Opinion ID: 739321
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Appellee Jabe

Text: 51 Appellant contends that John Jabe, the Warden at SPSM, was also deliberately indifferent to a substantial risk of serious harm to Billups. In contrast to the claim against Tessmer, appellant does not contend that Jabe had knowledge of the specific risk faced by Billups from the tophead Melanics. Indeed, Jabe was never even at SPSM when Billups was, because he was on sick leave for a hip replacement from April 10, 1989, through June 18, 1989. Instead, appellant claims that Jabe knew of an unacceptably high level of risk facing prisoners in 6-Block, the area in which Billups resided, but disregarded that risk. 52 Appellant asserts that the testimony presented at trial established a question of fact regarding Jabe's knowledge of the risk facing Billups and Jabe's response to that risk. Jabe testified that he was aware that knives were being made by prisoners at the metal shop inside the prison. J.A. at 425. In addition, he knew that there was going to be a 100% change in the make-up of the prisoners in 6-Block and that such changes often created increased prisoner-on-prisoner violence. J.A. at 415. Dan Bolden, who, as the deputy director of the correctional facilities administration of the bureau of prisons for the Michigan Department of Corrections, was Jabe's boss, testified that they were planning on minimizing the effects of the change at 6-Block by assigning one of the best deputy wardens the department had ever had, Wayne Jackson, to supervise the process. J.A. at 399. Jackson, however, was arrested for bribery, and much of his staff was interrogated by law enforcement agents during the change-over period, causing a significant impact on the planning and implementation of the population change. J.A. at 399-401. Jabe testified that he anticipated an increase in the level of violence as a result of this population change. J.A. at 415. When Dr. Mintzes was asked why the level of violence at SPSM was so large, he focused on the following factors: the size of the prison; the number of prisoners; the changes at 6-Block; the arrest of Jackson; inadequate staffing; and the number of prisoners who would move together at a time. J.A. at 534-546. He also indicated that Jabe's decisions regarding staffing levels and Jabe's deficiencies with regard to the monitoring of knives made it more likely that a prisoner would be harmed. J.A. at 548. Before going into all of these details, he also indicated that there was a known risk of harm to Mr. Billups and that Mr. Jabe tended to be indifferent to what was the risk of harm to him. J.A. at 513. 53 On cross-examination, Dr. Mintzes conceded that Jabe had taken many steps to increase security at SPSM. J.A. at 341. Indeed, he stated that he commended many of the actions taken. J.A. at 340, 343, 345, 353. One of the actions for which he commended Jabe was an increase in staffing. J.A. at 344. He agreed that these actions taken by Jabe do not seem like actions that would be taken by someone who was not concerned with the safety of the prisoners. J.A. at 345. In addition, he agreed that officials at SPSM were making a concerted effort to reduce the flow of weapons. J.A. at 356. As a prior warden at SPSM, he testified as to how it was a very complex and very arduous process to get funding to make the necessary changes. J.A. at 358. He also stated that Jabe was not at fault for the bad timing in having to have his hip replaced and losing his top deputy at the time of the changes at 6-Block. J.A. at 360. Of equal importance, he testified that in spite of the short-term security problems with the changes at 6-Block, such changes were intended to--and in fact did--increase security at SPSM. J.A. at 361. 54 Given all of the evidence in the record, the district court did not err in concluding that Jabe did not deliberately disregard a substantial risk of serious harm to Billups. While there may be situations in which a jury could reasonably conclude that a prison official on sick leave acted with deliberate indifference toward a prisoner injured during his absence, the present dispute certainly does not present one of those situations. Although Jabe does not deny that SPSM housed violent prisoners and that violence among the prison population would sometimes occur, this fact does not establish an Eighth Amendment violation. See Gibson v. Foltz, 963 F.2d 851, 854 (6th Cir.1992) (The fact that the defendants knew that SPSM housed many violent prisoners and that prison violence did occur is not sufficient to constitute deliberate indifference.). Moreover, the evidence presented in this case indicates that since he took over as warden at SPSM on May 1, 1987, Jabe continually attempted to improve the prison conditions. There is simply nothing in the record indicating that Jabe did not respond reasonably to the risks at SPSM. See Farmer, 511 U.S. at 844, 114 S.Ct. at 1982-83 ([P]rison officials who actually knew of a substantial risk to inmate health or safety may be found free from liability if they responded reasonably to the risk, even if the harm ultimately was not averted.). Although Dr. Mintzes testified that Jabe was indifferent to a known risk of harm, we cannot find any evidence in the record supporting this opinion. We conclude, therefore, that the district court properly granted Appellee Jabe's Rule 50 motion for judgment as a matter of law. 55 For the foregoing reasons, we AFFIRM in part, REVERSE in part, and REMAND for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. 56