CURTIS JOYNER, District Judge.
Before the Court are Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. No. 45), Plaintiff's Motion in Opposition thereto (Doc. No. 53), Plaintiff's Cross Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (Doc. No. 52), and Defendant's Response in Opposition thereto (Doc. No. 54). For the reasons given below, the Defendants' Motion is DENIED in part and GRANTED in part. The Plaintiff's Motion is DENIED. An Order follows.
Plaintiff Thomas Warren was, at the time of the events in question, a resident at Coleman Hall, "a facility that provides residential reentry treatment services and houses Technical Parole Violators." Doc. No. 45 at 3 of 21. Mr. Warren maintains that he had the status of "parolee" during the relevant events. Compl. at ¶ 3. During the time Mr. Warren resided at Coleman Hall, Defendant Lenora King was a unit manager there and Defendant Fred Shapiro was the director. Compl. at ¶¶ 4-5.
Mr. Warren alleges that on October 3, 2013, at approximately 1:35 PM, Ms. King entered Mr. Warren's dorm bathroom. Compl. at ¶¶ 8-9. At the time, Mr. Warren was in a closed stall "removing his bowels." Compl. at ¶ 9. Two other residents of the dorm were washing up in the bathroom at the same time. Compl. at ¶ 9. Ms. King directed Mr. Warren to leave the bathroom. Compl. at ¶ 10. When Mr. Warren informed Ms. King that he was removing his bowels, Ms. King told Mr. Warren that if he did not come out of the bathroom he would not be re-paroled on October 7, 2013. Compl. at ¶ 11. Mr. Warren exited the bathroom stall without properly cleaning himself. Compl. at ¶ 12.
Ms. King pat searched Mr. Warren. Compl. at ¶ 13. She then radioed for staff backup and ordered two male staff members to strip search Mr. Warren. Compl. at ¶ 14. Mr. Warren alleges this took place in front of Ms. King and two other residents of Coleman Hall. Compl. at ¶ 15.
After the strip search, Ms. King took Mr. Warren into the hallway, where she told him he was in trouble with Mr. Shapiro and that if he did not tell her what was going on in the bathroom, Mr. Warren would not be re-paroled on October 7, 2013. Compl. at ¶¶ 17-19. Ms. King then had Mr. Warren taken to a detention room where Mr. Shapiro asked Mr. Warren to tell them what he knew. Compl. at ¶¶ 20, 22. When Mr. Warren stated that he did not know anything, Mr. Shapiro instructed Ms. King to terminate Mr. Warren from the Coleman Hall facility. Compl. at ¶ 23. Mr. Warren was told that this was because he refused to "snitch." Id. When Mr. Warren asked if he would receive a hearing, as he understood to be standard procedure, "Defendant Shapiro told plaintiff Warren that life is not fair." Compl. at ¶ 24. A parole agent placed Mr. Warren in shackles and informed him that he was being arrested for contraband. Compl. at ¶ 26.
On October 7, 2013, Mr. Warren sent a grievance letter to Mr. Shapiro. Compl. at ¶ 35; Doc. No. 53, Ex. L, at 75 of 101. He did not receive a response. Compl. at ¶ 35. On October 29, 2013, Mr. Warren's parole was revoked by the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole. Compl. at ¶ 30; Doc. No. 1, Ex. A, at 34 of 71. On November 1, 2013, Mr. Warren filed an Administrative Appeal to the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole. Compl. at ¶ 36. He did not receive a response. Id.
On October 31, 2014, Plaintiff filed a pro se civil action against Ms. King and Mr. Shapiro under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
Summary judgment is appropriate "if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). "A fact is material when its resolution `might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law,' and a dispute about a material fact is genuine `if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.'"
The Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995 ("PLRA") provides that "[n]o action shall be brought with respect to prison conditions under section 1983 of this title, or any other Federal law, by a prisoner confined in a jail, prison, or other correctional facility until such administrative remedies as are available are exhausted." 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a). The Defendants argue that Mr. Warren's claims must be dismissed for failure to exhaust administrative remedies. The burden is on the Defendants to show that Mr. Warren "failed to meet the requirements of the grievance process" in place.
The Defendants claim that Mr. Warren failed to follow the Coleman Hall grievance procedure outlined in the Resident Handbook. He did not follow it at the time of the events in question and upon his return to Coleman Hall in March 2014, they argue, he had another opportunity to file a grievance and he failed to do so. Additionally, while Mr. Warren claims he wrote a letter explaining his grievances to Mr. Shapiro, the Defendants argue there is no evidence the letter was mailed, or that it was received by Mr. Shapiro.
The grievance procedure of Coleman Hall requires residents to complete a grievance form, which is "available on the housing unit," and place it in a grievance box. Doc. No. 45-2, Ex. B, at 16 of 30. After his removal from Coleman Hall, Mr. Warren lacked access to both the form and the box. The procedure indicates it is for "[r]esidents experiencing problems with the program" and that filing a grievance "will not interfere with a resident's status or progress in the program." Id. Thus the procedure appears to be for
The PLRA provides the following limitation on recovery: "No federal civil action may be brought by a prisoner confined in a jail, prison, or other correctional facility, for mental or emotional injury suffered while in custody without a prior showing of physical injury or the commission of a sexual act. . . ." 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(e). The Defendants allege that Mr. Warren can claim no damages because he has not indicated that he suffered any physical injuries as a result of this alleged incident. Mr. Warren does not contest that he claims no physical injury, but instead claims he is entitled to recover certain damages nonetheless.
It is well settled that "Section 1997e(e)'s requirement that a prisoner demonstrate physical injury before he can recover for mental or emotional injury applies only to claims for compensatory damages."
The Fourteenth Amendment prohibits states from depriving "any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. . . ." U.S. CONST. amend. XIV, § 1. This protects incarcerated individuals, who "retain certain constitutionally protected property and liberty interests."
Under Pennsylvania law, a technical parole violator ("TPV") is a parolee "who violates the terms and conditions of his parole" other than by being convicted of a new crime. 61 Pa.C.S.A. § 6138(c). Unless certain conditions are met, a TPV is to be detained and recommitted "in a community corrections center or community corrections facility." Id. Coleman Hall is such a facility and Mr. Warren was committed there as a TPV. Defendants point to the fact that Mr. Warren was detained and recommitted as a TPV as conclusive that he was a "convicted inmate," and not a parolee. Doc. No. 45 at 11 of 21. Mr. Warren points to the language in the statute referring to a "parolee" even after a violation has occurred, as well as to the "Record of Interview" from the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole, which refers to Mr. Warren as a "parolee" during the time of detention at Coleman Hall, as evidence to the contrary. See Doc. No. 53, Ex. A, at 26 of 101.
As Mr. Warren notes, the statute refers to a TPV as a parolee. Although the statute indicates that a TPV is to be detained and recommitted, crucially, it does not state that detention and recommitment strip a TPV of his or her parolee status. Additionally, Chapter 50 of Title 61 of the Pennsylvania Statutes indicates that "a parolee under the jurisdiction of the board" who is detained or recommitted may be housed in a community corrections center or community corrections facility. 61 Pa.C.S.A. § 5003.
Contrary to the Defendants' assertion, that an individual is detained is also not conclusive on the issue of whether that individual has the status of a parolee. In the context of determining whether to grant a reincarcerated individual credit for time served in a treatment program, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has looked to the conditions of confinement to determine whether or not an individual can be considered to be "at liberty on parole."
In
Mr. Warren was housed in the Serenity Unit at Coleman Hall, and at the time in question his assigned program was "CPC-Secure/CBLS." Doc. No. 45-7, Ex. G. There is scant evidence in the record, however, on how much freedom Mr. Warren had. Coleman Hall appears to house TPVs with permission to leave the premises and TPVs without such permission.
We note that a detained individual residing in "a strictly monitored halfway house" with limited freedoms has been considered under institutional confinement by the Third Circuit.
We also look to the actions of the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole ("Parole Board") to determine whether Mr. Warren was still considered a parolee when they recommitted him to prison. The Parole Board "is vested with exclusive jurisdiction to grant, revoke, or reinstate parole."
For the foregoing reasons, we find that there exists a genuine dispute as to whether Mr. Warren was a prisoner or parolee at the time in question.
Nevertheless, the Defendants will meet their burden on the due process claim if they can show that there is no genuine dispute as to whether Mr. Warren was accorded the process due to a parolee by the Defendants. The Supreme Court has held that "the full panoply of rights due a defendant in [a criminal] proceeding does not apply to parole revocations."
According to the Coleman Hall Resident Handbook, a person accused of violating a "major prohibited act" or a "major rule or procedural infractions" will be scheduled for a hearing. Doc. No. 45-2, Ex. B, at 19 of 30. It appears this procedure is followed, at least in some cases, as evidenced by the affidavits from other residents of Coleman Hall. Doc. No. 53, Ex. G, at 57-58 of 101. The Defendants indicate that Mr. Warren was scheduled for a hearing for the alleged violations that took place on October 3, but that he was removed from custody by the Parole Board before the hearing could occur. Doc. No. 45 at 8 of 21. Indeed, he was removed from Coleman Hall within hours of the alleged incident. The Defendants informed the Parole Board of the incident immediately, and prior to any hearing taking place. The report submitted apparently to Mr. Warren's parole supervisor indicates that Mr. Warren was removed from Coleman Hall at 4:12 PM on October 3, as an "unsuccessful discharge, program failure." Doc. No. 53, Ex. J, at 69 of 101. It states that Mr. Warren "had multiple infarctions [sic] and failed to report serious contraband." Id. This "failure to report" allegation apparently refers to the incidents that occurred a few hours earlier.
The Letter of Termination indicates that the decision to discharge Mr. Warren from Coleman Hall was made, at least in part, by Defendant King, as she is one of two signatories. Doc. No. 45-3, Ex. C, at 2 of 4. The letter indicates that two infractions from August,
The Defendants argue that they did not send Mr. Warren away; instead, the decision to take Mr. Warren away and, subsequently, to revoke his parole, was made entirely by the Parole Board. However, the notification given to the Parole Board, rather than having "nothing to do with the Parole Board extracting the Plaintiff hours after the event," as the Defendants claim, in fact prompted his physical removal several hours later.
While it appears that Ms. King's account of the events on October 3 led to Mr. Warren being removed from Coleman Hall, it is not clear what role Ms. King's account of what happened on October 3 played in the actual termination of Mr. Warren's parole. On October 29, 2013, the Parole Board recommitted Mr. Warren as a TPV to "a state correctional institution/contracted county jail to serve 6 months, pursuant to Act 122 of 2012." Doc. No. 1, Ex. A, at 34 of 71.
It is not clear whether Mr. Warren had been given an opportunity to dispute Ms. King's account of what happened on October 3. He claims he never received a hearing before the Parole Board. The Defendants claim that he did. This is a genuine dispute of a material fact. Even if he did receive a hearing, it is possible that Mr. Warren admitted that he was terminated from the program at Coleman Hall without having an opportunity to refute the charges that resulted in that termination, and that the fact of his termination on its own, without regard to the reasons behind it, influenced the decision to recommit him. In other words, that his parole was revoked because he was terminated from Coleman Hall, and that he was terminated from Coleman Hall for alleged violations he never was able to refute or question. We believe this would constitute a due process violation.
We find there is a genuine dispute of material facts on the due process claim which precludes summary judgment to be entered on behalf of the Defendants. Mr. Warren also moved for summary judgment on the due process issue. Because there is a genuine dispute as to whether he was a parolee and whether he received a hearing to refute the claims against him, we deny his motion as well.
The Eighth Amendment prohibits unnecessary and wanton inflictions of pain, which "are those that are totally without penological justification."
Several circuit courts have found that, in certain circumstances, prisoner nudity can constitute cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment.
Defendants point to
The issue here is not urination, but rather complete nudity. Both sexes have an interest in "[s]hielding one's unclothed figure from the view of strangers."
The Coleman Hall Administrative Policy and Procedure Manual does not clearly indicate Coleman Hall's policy on the presence of female staff when males are unclothed. Of the pages submitted by Mr. Warren, the first indicates it is 1 of 3 and the second is 9 of 33, so they appear to be from different sections. Doc. No. 53, Ex. C, at 31-34 at 101. They are contradictory; for example, the first page indicates that body cavity searches are never permitted whereas the second page indicates that body cavity searches must be done by staff of the same gender unless an exigent circumstance exists. Id. In their answer to Mr. Warren's interrogatories, Defendants state that female staff are not permitted to pat search male residents. Doc. No. 53, Ex. D, at 40-41 of 101. However, it also appears that Coleman Hall policy may allow an exception for both strip and pat searches when "exigent circumstances" so require. Doc. No. 53, Ex. C, at 32 of 101. This leaves the official policy of Coleman Hall unclear.
The Defendants offer no legal argument that a pat search by a member of the opposite sex or forcing Mr. Warren to leave the restroom stall without cleaning himself could not constitute an Eighth Amendment violation. As this is a fact-specific and contextual determination, we find they have not met their burden on these issues. We also find that there is a genuine dispute as to whether Mr. Warren was strip searched in front Ms. King and two other residents of Coleman Hall, and whether there was justification for it. These determinations could constitute an Eighth Amendment claim. Therefore, we deny the Defendants' motion for summary judgment on the Eighth Amendment claim.
For the foregoing reasons, the Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment is granted in part and denied in part, and the Plaintiff's Cross Motion for Summary Judgment is denied. An Order follows.