Source: https://case-law.vlex.com/vid/958-f-supp-397-598137822
Timestamp: 2020-02-27 09:31:11
Document Index: 212873615

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 3626', '§ 3626', '§ 3622', '§ 3626', '§ 3626', '§ 3626', '§ 3626']

958 F.Supp. 397 (N.D.Ind. 1997), H-74-230, Jensen v. County of Lake - Federal Cases - Case Law - VLEX 598137822
958 F.Supp. 397 (N.D.Ind. 1997), H-74-230, Jensen v. County of Lake
Docket Nº: H-74-230
Citation: 958 F.Supp. 397
Party Name: Jensen v. County of Lake
Case Date: March 05, 1997
958 F.Supp. 397 (N.D.Ind. 1997)
Randy JENSEN, et al., Plaintiffs,
No. H-74-230.
Ivan Bodensteiner, Valparaiso, IN, for Plaintiffs.
John Dull, Crown Point, IN, Gerald M. Bishop, Merrillville, IN, John P. Bushemi, Merrillville, IN, for Defendants.
This lawsuit was filed in 1974 on behalf of the inmates of the Lake County Jail. The suit challenged the policies and procedures at the Lake County Jail and alleged several Eighth Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment violations. Specifically, Count One of the amended complaint claimed that Defendants had violated Plaintiffs' rights by denying them necessary medical treatment; Count Two claimed that the Plaintiffs had been subjected to violence, beatings, and recurrent threats from Defendants' agents and employees; and Count Three alleged that Plaintiffs had been subjected to violence, beatings, and recurrent threats from other inmates without protection from the Defendants. Count Three also alleged the existence of physical conditions at the Lake County Jail which were dangerous to prisoners.
Throughout the years this Court has maintained continuing supervision over the operation of the Lake County Jail in order to enforce the consent decree of 1980 and the judgment order of 1982. Pending before the Court in addition to this motion to terminate are several motions, including Plaintiffs' Motion to Show Cause and Appointment of Other Monitor, filed on May 31, 1994, and Defendants' motion to declare the consent decree and the judgment order satisfied filed on October 17, 1994.
In April 1996, Congress enacted the Prison Litigation Reform Act ("PLRA"), Pub.L. No. 104-134, 110 Stat. 1321-66(1996). The Act was enacted in part in response to criticisms that the federal courts had overstepped their authority in prison condition cases. See Benjamin v. Jacobson, 935 F.Supp. 332, 340 (S.D.N.Y.1996). The Act aims at maintaining the supervision and control of state prisons in the hands of municipal and state governments. Id. In order to do this, the Act includes provisions that make it easier for those running state and local prisons to seek termination of federal court orders relating to prison conditions. See Small v. Hunt, 98 F.3d 789, 794 (4th Cir. 1996). In light of the new Act, Defendants, Lake County Council and Lake County Board of Commissioners, have filed a motion to terminate the consent decree and judgment order. Because of the effect of the Act in the outcome of prison reform cases, and because the Court's ruling in this motion will affect other pending motions, the Court must decide whether the PLRA applies to the case at hand.
The PLRA, which amended Title 18 U.S.C. section 3626 on appropriate remedies with respect to prison conditions, requires that
[p]rospective relief in any civil action with respect to prison conditions shall extend no further than necessary to correct the violation of the Federal right of a particular plaintiff or plaintiffs. The court shall not grant or approve any prospective relief unless the court finds that such relief is narrowly drawn, extends no further than necessary to correct a violation of the Federal right, and is the least intrusive means necessary to correct the violation of the Federal right. The court shall give substantial weight to any adverse impact on public safety or the operation of a criminal justice system caused by the relief.
18 U.S.C. § 3626(a)(1)(A). Congress stated explicitly that the amendment shall apply to all prospective relief even if originally granted before the enactment of the Act. See 18 U.S.C. § 3626
note on effective date. Defendants can ask the courts to apply the Act to older cases through section 3626(b) which provides for
[i]mmediate termination of prospective relief--in any civil action with respect to prison conditions, a defendant or intervenor shall be entitled to the immediate termination of any prospective relief if the relief was approved or granted in the absence of a finding by the court that the relief is narrowly drawn, extends no further than necessary to correct the violation of the Federal right, and is the least intrusive means necessary to correct the violation of the Federal right.
18 U.S.C. § 3622(b)(2). The next section provides the following limitation to immediate termination:
18 U.S.C. § 3626(b)(3). Prospective relief refers to "all relief other than compensatory money damages," 18 U.S.C. § 3626(g)(7), and it includes relief awarded through consent decrees. 18 U.S.C. §§ 3626(c)(1), 3626(g)(9).
The Defendants in this case ask the Court to terminate the consent decree and judgment order pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3626(b). Plaintiffs respond that section 3626(b) is unconstitutional.
The courts that have interpreted section 3626(b) have reached different conclusions as to their constitutionality. See Plyler v. Moore, 100 F.3d 365 (4th Cir. 1996) (finding section 3626(b) constitutional); Benjamin v. Jacobson, 935 F.Supp. 332 (S.D.N.Y.1996) (same); but see Hadix v. Johnson, 947 F.Supp. 1100 (E.D.Mich.1996) (holding section 3626(b) unconstitutional); Gavin v. Ray, No. 4-78CV70062, 1996 WL 622556 (S.D.Iowa, Sept. 18, 1996) (same); see also Hadix v. Johnson, 933 F.Supp. 1360 (E.D.Mich.1996) (finding section 3626(e)(2) unconstitutional); Hadix v. Johnson, 933 F.Supp. 1362 (W.D.Mich.1996) (same). 1 Another court applied the section narrowly by terminating only the specific enforcement of prospective relief. See Inmates of Suffolk Cty. Jail v. Sheriff of Suffolk Cty, No. Civ. A. 71-162, 1997 WL 2474 (D.Mass. January 2, 1997) (stating that the court found this section constitutional only if it applied a section in such a narrow way). Most, if not all, of the rulings by the district courts have been appealed.
The Constitution assigns separate spheres of powers to separate branches. Article III of the Constitution assigns to the
federal judiciary the power to rule on and decide cases. Plaut v. Spendthrift Farm, Inc., 514 U.S. 211, 218-19, 115 S.Ct. 1447, 1453, 131 L.Ed.2d 328 (1995). If Congress passes a law that assigns to a different branch of government the powers of the judiciary, so that the authority and the independence of the judiciary are undermined, such act is unconstitutional. Hadix, 933 F.Supp. at 1366 (W.D.Mich.). "While Congress maintains authority to determine the jurisdiction of the courts it has established, and to establish rules regarding the practice and procedure of the federal courts, the interpretation and application of the laws and the ultimate resolution of case and controversies are solely within the province of the Judiciary." Id.
"Once the Article III court issues a final judgment...