Opinion ID: 447604
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The March 1983 Proceedings

Text: 19 On February 28, 1984 the defendants moved for a modification of the May 25, 1983 order so as to raise the permitted inmate population of the jail by 80 males. That motion was predicated upon certain repairs made to existing cells, and the proposed installation of two modular trailer housing units in the jail courtyard. The motion does not identify what rule the defendants relied upon, but it is not disputed that they were proceeding under Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(b). A hearing was held on the motion on March 8, 1984 at which time the defendants offered testimony by an architect, a corrections officer, Director Robinson and Warden Kozakiewicz. At the hearing it became apparent that efforts by the county officials to find temporary accommodations elsewhere for inmates had proved to be fruitless, although representations had been made to the court that such accommodations would be operational by March 1, 1984. At the close of the hearing the trial judge visited the jail to personally review the plans presented. 20 On March 13, 1984 the court denied defendants' motion for relief from the May 25, 1983 order. Addressing the suggested use of trailers the court found: 21 For lack of a better word, we will refer to the structure proposed by the defendants as a trailer, for that is what most witnesses called it. It is not really a trailer, but rather a rectangular metal-covered structure that is 12' 11' high, 28' wide and 76' long set on concrete block piers. It resembles two modular trailers put back-to-back. It is proposed that the trailer house forty inmates in twenty double-decker beds. It has its own toilet and shower facilities (28' X 10') and self-contained climate control but no recreational or living area other than the space between the double deckers. It would have two guards, one in a locked, glass-walled (polycarbonate) security area and another moving throughout the trailer. 22 The defendants want to place the trailer in an unused recreation yard within the jail. Several considerations militate against permitting the defendants to do this. 23 .... 24 What the defendants seem to have overlooked here is that the jail must provide more than a bed for each prisoner. The trailer will allow just under 45 square feet of space per inmate. The defendants' petition (Paragraph 3) had alleged that the trailer would contain recreation-areas, but it did not. 25 .... 26 In the case sub judice, the proposed trailer would provide only 45 square feet per inmate, far below the minimum standards of any known health or corrections organization or federal court. This lack of space, and the problems associated therewith, would violate the inmates' constitutional rights under the Fourteenth Amendment. 27 The failure to provide adequate living space for the forty additional inmates is just one of the problems which would be created by the trailer. Director Robinson said that forty additional prisoners would mean additional visitors coming to the already cramped jail visitors' area, more attorneys in the inadequate lawyers' visiting room and an overall greater strain on food-service, the mental health unit and the already-limited gymnasium. 28 Besides inadequate space, perhaps the worst feature of the trailer proposal is its location. The yard where the defendants want to locate the trailer is immediately outside the jail hospital. The hospital area for patients is a circular room approximately thirty feet in diameter with beds for the patients sticking out from the walls toward the center of the circle. 29 At the edge of this circle, but in the same room with the hospital patients, is the door leading out to the area where the trailer would be located. One prisoner-patient's bed is approximately five feet from the door. The day we visited the jail (March 8, 1984) was very cold. When the door was opened for us to go out into the yard, a blast of icy air came right into the hospital room. It was not difficult to imagine what it would be like on a cold winter's day to have forty prisoners and assorted guards trooping in and out through that door past hospital patients suffering various ailments. 30 If an air lock were placed on the door (a suggestion made by the defendants after we commented on this problem), the cold blasts of air into the hospital might end. However, the constant traffic in and out of the hospital would make it extremely difficult to keep the hospital clean and sanitary, causing a health hazard to the patients. In addition, the forty prisoners and guards travelling to and from the trailer could become infected by the hospital inmates, thus creating a sort of reverse health hazard. Ill prisoners are purposely placed in the hospital ward for two reasons; 1) so that they may receive proper medical treatment, and 2) so that they are kept separate from the general population so as not to spread disease. The latter purpose would be frustrated if forty prisoners who spend their days in general population are in constant contact with the ill inmates. 31 The location of the trailer poses another very serious problem: the safety of the forty inmates and guards within the trailer in the event of a fire. As previously stated, the trailer will be within the confines of an old recreational yard, an area surrounded by stone walls towering 36 feet into the air. Since this area was once used by inmates for outside recreation, it had to be secure. Therefore, there are no accesses to the street and only one door into the jail itself. If a fire were to start in the trailer or near the door to the jail, those inmates and guards in the trailer would be trapped with no route of escape. If this were to occur, the possibility of serious injuries or death would be enormous. 32 Addressing the suggested use of cells which had been rehabilitated the court found: 33 The petition filed by the defendants also requested that we raise the male population cap by another forty inmates because Since January 1, 1984, weekly cell reports have indicated that of the 587 existing cells, an average of 548 cells are available for male occupancy in the jail. (Petition, p 7). 34 The testimony of defendants' witnesses, however, including that of Lt. Matthew W. Kerr, a guard shift commander, revealed that of the 48 additional cells alleged to be available, only 10 could, in reality, be utilized. Some were in the reception area which must be available when an unusually large number of prisoners are brought in at the same time. Others currently (but not usually) were available in the Mental Health Unit and administrative areas. Both Warden Kozakiewicz and Director Robinson estimated that at most ten additional cells could be utilized within the ACJ [Allegheny County Jail]. 35 The additional strain on the inadequate jail facilities caused by the presence of more inmates has already been discussed here in conjunction with the trailer proposal. Needless to say, the same factors apply in connection with using additional cells within the ACJ. 36 Concluding that the defendants had not convinced him that the May 25, 1983 order should be modified, the court observed: 37 While one can always argue that the 500 male population cap is an arbitrary figure, it must necessarily be so. Perhaps another judge, viewing the same factual situation, would say that the constitutional limit could be 510, and such a finding would not necessarily be an abuse of discretion either. Nevertheless, the limitation must be set at some point, and attempts to change the figures, once established, must likewise end. We believe that in its present condition the Allegheny County Jail should have a population of no more than 500 males and 30 females and that any number in excess of those limits would violate the constitutional rights of the inmates. 38 From the March 13, 1984 order denying their Rule 60(b) motion the defendants appeal at No. 84-3191.