Opinion ID: 364668
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: class action: inmate security and state law claims

Text: 223 My brethren dwell at length on the humane conditions required by Mississippi state law; yet they decline to consider the individual pendent state law claims because the class action was never certified under Rule 23(b)(3), that is, as a claim for damages for the individual prisoners, and any decision now reached on appeal would not have res judicata effect. Although they leave open the possibility of a new 23(b)(3) suit, some of those claims may have lapsed as a result of the statute of limitations. Miss.Code Ann. § 15-1-49. My brethren comment, in footnote 13, that jail conditions were generally portrayed as deplorable prior to the time Sheriff Diamond took office in 1972. Claims for damages suffered during this period should not be ignored. 224 The complaint in this case may not have been drawn as artfully as possible, but it clearly is a class action and seeks relief under both Rule 23(b)(2) and (b)(3), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. See majority opinion, footnote 25. Although injunctive relief was the principal objective, damages might be awarded as an incident even to a (b)(2) action. See, e. g., Senter v. General Motors Corp., 6 Cir. 1976, 532 F.2d 511, 525, Cert. denied, 429 U.S. 870, 97 S.Ct. 182, 50 L.Ed.2d 150; 7A C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure; Civil § 1775 at 19 n.31 (Supp.1978) collecting cases; 3B Moore's Federal Practice, P 23.40(4), at 23-304-05 (2d ed. 1978). This is the intimation of the note of the Advisory Committee recommending the change to the present text of Rule 23(b)(2). Advisory Committee Note, 39 F.R.D. 98, 102 (1966). For a general discussion, see Comment, Antidiscrimination Class Actions Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure: The Transformation of Rule 23(b)(2), 88 Yale L.J. 868 (1979). 225 However, it is unnecessary to dwell on whether the (b)(2) claim warrants the award of damages sustained as an incident of the conduct sought to be enjoined. As the majority opinion notes, over 8,500 persons might have (b)(3) claims under § 1983 or the pendent Mississippi law claims; whether they wish to assert these claims and, if so, what evidence they might bring to counsel's attention is unknown. 226 Even if plaintiff's counsel failed to insist on (b)(3) certification, the complaint seeks it. The issue before the trial judge and the issue before us is not counsel's conduct of the case, but whether the constitutional and statutory rights of the plaintiffs have been violated. When a class action is filed, some responsibility for its proper conduct devolves on the trial judge. Without in any way compromising the court's impartiality with respect to the substantive issues, the trial judge must not only promptly certify or deny certification to the class action; in considering certification, he must take into account the ability of counsel, and, even after certification, it may become his duty to appoint additional counsel for the class in order to assure an adequate trial on its behalf, whether to victory or defeat. Rule 23(b) affords ample authority to the court to enter appropriate orders to guide the conduct of class actions. 227 I respectfully suggest that the federal judge in a class action is not to be a passive observer, allowing the initiative of the opposing attorneys to control the course of the litigation. Comment, Adequate Representation, Notice and the New Class Action Rule: Effectuating Remedies Provided by the Securities Laws, 116 U.Pa.L.Rev. 889, 898 (1968). We have ourselves endorsed this concept: (I)n class actions under the civil rights statutes, the trial court bears a substantial management responsibility over the conduct of the litigation, which arises the moment the class is requested. Jones v. Diamond, 5 Cir. 1975, 519 F.2d 1090, 1098. 228 Concern for the rights of the members of a class is not for the conscience only of trial judges; we who sit on appeals ourselves bear a duty in that regard. Accordingly, I would remand the case to permit the plaintiffs to seek proper certification under Rule 23(b)(3), with, of course, all that entails, including proper notice. The rights of individual class members to damages should then be determined in accordance with the substantive principles I have suggested. I would remand the damage claims of the ten persons whose claims have already been considered by the trial court for reconsideration without awaiting (b)(3) certification in the light of this opinion as an incident to the 23(b)(2) relief sought.