completion of the yards. (Defendants’ Response to Special

Master’s Report, filed May 29, 2006, at 2.) At this stage of the proceedings, the court is not

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prepared to make any specific findings concerning the use of inmate labor for these projects,

including whether the use of such labor would help or hurt the timely completion of the small

management yards. Defendants’ request for an amended finding will be denied without

prejudice. Defendants may present additional information and evidence to the special master

concerning the use of inmate labor in the construction of small management yards and the special

master may, as appropriate, tender additional findings to the court concerning the use of such

labor in one of his subsequent semi-annual monitoring reports.

The special master’s first recommendation is as follows:

Within 90 days defendants should be required to submit a plan that

will satisfy their need for sufficient small management yards to

meet Title 15 exercise requirements for inmates in administrative

segregation. This plan should call for the funding and completion

of construction of the remaining yards by the end of fiscal year

2008/2009. The plan should also include provisions for better

utilization of the existing small management yards and

coordination with available staff to maximize yard usage.

(Report, at 10.) Defendants object to that part of this recommendation that would require them to

complete construction of all required small management yards for administrative segregation use

by the end of fiscal year 2008/2009. Defendants contend that the “organizational resources”

required to meet this task “are also being called upon to meet the constitutional needs of inmates

for proper medical, mental health, and dental treatment spaces and to meet the statutory mandates

of AB 900" and that the “organizational resources must now be evaluated in light of those

multiple and often competing demands before any further commitments can be made.” 

(Defendants’ Response, at 3.)

At present, defendants have only 719 of the 1,480 small management yards

required to give necessary out of cell exercise time to inmates in administrative segregation. 

(Report, at 3.) Eighty-six additional yards are under construction, and defendants are presently

seeking legislative authority to fund 179 additional yards in fiscal year 2007/08. (Defendants’

Response, at 3.) If that funding were approved, defendants then planned to seek funding for an

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additional 179 yards for fiscal year 2008/09. (Id.). They do not plan to complete building all the

necessary yards until 2012. (Report, at 3.) As the special master found, 2012 is “simply too

late.” Defendants’ objection will be overruled.

The only other recommendation to which the defendants interpose an objection is

the recommendation that they perform within sixty days an assessment of the space needs for

providing confidential mental health interviews. Defendants seek ninety days to complete this

assessment. The special master reports that defendants have not conducted the assessments

promised in their October 2006 plan for determining the resources needed to provide sufficient

space for confidential mental health interviews. (Report, at 8.) Beyond making the request for

more time, defendants tender no reason why the assessment cannot be completed on the schedule

recommended by the special master. Defendants’ objection will be overruled. 

In accordance with the above, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:

1. Defendants’ request to amend the factual finding of the special master

concerning the use of inmate day labor in the construction of small management yards is denied

without prejudice.

2. Defendants’ objections to the special master’s May 14, 2007 report are

overruled.

3. The special master’s May 14, 2007 report and the recommendations contained

therein are adopted in full.

4. Within ninety days from the date of this order defendants shall submit a plan

that will satisfy their need for sufficient small management yards to meet Title 15 exercise

requirements for inmates in administrative segregation. This plan shall call for the funding and

completion of the remaining yards by the end of fiscal year 2008/2009. The plan shall also

include provisions for better utilization of the existing small management yards and coordination

with available staff to maximize yard usage.

5. Within sixty days from the date of this order, defendants shall accomplish the

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following:

a. develop a plan to require each institution to train

staff on accurate logging of 30-minute welfare

checks and to track and self-monitor compliance

with the performance of these checks;

b. provide budgetary figures for the construction of

the physical features of the non-stand alone intake

cells;

c. submit a report on each institution’s capability to

provide televisions and/or radios to inmates in

administrative segregation;

d. submit a status report on the implementation of

the suicide history tracking system and a plan to

train staff in its use and improve access to suicidal

history data at all relevant times;

e. provide a specific assessment of their space

needs for providing confidential mental health

interviews; and

f. produce evidence that required CPR refresher

training was accomplished by submitting

documentation of the required proof of practice.

6. Defendants shall include the following in the report on enhanced outpatient

programs in administrative segregation required by this court’s March 9, 2007 order:

a. their plan for modification of the present

requirement that allows ICC reviews for inmates in

administrative segregation. Defendants should

consider conducting ICC reviews every 45 days for

those inmates awaiting disposition of referrals to

local district attorneys and possibly for all mental

health caseload inmates who have been held in

administrative segregation over 90 days. 

Defendants should also consider transferring

inmates in administrative segregation to more

appropriate placements pending processing of their

DA referrals; and

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/////

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b. a breakdown of the numbers of administrative

segregation inmates currently awaiting transfer to

the sensitive needs yards.

DATED: May 31, 2007.

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