Flood v. Dominguez

270 F.R.D. 413, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 70858, 2010 WL 2802365
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Indiana
DecidedJuly 14, 2010
DocketNo. 2:08 CV 153 PPS PRC
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 270 F.R.D. 413 (Flood v. Dominguez) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Indiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Flood v. Dominguez, 270 F.R.D. 413, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 70858, 2010 WL 2802365 (N.D. Ind. 2010).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

PHILIP P. SIMON, Chief Judge.

Before the Court is Plaintiffs’ Motion for Class Certification. [DE 56.] Plaintiffs are a group of pretrial detainees who were detained in the holding cells of the Lake County .Jail in conditions that they claim were unconstitutional. They have sued the Lake County Sheriff, the warden and former warden of the Lake County Jail, along with the jail itself, claiming that the Sheriff and others were deliberately indifferent to the unconstitutional conditions of the holding cells. They seek to represent a class of individuals detained in the holding cells for more than 24 hours. Because the Plaintiffs have demonstrated that the proposed class meets the requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23, their Motion for Class Certification 'is granted.

BACKGROUND

When pretrial detainees arrive at Lake County Jail they are booked into the Jail and then placed into one of seven holding cells. The purpose of the holding cells is to detain arrestees while the Jail determines where they will be permanently housed. Because the holding area is temporary, the cells are not equipped to house detainees on a long-term basis. They have concrete floors, concrete benches around the perimeter, and a single toilet. There are no beds or mattresses in the holding cells. The seven holding cells range in size from 15 by 15 to 20 by 30 feet but are otherwise the same.

The Plaintiffs brought this action under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment on behalf of all detainees held in Lake County Jail holding cells anytime on or after May 2006. They seek to certify a class of detainees housed in the holding cells for more than 24 hours. According to the Plaintiffs, the class could potentially exceed 16,000 [416]*416members. In support of their motion for class certification, the seven named Plaintiffs rely on the facts alleged in the First Amended Complaint, the affidavits from 39 potential class members describing their experiences in the holding cells, data from the Jail’s computerized database, and the deposition testimony of Jail employees.

The Plaintiffs identify a number of conditions in the Lake County holding cells that they say are the result of either Jail policies or widespread practices. First, Plaintiffs claim that detainees are consistently left in overcrowded holding cells for long periods of time. [DE 56 at 5.] According to the Jail’s records supervisor, Kim Parker, detainees “normally” spend between 24 and 48 hours in holding cells, though Parker admits that it is sometimes longer. [DE 66-2 at 5 (Parker Affidavit); DE 72-1 at 3-4 (Parker Deposition).] Her review of the Jail’s records found that all of the named Plaintiffs were held in Lake County holding cells at least 24 hours. [DE 66 at 8-10.] Sergeant John Dragomer, the Jail’s Rule 30(b)(6) representative, testified that he saw individuals detained in the holding cells for “up to a week or more.” [DE 56-1 at 78 (Dragomer Deposition Vol. II).] And, although the Jail admits that the largest holding cell was designed to hold no more than 30 detainees [DE 56-2 at 45-46, 125 (Dragomer Deposition Vol. I) ], the Jail has no policy limiting the number of detainees that may be housed in each holding cell. [Id. at 59-60.]

These facts accord with the claims of the seven named Plaintiffs and the testimony of the 39 other putative class members. For example, the named Plaintiffs and other class members report being held in the holding cells for periods ranging from 3 to 45 days. [DE 56 at 6.] And according to their declarations, the 39 individuals were on average confined in a holding cell alongside 32 other detainees, which makes for cramped quarters. [Id. at 5.]

In addition, the Plaintiffs claim that the Jail has a widespread practice of keeping holding cells in conditions that are unsanitary and inhumane, and which differ substantially from those in the Jail’s general population. The Plaintiffs assert that the Jail does not provide holding cell detainees any hygiene items, such as toothpaste, toothbrushes, or soap. [Id. at 8; DE 56-1 at 54-55.] And, according to the Plaintiffs, the conditions in the holding cells are unsanitary — the walls and floor are often covered with bodily fluids; each holding cell has one toilet, which is often backed up and rarely has toilet paper; and Jail personnel do not provide detainees any means to clean the cells themselves. [DE 56 at 9-10.]

The Plaintiffs also claim that holding cell detainees are provided inadequate food. The meal portions are too small consisting of a small cereal box and milk for breakfast and a bologna sandwich and a jelly sandwich with a 4 oz. juice for lunch and dinner. [See DE 56-4 (Exhibit 4).] What’s more, because of the manner in which meals are delivered to the holding cells, detainees are forced to fend for themselves to retrieve whatever food they can muscle away from others. [Id. at 12.] Finally, holding cell detainees are not permitted to leave the cell for exercise and generally may not receive visitors. [See 56-1 at 43; 56-1 at 96.] These conditions are substantially different than those in the Jail’s general population. In fact, the Jail admits that detainees in the Jail’s general population are sometimes sent back to the holding area for “rule violations.” [Id. at 79-80.]

The Plaintiffs’ core complaint, however, is that the Jail has a policy of not providing detainees beds, mattresses, or other bedding on which to sleep. [DE 56 at 7; 56-2 at 45.] Instead, all detainees are forced to sleep directly on concrete benches or floors. [DE 56-2 at 45-46.] And because the holding cells are overcrowded and dirty, they are often forced to sleep practically on top of one another, and on unsanitary and filthy surfaces. [DE 56 at 7.] These conditions are aggravated by the consistently cold temperature in the holding cells, the lack of ventilation, and the bright fluorescent lights constantly illuminating the holding cells. [Id. at 7, 11; DE 56-1 at 50; 56-2 at 58.] As a result, the Plaintiffs assert that any detainees held in the Jail’s holding cells for over 24 hours are deprived of any meaningful sleep.

[417]*417 DISCUSSION

Plaintiffs seek certification of the following proposed class: “All detainees of the Lake County, Indiana Jail who were confined in the Jail’s holding cells for more than 24 hours on or after May 13, 2006.” The Jail argues for denial of class certification because the proposed class fails to meet any of the Fed.R.Civ.P. 23 requirements.

Motions for class certification must meet the requirements of Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Fed.R.Civ.P. 23. Rule 23 establishes two hurdles for class certification. First, the action must satisfy all four elements of Rule 23(a): numerosity, commonality, typicality, and adequacy of representation. Second, the proposed class must satisfy at least one of the three provisions of Rule 23(b). See Amchem Prods., Inc. v. Windsor,

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Bluebook (online)
270 F.R.D. 413, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 70858, 2010 WL 2802365, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/flood-v-dominguez-innd-2010.