Opinion ID: 3032460
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Conditions of Confinement in Disciplinary

Text: Segregation As with his “failure-to-protect” claims, Hearns must make two showings to challenge his conditions of confinement. First, he must make an objective showing that the deprivation HEARNS v. TERHUNE 7757 was “sufficiently serious” to form the basis for an Eighth Amendment violation. Wilson v. Seiter, 501 U.S. 294, 298 (1991). Second, Hearns must make a subjective showing that the prison official acted “with a sufficiently culpable state of mind.” Id. [7] In light of the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment, prison officials have a duty to ensure that inmates receive adequate food, clothing, shelter, and medical care. See Farmer, 511 U.S. at 832; Keenan v. Hall, 83 F.3d 1083, 1089 (9th Cir. 1996); Hoptowit v. Ray, 682 F.2d 1237, 1246 (9th Cir. 1982). Moreover, “[e]xercise has been determined to be one of the basic human necessities protected by the Eighth Amendment,” LeMaire v. Maass, 12 F.3d 1444, 1457 (9th Cir. 1993), and a long-term deprivation of outdoor exercise for inmates is unconstitutional, see id. at 1458 (“[T]his circuit has determined the long-term denial of outside exercise is unconstitutional.”) (emphasis in original). See also Spain v. Procunier, 600 F.2d 189, 199 (9th Cir. 1979) (“There is substantial agreement among the cases in this area that some form of regular outdoor exercise is extremely important to the psychological and physical well being of the inmates.”); Toussaint v. Yockey, 722 F.2d 1490, 1493 (9th Cir. 1984) (holding that the district court did not err in concluding that the denial of outdoor exercise to inmates assigned to administrative segregation for over one year raised “substantial constitutional question”). The district court dismissed Hearns’s amended complaint for not meeting the objective component. According to the district court, the deprivations Hearns alleged were not sufficiently serious to violate the Eighth Amendment. Specifically, the district court ruled: Plaintiff has failed to allege any facts that would suggest he was subjected to inhumane conditions of confinement that imposed an excessive risk to his health or safety. For example, plaintiff does not 7758 HEARNS v. TERHUNE allege that he was deprived of water but only that ice cold water was not available to him. Plaintiff has failed to allege facts suggesting that the rusted sinks and stagnant pools of water filled with insects posed an excessive risk to his health and safety. Moreover, plaintiff simply alleges that the toilets did not work, which presumably means that they did not flush. Although certainly unpleasant, plaintiff fails to allege that the toilets were completely unusable for a period of time so that, for example, he was left with no alternative than to soil himself. [8] The district court, however, did not take into account the nine month period in which Hearns was subjected to these conditions of confinement. “The circumstances, nature, and duration of a deprivation of [ ] necessities must be considered in determining whether a constitutional violation has occurred.” Johnson v. Lewis, 217 F.3d 726, 731 (9th Cir. 2000). Hearns alleged serious health hazards in the disciplinary segregation yard, including toilets that did not work; sinks that were rusted and stagnant pools of water infested with insects; and a lack of cold water even though the temperatures in the prison yard exceeded one hundred degrees. Hearns, in his complaint, asserted that these conditions kept him from using the yard. [9] In one hundred degree plus weather, lack of drinkable water can be dangerous, thus precluding use of the yard. We need not decide whether the other allegations regarding the condition of the yard would independently, if proved, establish unconstitutional conditions, because with allegations that there was a lack of drinkable water, the complaint is sufficient to state a cause of action. The allegations in Hearns’s complaint are not entirely clear with regard to whether there was no water available, no cold water available, or no ice water available. Nonetheless, Hearns complained of “health hazards” and “serious health concerns,” requested “clean water containers,” and alleged very high temperatures of “over 100 HEARNS v. TERHUNE 7759 degrees plus.” For purposes of a 12(b)(6) motion, these allegations are adequate to state a claim of unconstitutional prison conditions. Cf. Keenan, 83 F.3d at 1089-92 (recognizing that deprivation of outdoor exercise, excessive noise, 24 hour lighting, and inadequate ventilation, food, and water violate the Eighth Amendment rights of inmates); see also Johnson, 217 F.3d at 732 (noting that “[m]ore modest deprivations can also form the objective basis of a violation, but only if such deprivations are lengthy or ongoing”). Accordingly, we conclude that the district court erred in dismissing Hearns’s “conditions-of-confinement” claim.