Coxson v. Godwin

405 F. Supp. 1099, 1975 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15385
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Virginia
DecidedNovember 10, 1975
DocketCiv. A. No. 75-0088(H)
StatusPublished

This text of 405 F. Supp. 1099 (Coxson v. Godwin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Coxson v. Godwin, 405 F. Supp. 1099, 1975 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15385 (W.D. Va. 1975).

Opinion

OPINION AND JUDGMENT

DALTON, District Judge.

Petitioners are inmates at Augusta Correctional Field Unit # 10. They have filed this action containing numerous allegations concerning conditions at the Unit and the treatment accorded them by respondents, the Governor of Virginia and past and present administrative officers of the Unit. Petitioners seek injunctive relief pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. In response to petitioners’ pleadings, respondents have moved for summary judgment and submitted affidavits in support of this motion.

Petitioners’ first complaint charges that prisoners are being arbitrarily subjected to cruel and unusual punishment because of numerous escapes at the Correctional Unit. They state that three inmates escaped from the kitchen around August 20, 1975, due to the negligence of the guards. As a result, they state that yard privileges have been taken away from inmates with a custody status and particular prejudice is being shown against blacks. However, petitioners do not allege that any of the previously mentioned incidents have involved them. Affiant Loving answers that the withdrawal of privileges was necessary to tighten security and prevent escapes.

It is, of course, an undisputed proposition that a litigant cannot sue for deprivation of another’s civil rights. O'Malley v. Brierley, 477 F.2d 785 (3rd Cir. 1973). Thus, petitioners have no standing to assert the rights of those [1100]*1100who have been subjected to said prejudice. While petitioners do allege generally “that the entire prison population is being punished because of the negligence of the state and prison officials”, it occurs to this Court that the tightening of security due to recent escapes is a matter to be left to the discretion of prison officials absent a charge that petitioners themselves are being subjected to racial bias. See Roberts v. Pepersack, 256 F.Supp. 415 (D.Md.1966).

. Petitioners’ second complaint concerns the conditions at the Augusta Unit. They allege that certain of these conditions constitute cruel and unusual punishment. Among the complaints are:

1. There is no ventilation in the recreation room and sleeping conditions are excessively crowded.
2. The windows are hazardous.
3. There is no tile on the shower room floor.
4. There are no guard rails leading to the basement.
5. There are no tools in the hobby shop for use by inmates.
6. The telephone is in an area where there is no privacy and inmates are allowed only a specified number of calls a month.

This Court is not convinced that the living conditions portrayed in petitioners’ complaint depicts conduct or conditions so dangerous or barbarous or shocking to the conscience as to give rise to a constitutional claim of cruel and unusual punishment. See Adams v. Pate, 445 F.2d 105 (7th Cir. 1971). Tile on the shower room floor has now been fixed. The absence of guard rails has never been cited for correction or reported for safety purposes. Both Affiants Young and Loving state that they are not aware of any area that is not properly ventilated or windows that are hazardous. Affiant Loving adds that there are twelve windows in the recreation room, none of which pose a hazard.

Petitioners have failed to state any injury that they have knowledge of as a result of said windows. They have not stated any injury that has resulted from the alleged lack of ventilation. Where there is no evidence whatsoever of any prisoner’s health being affected by the alleged prison condition, dismissal is warranted. Landman v. Royster, 333 F.Supp. 621 (E.D.Va.1971).

There is clearly no constitutional requirement to provide prisoners with tools for their hobbies. The location of the telephone is a matter of uniform operating procedure as evidenced by an enclosure in the court file. This enclosure states the location of the pay telephones and the procedures to be followed in using them. These procedures do not constitute any kind of punishment that would be considered cruel or unusual in the constitutional sense.

In summary as to the complaints concerning prison conditions, this Court can find no claim that would warrant relief. There is a fine line that separates the inconveniences and discomforts that accompany incarceration and the deprivations or inadequacies that are so extraordinary as to constitute punishment in the constitutional sense. This Court is not convinced that petitioners’ charges in this area have crossed into the zone of an actionable claim.

Petitioners’ third complaint relates to conditions in the kitchen. Among the allegations here are:

1. Experienced inmates are not given the jobs in the kitchen.
2. There is no authorized licensed dietician in the kitchen to show inmates how to prepare and cook meals.
3. Kitchen personnel are not allowed in the basement to clean up before going to the kitchen.
4. There is no sugar used to make drinks that require it.
5. The steam table has not been promptly fixed.
6. Inmates sometimes have to wait to eat because there is not enough silverware to go around.

[1101]*1101Again, this Court is not moved to find any of these conditions so cruel as to constitute a constitutional violation. Many kitchens do not have the funds to afford a full-time dietician. Affiant Loving states that there is a food service supervisor, Mr. L. P. Withers, who makes periodic inspections of the kitchen. He further states that access to the basement was denied to personnel only once through the misunderstanding of a correctional officer. This misunderstanding has now been rectified.

Affiant Loving also notes that certain inmates are denied access to the kitchen because it is thought that they will be disruptive. Such a judgment certainly is one for the discretion of prison officials and not to be overturned absent some evidence of clear abuse of discretion. Evans v. Moseley, 455 F.2d 1084 (10th Cir. 1972).

In response to the other charges, Loving notes that a sugar substitute is used instead of sugar in the drinks. Surely, such a minor inconvenience as this is not cognizable by a federal court. The steam table, according to Affiants Loving and Young, has been repaired somewhat and is in use as a serving table. The silverware situation is largely a result of the loss, destruction, or removal of these utensils. A short wait for dinner is an inconvenience, but also not a cognizable claim.

Petitioners’ fourth complaint concerns working conditions. They complain that:

1. Inmates have to work ten hours a day and when they do not work they are charged with refusing to work.
2. If an error is made in the monthly earnings, it is not corrected until the following month.
3.

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Related

Landman v. Royster
333 F. Supp. 621 (E.D. Virginia, 1971)
Roberts v. Pepersack
256 F. Supp. 415 (D. Maryland, 1966)
McComb v. Southern Weighing & Inspection Bureau
170 F.2d 526 (Fourth Circuit, 1948)
Adams v. Pate
445 F.2d 105 (Seventh Circuit, 1971)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
405 F. Supp. 1099, 1975 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15385, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/coxson-v-godwin-vawd-1975.