Frazier v. Donelon

381 F. Supp. 911, 1974 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7021
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Louisiana
DecidedAugust 23, 1974
DocketCiv. A. 72-814
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 381 F. Supp. 911 (Frazier v. Donelon) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Frazier v. Donelon, 381 F. Supp. 911, 1974 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7021 (E.D. La. 1974).

Opinion

JACK M. GORDON, District Judge:

Plaintiffs, on behalf of themselves and other inmates of the Jefferson Parish Prison, instituted this action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and 28 U.S.C. § 1343, 1 against Thomas F. Donelon, the President of Jefferson Parish, Louisiana; all councilmen of Jefferson Parish; 2 Alwynn J. Cronvich, the Sheriff of Jefferson Parish; and Roland J. Vicknair, the Warden of Jefferson Parish Prison. In their complaint, plaintiffs challenge a number of the practices, rules, and regulations of the Jefferson Parish. Jail as constitutionally violative of the First, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments.

Plaintiffs maintain that certain illegal procedures are in operation at Jefferson Parish Jail and accordingly, plaintiffs *913 contest these procedures as enumerated in the following allegations: (1) prison officials assert the right to open, inspect, read, and censor all correspondence to and from prison inmates; (2) prison officials sometimes refuse to mail inmate correspondence containing complaints about prison conditions; (3) mail arriving at the prison occasionally is delayed without reason; (4) visiting hours for inmates are limited arbitrarily and the present visiting facilities are substantially inadequate; (5) visiting regulations are applied in a discriminatory fashion; (6) usage of the public telephone is denied capriciously to some inmates; (7) inmates are not allowed access to newspapers, books, magazines, and other publications; (8) many inmates arbitrarily are denied the right to attend religious services conducted in the institution; and (9) prisoners have been refused the right to designate spokesmen to inform prison officials of the complaints of the inmate populace.

Generally speaking, the federal courts have adhered to the tenet of not interfering in the internal affairs and the administration of correctional systems, except in those extraordinary instances when the available administrative remedies within the penal system are of no avail to its inmate inhabitants. See Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S. 396, 94 S.Ct. 1800, 40 L.Ed.2d 224 (1974); Robinson v. Jordan, 494 F.2d 793 (5th Cir. 1974); Granville v. Hunt, 411 F.2d 9 (5th Cir. 1969); Jackson v. Godwin, 400 F.2d 529 (5th Cir. 1968). Cf., Haggerty v. Wainwright, 427 F.2d 1137 (5th Cir. 1970); Eaton v. Capps, 348 F.Supp. 237 (M.D.Ala.1972), aff’d, 480 F.2d 1021 (5th Cir. 1973). This non-intervention approach by the courts stems principally from judicial recognition of the sui generis nature of problems inherent in the formulation and execution of policies in a correctional environment. A complementary supportive factor in the development of judicial restraint with respect to the correctional area is the reticence of the federal courts to administer the functions of state institutions. Management of state penal institutions should at the very least be deferred to state courts and at the very best to the appropriate prison authorities. See, Preiser v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 475, 93 S.Ct. 1827, 36 L.Ed.2d 439 (1973).

The tasks that administrators of penal facilities perform are not easy or envy-engendering ones; these responsibilities include, inter alia, the maintenance of frequently overcrowded institutions, the preservation of internal order and discipline, guarding against escape and preventing the infiltration of various contraband, such as weapons and narcotics, all without infringing the personal rights of the inmates. It is not very surprising, therefore, that problems surrounding incarceration are complicated and usually are not susceptible of ready resolutions. Accordingly, extensive research, planning, and expertise in correctional affairs must be employed when attempting to discover viable solutions. It would not seriously be questioned that the courts, vis-a-vis other branches of government, are the least equipped governmental organ through which to ventilate and resolve inmate grievances because inherent in the juridical operation is the necessity that courts view each issue in black and white terms. By its very nature, a court’s ruling is antithetical to the attainment of striking a judicious medium between the parties. Cognizant of the undesirable result produced by such a “one or the other” approach when dealing with inmate assaults upon the regulations of correctional institutions, this Court attempted to avoid resolution of the present complaint by judicial fiat. It is the opinion of this Court that resolution of disputes by litigation, due to the combatant win or lose attitude of litigants, generally has the effect of driving the parties further apart instead of bringing them together. Thus, the Court preferred to yield to the less stultified process whereby judicial involvement in correctional problems hopefully would be eliminated or perhaps minimized substantially.

*914 Consistent with the above stated philosophy of avoiding, when possible, a tripartite confrontation between the inmates, the prison administrators, and the judiciary, this Court concluded that a non-judicial remedial system for inmate grievances would constitute a more preferable approach. Therefore, the Court sought to employ some means whereby the inmates and the administrators could negotiate the complaints in the instant case without judicial interference but subject to court review if warranted. Such a negotiating structure must be both flexible in its operation and independent of the system that it seeks to modify.

As would be expected, this form of collective bargaining also requires the presence of some impartial individual or agency, trained as a mediator, who can assist the parties in the creation of a suitable format. Not only must this neutral consultant be able to delineate to the respective sides the sundry, conflicting interests and needs of their bargaining opponent, but the mediator must be able to serve as the necessary catalyst in helping the parties develop possible solutions to their mutual problems.

Inasmuch as collective bargaining within the correctional parameters is a relatively novel approach which many persons, including judges, still consider to be in an embryonic stage, the Court felt that it would be instructive to detail the fundamentals of the negotiating system that the Court employed in this case, and, more particularly, how such a system developed and functioned.

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Related

Rochon v. Maggio
517 So. 2d 213 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1987)
State v. Dunn
478 So. 2d 659 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1985)
Jackson v. Ward
458 F. Supp. 546 (W.D. New York, 1978)
Cavey v. Levine
435 F. Supp. 475 (D. Maryland, 1977)
Joseph Taylor v. W. L. Sterrett
532 F.2d 462 (Fifth Circuit, 1976)
Valentine v. Gray
410 F. Supp. 1394 (S.D. Ohio, 1975)
Frazier v. Donelon
520 F.2d 941 (Fifth Circuit, 1975)

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Bluebook (online)
381 F. Supp. 911, 1974 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7021, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/frazier-v-donelon-laed-1974.