Opinion ID: 715048
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Federal Equitable Jurisdiction

Text: 37 In institutional reform litigation, the constitutional violation provides the authority for a court-imposed remedy which displaces local control: 38 The well-settled principle that the nature and scope of the remedy are to be determined by the violation means simply that federal-court decrees must directly address and relate to the constitutional violation itself. Because of this inherent limitation upon federal judicial authority, federal-court decrees exceed appropriate limits if they are aimed at eliminating a condition that does not violate the Constitution or does not flow from such a violation.... 39 Milliken v. Bradley (Milliken II), 433 U.S. 267, 281-82, 97 S.Ct. 2749, 2758, 53 L.Ed.2d 745 (1977) (citations omitted). See also Board of Education v. Dowell, 498 U.S. 237, 247, 111 S.Ct. 630, 636-37, 112 L.Ed.2d 715 (1991). Federal courts simply may not force local governments, over their objections, to undertake a course of conduct not tailored to curing a constitutional violation. Rufo v. Inmates of Suffolk County Jail, 502 U.S. 367, 389, 112 S.Ct. 748, 762, 116 L.Ed.2d 867 (1992). Of course, the parties are free to consent to remedies beyond what the Constitution requires given a finding, either express or implied, of unconstitutional conditions. Id. See generally Cooper v. Noble, 33 F.3d 540, 544-45, supplemented, 41 F.3d 212 (5th Cir.1994); Diaz v. Romer, 961 F.2d 1508, 1510-11 (10th Cir.1992); Duran v. Carruthers, 885 F.2d 1485, 1489 (10th Cir.1989), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 1056, 110 S.Ct. 865, 107 L.Ed.2d 949 (1990). Even with a consent decree, however, the district court is not free to enter a modification of the injunction which would be inconsistent with the governing law. Local No. 93, Int'l Ass'n of Firefighters, AFL-CIO, C.L.C. v. City of Cleveland, 478 U.S. 501, 527-28, 106 S.Ct. 3063, 3078-79, 92 L.Ed.2d 405 (1986); Firefighters Local Union No. 1784 v. Stotts, 467 U.S. 561, 580 n. 12, 104 S.Ct. 2576, 2588, 81 L.Ed.2d 483 (1984). 40 In this case there is an express finding that whether a class-wide constitutional violation exists will remain undecided. Moreover, the preliminary injunction that gave way to the permanent injunction was issued largely on a showing of irreparable injury: 41 Without deciding whether overpopulation alone can amount to punishment sufficient to constitute a violation of the Due Process Clause, from the stipulated fact of overpopulation in relation to BCDC's design capacity, the Court concludes there is a substantial likelihood that, unless the Court intervenes, the unabated continuation of a population in excess of design capacity places such additional burdens on all aspects of BCDC, its staff, its residents, its services and its systems as to substantially increase the likelihood that irreparable harm, whether it rises to the level of a constitutional violation or not, will occur between now and the trial of this matter. 42 D. Ct. Order filed August 23, 1995 at 9-10 (doc. 106). At oral argument, counsel for Plaintiffs-Intervenors acknowledged that no finding of a constitutional violation has been made. 43 Although pretrial detainees are protected under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, the Eighth Amendment standards applicable to convicted persons provide the benchmark in this case. See Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 535 n. 16, 99 S.Ct. 1861, 1871-72, 60 L.Ed.2d 447 (1979); Howard v. Dickerson, 34 F.3d 978, 981 (10th Cir.1994). Proof of a constitutional violation in conditions of confinement cases cannot be presumed, and that is particularly true here--the district court's preliminary injunction and subsequent rulings before me do not address the current requirements (or cases) for obtaining relief in conditions of confinement cases. The district court has made no determination that the overcrowding at BCDC, let alone the conditions at any other temporary facility, have resulted in a constitutional violation with respect to any inmate. 44 While the Eighth Amendment proscribes cruel and unusual punishments, there are two components of an Eighth Amendment claim which must be proven to support a remedy: an objective component, the alleged deprivation must deny the minimal civilized measure of life's necessities, Rhodes v. Chapman, 452 U.S. 337, 347, 101 S.Ct. 2392, 2399, 69 L.Ed.2d 59 (1981), and a subjective component, the responsible official must have a sufficiently culpable state of mind, i.e. deliberate indifference, Wilson v. Seiter, 501 U.S. 294, 299-304, 111 S.Ct. 2321, 2324-27, 115 L.Ed.2d 271 (1991) (conditions of confinement case). See Clemmons v. Bohannon, 956 F.2d 1523, 1525-26 (10th Cir.1992) (en banc) (acknowledging Wilson components). See also Helling v. McKinney, 509 U.S. 25, 33-37, 113 S.Ct. 2475, 2481-82, 125 L.Ed.2d 22 (discussing objective and subjective components of Eighth Amendment violations); Whitley v. Albers, 475 U.S. 312, 319, 106 S.Ct. 1078, 1084, 89 L.Ed.2d 251 (1986) (it is obduracy and wantonness, not inadvertence or error in good faith, that characterize conduct prohibited....); Johnson v. Phelan, 69 F.3d 144, 150 (7th Cir.1995) (No intent to injure means no 'punishment'; and no 'punishment,' no violation.); Hudson v. McMillian, 503 U.S. 1, 9, 112 S.Ct. 995, 1000, 117 L.Ed.2d 156 (1992) (discussing objective component). See also 18 U.S.C. § 3626(a) and (b) (enacting limits upon remedies for individual overcrowding claims under the Eighth Amendment). 45 While the district court is to be accorded flexibility in administering the permanent injunction, Defendants have made a strong showing that the permanent injunction does not preclude them from assigning inmates to facilities other than BCDC, let alone require them to obtain the district court's permission after Plaintiffs' counsel previews/inspects the facilities and has the opportunity to lodge objections. The district court has acknowledged repeatedly that alternative sites are not foreclosed, thus, while the permanent injunction prescribes population caps for BCDC, it does not require use of the MRS if alternatives can be found to avoid overpopulation. 46 Requiring inspection by Plaintiffs' counsel and court approval of any temporary site, whether it be Montessa Park, the state penitentiary or the soon-to-be-operational Westside facility, reaches far beyond maintaining an acceptable population level at BCDC. Such requirements necessarily involve the district court in the operation of other institutions, something generally proscribed absent a condition which offends the Constitution. See Rhodes, 452 U.S. at 337, 101 S.Ct. at 2394-95. District courts must bear in mind that their inquiries 'spring from Constitutional requirements and that judicial answers to them must reflect that fact rather than a court's idea of how best to operate a detention facility.'  Id. (quoting Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 539, 99 S.Ct. 1861, 1874, 60 L.Ed.2d 447 (1979)). Moreover, the district court's requirements seem particularly inappropriate here, notwithstanding the lack of proof of a constitutional violation, because the temporary locations represent an effort on the part of the Defendants to comply with the permanent injunction concerning population caps. See Preiser v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 475, 492, 93 S.Ct. 1827, 1837-38, 36 L.Ed.2d 439 (1973) (comity requires an opportunity for prison officials to correct conditions); Taylor v. Freeman, 34 F.3d 266, 269 (4th Cir.1994) (vacating injunctive relief after staying it pending appeal and noting that intrusive and far-reaching federal judicial intervention in the details of prison management is justifiable only where state officials have been afforded the opportunity to correct constitutional infirmities and have abdicated their responsibility to do so); Dean v. Coughlin, 804 F.2d 207, 214 (2d Cir.1986) (vacating preliminary injunction). 47 Though too generalized to support a constitutional violation, the district court has been candid about where it believes the fault lies: 48 The order we entered as a result of the stipulation by the parties last August spoke [ ] to the overcrowding issue and recognized that the fault was not with BCDC officials. It recognized that the blame for overcrowding had to rest on the public who pressured legislators to increase criminal penalties yet at the same time deny the authority for public expenditure for new or improved facilities or programs directed toward persons against whom these laws are enforced. 49 It is obvious that stiffer penalties result in more incarcerated individuals, and the public has to follow through and take responsibility for ensuring that penal institutions are equipped and staffed to handle increased inmates. 50 Likewise, politicians who are quick to support public cries for stiffer penalties and incarceration must not shy away from supporting the unpopular measures necessary to meet the corresponding demands of an overused system. 51 Aplt./Pet. Emergency Request, ex. 2, Tr. at 80-81. While I appreciate the concern shown by the district court and the district court's willingness to be available to the parties as needed, the proper, and properly limited, role of the federal courts requires evaluation of these claims within the existing legal framework and appropriate support by competent proof. Taylor, 34 F.3d at 269, 271. While the conditions in this case deserve careful scrutiny, they must be evaluated with proper regard for the limited competence of federal judges to micromanage prisons. See Bruscino v. Carlson, 854 F.2d 162, 164-65 (7th Cir.1988), cert. denied, 491 U.S. 907, 109 S.Ct. 3193, 105 L.Ed.2d 701 (1989); Taylor, 34 F.3d at 269-70. 52 If the inspection and approval requirements are viewed independently, Defendants have made a strong showing that such requirements must fail under the current constitutional standards for conditions of confinement claims, as well as the standards for governing preliminary injunctive relief.