Court Opinion

ID: 9470800
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 03:16:16.304066+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:42:06.678650
License: Public Domain

POOLE, Circuit Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part:
Because I believe that the outcome is controlled by Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 99 S.Ct. 1861, 60 L.Ed.2d 447 (1979) (“ Wolfish ”), I dissent from part III of this opinion, concerning prisoner observation of cell searches. I concur in the remaining portions of the opinion.
The majority seeks to find a distinction between this case and the situation in Wolfish, insofar as both consider the problems posed by cell “shakedowns.” A fair reading of the Supreme Court’s holding in Wolfish would not permit a distinction as to the meaning to be drawn. In Wolfish,. the prison officials established a policy which did not permit prisoners to observe the searches of their cells, citing security concerns and a fear that the prisoners would be able to evade or frustrate the searches. Id. at 555, 99 S.Ct. at 1882. The prisoners objected because they suspected the guards of theft. Id. at 556, 99 S.Ct. at 1883. In the present case, the identical policy had been adopted by the jail officials, citing the same security and evasion concerns; the prisoners object essentially because they fear the improper confiscation of their property.
Faced with the competing concerns which underlay the search policy and the objections thereto, the Court held that the policy should not be enjoined, stating:
... proper deference to the informed discretion of prison authorities demands that they, and not the courts, make the difficult judgments which reconcile conflicting claims affecting the security of the institution, the welfare of the prison staff, and the property rights of the detainees.
Id. at 557 n. 38, 99 S.Ct. at 1883 n. 38 (citations omitted). The Court’s language could hardly be more clear, and there is no basis for holding that it does not provide controlling guidance in this case.
The distinctions relied upon by the majority are, I believe, without substance. First, it is claimed that the district court in Wolfish failed to weigh the prison official’s security and evasion concerns in framing its order. Since the district judge in this case did expressly address those concerns, his order — essentially the same as that issued by the district court in Wolfish —is thought to be permissible. However, it is factually inaccurate to state that the district court in Wolfish did not also weigh those concerns. See United States ex rel. Wolfish v. Levi, 439 F.Supp. 114, 148-49 (S.D.N.Y.1977).
A second basis for distinguishing Bell v. Wolfish cited by the majority is that the constitutional basis for invalidating the search policy relied upon by the district and appellate courts in that case was limited to privacy and fourth amendment concerns. In the case at bar, the majority notes, the district court found a due process claim grounded in the improper confiscation of prisoners’ property. Again, this distinction is strained, to say the least. While the district court in Wolfish confined its constitutional discussion to fourth amendment concerns, both that court and the Second Circuit on appeal stressed that the primary concern of the prisoners was the potential theft of their property — the same, allegedly new concern raised by Judge Gray here. See 439 F.Supp. at 148-49; 573 F.2d at 131. Further, the Second Circuit in Wolfish explicitly noted that the cell searches could give rise to a due process claim in certain circumstances. See 573 F.2d at 131 n. 29 (due process requires that receipts be given for property seized during cell searches).
Further, in Wolfish the Court determined that injunctive relief barring cell searches unless the prisoner was permitted to observe the search was improper when the concern was the possible theft of property. *581The Court suggested instead that actions for damages were the proper remedy, even if the thefts rose to the level of constitutional violations. See 441 U.S. at 557 n. 38, 99 S.Ct. at 1883 n. 38. This, of course, reflects the traditional doctrine that injunc-tive relief is inappropriate unless there has been a showing that legal remedies are inadequate. Beacon Theatres v. Westover, 359 U.S. 500, 506-07, 79 S.Ct. 948, 954, 3 L.Ed.2d 988 (1959). But even if the potentially repetitive incidence of violations of personal property rights could under some circumstances warrant injunctive relief, the Supreme Court has told us, on facts almost exactly similar to those found here, that this cell-search practice violates no constitutional provision and should not be conditioned on the inmate’s physical presence. Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. at 555-557, 99 S.Ct. at 1882-83.
The district court in Wolfish and Judge Gray here considered the same concerns of the correctional officials and the inmates, and ordered the same injunctive relief. The Supreme Court rejected that approach in Wolfish, and our obligation now must be to heed the plain language of the Supreme Court’s ruling and to reverse the order issued by the district court.