Opinion ID: 387937
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Proper Analysis of Eighth Amendment Challenges To Conditions In State Prisons

Text: 12 In analyzing a challenge to prison conditions based on the Eighth Amendment, a court should examine each challenged condition of confinement, such as the adequacy of the quarters, food, medical care, etc., and determine whether that condition is compatible with the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society. Trop v. Dulles, 356 U.S. 86, 101, 78 S.Ct. 590, 598, 2 L.Ed.2d 630 (1958); quoted in Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 102, 97 S.Ct. 285, 290, 50 L.Ed.2d 251 (1976), and Spain, supra, 600 F.2d at 196. 2 Any condition of confinement which passes this test is immune from federal intervention. If no challenged condition fails to meet the test, the entire facility and its administration are immune from Eighth Amendment attack. Of course, each condition of confinement does not exist in isolation; the court must consider the effect of each condition in the context of the prison environment, especially when the ill-effects of particular conditions are exacerbated by other related conditions. Compare Spain, supra, 600 F.2d at 199 (outdoor exercise required when prisoners otherwise confined in small cells almost 24 hours per day) with Clay v. Miller, 626 F.2d 345, 347 (4th Cir. 1980) (outdoor exercise not required when prisoners otherwise had access to day room 18 hours per day.). But the court's principal focus must be on specific conditions of confinement. It may not use the totality of all conditions to justify federal intervention requiring remedies more extensive than are required to correct Eighth Amendment violations. 13 We recognize that a court may properly allow some margin of error when correcting violations and that it has broad power to see that its remedies are not frustrated by contumacious officials. But we reject the notion that a finding of a violation with respect to a specific condition of confinement entitles a court to fashion a remedy requiring prison officials to operate all aspects of their prisons in accordance with a design of prison reform accepted by the court as right and proper. 3 14 Our decision is entirely consistent with Spain, supra. In that case we considered the cumulative effect of related prison conditions, such as confinement in small cells nearly 24 hours every day, in approving an order mandating outdoor exercise. 600 F.2d at 199. We also held that the use of large doses of tear gas to remove obstinate prisoners from their cells, and the use of handcuffs, neck chains, waist chains, and leg manacles whenever an inmate left his cell, amounted to cruel and unusual punishment. Id. at 196. But we did not go on to order changes in diet, medical services, and other challenged conditions of confinement which by themselves did not constitute cruel and unusual punishment. 15 In addition, we note that the district court gave no weight to the defendants' protests that many of its orders would compromise prison security. Although the need for security does not justify cruel and unusual punishment, and while a court must not unquestioningly defer to prison officials' analyses of security issues, recent events make it all too clear that the security of prisons and their inmates is a genuine issue to which we must give attention. Before ordering remedial measures in a case challenging conditions of confinement under the Eighth Amendment, a district court should determine whether the remedy will impair prison security. If such impairment is likely, the court must give explicit consideration to the practicality of the remedy in light of legitimate security concerns. 16 A similar examination with respect to the costs to the state of its remedies should be made. Again, costs cannot be permitted to stand in the way of eliminating conditions below Eighth Amendment standards. However, a focus on costs will tend to stay the hand of a district court when its otherwise generally praiseworthy compassion might tempt it to adopt an unnecessarily expensive and comprehensive remedy. These security and cost impact analyses need not reflect the precision we expect from experts upon whose opinions state officials must rely in undertaking prison reform, but it must be made evident to a reviewing court that the district court did in fact focus on the impact of its remedies, even when cast only in the form of a preliminary injunction, on prison security and the resources of the state. 17 Finally, we note that nearly all of the district court's mandates are probably desirable components of a prison system. 4 Chief Justice Burger has recently urged improvements in prison conditions as part of an overall attack on crime. New York Times, Jan. 9, 1981, p. 11, col. 3. Courts must diligently ensure compliance with constitutional requirements and with statutes designed to improve prison conditions. But courts may not institute reform programs on their own under the guise of correcting cruel and unusual punishment. 5 18 The preliminary injunction is vacated and the case is remanded to the district court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.