Hernandez v. Montanez

36 F. Supp. 3d 202, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 61335, 2014 WL 1784053
CourtDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedMay 2, 2014
DocketCivil No. 12-11062-FDS
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 36 F. Supp. 3d 202 (Hernandez v. Montanez) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hernandez v. Montanez, 36 F. Supp. 3d 202, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 61335, 2014 WL 1784053 (D. Mass. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER ON DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

SAYLOR, District Judge.

This is a civil rights action arising out of the strip-search of a prison visitor. Plaintiff Zenaida Hernandez alleges that several corrections officers at the Souza-Baranow-ski Correctional Center illegally seized and searched her when she visited the prison. The complaint alleges violations of 42 U.S.C. § 1983; the Massachusetts Civil Rights Act (“MCRA”), Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 12, § 111; and the Massachusetts Privacy Act (“MPA”), Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 214, § IB. The named defendants are Maria E. Montanez, Mark A. Verdini, Jonathan W. Thomas, Carlos M. Goden, Jr., and Anthony Mendonsa.

Defendants have moved for summary judgment, contending that (1) they ar'e entitled to qualified immunity, (2) they did not violate plaintiffs Fourth Amendment rights, and (3) they did not violate the MPA. For the following reasons, defendants’ motion for summary judgment will be granted in part and denied in part.

I. Background

A. Factual Background

The facts summarized below are undisputed or construed in the light most favor[206]*206able to the non-moving party.1

1. The Anonymous Tip

Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center is a state prison in Shirley, Massachusetts. (PI. SMF ¶ 2). On September 11, 2011, Anthony Mendonsa became the superintendent of SBCC. (Mendonsa Aff. ¶ 1). The smuggling of drugs into the SBCC prison population by visitors is a serious concern for the institution’s staff. (Id ¶ 3).

At that time, SBCC was experiencing an increase in the introduction of the drug suboxone into the institution. (Def. SMF ¶ 1). Suboxone comes in the form of tablets or strips; the tablets can be crushed into a powdery substance that, at the time, was easily concealed and smuggled into SBCC by visitors. (Id.).

SBCC’s Inner Perimeter Security team investigates breaches of security within the institution, including the introduction of drugs by visitors. (Id ¶ 4). IPS has an unrecorded hotline that can be used by any inmate in the institution to provide confidential or anonymous information. (Id).

On Friday, September 16, 2011, IPS Officer Mark Verdini received an anonymous tip on the IPS hotline that Albert Jackson, an inmate in SBCC, was going to receive a large amount of suboxone from a female visitor on Sunday. (Id ¶ 5). The inmate caller did not identify himself. (Id). Ver-dini did not know the caller’s identity, recognize the caller’s voice, or know how the caller knew this information. (PI. SMF ¶ 16).

Jackson had a reputation among other inmates and corrections officers of being involved in drug activity at SBCC. (Def. SMF ¶ 7). Verdini was aware of that reputation. (Id).

Verdini confirmed, based on the visiting schedule, that Jackson’s next visiting period was that Sunday, September 18. (PI. SMF ¶ 16). Prison records show that Jackson had many visitors while incarcerated; in 2011, he had more than a dozen different female visitors. (Id ¶ 18). SBCC inmates receive the most visitors during the week on Sundays, and a majority of those visitors are women. (Id ¶ 17).

Verdini notified IPS Commander Nestor Cruz about the call. (Def. SMF ¶ 6). Later that day, Verdini, Cruz, and IPS Officer Jonathan Thomas had a discussion about the anonymous telephone call and Jackson’s history with drug activity in SBCC. (Id ¶ 9). They discussed an incident that had occurred 18 months earlier, where one of Jackson’s visitors had been found in possession of marijuana during a contact visit. (PI. SMF ¶ 19). That incident had occurred in the regular visiting room. (Id ¶ 20). Corrections officers monitoring the visit had observed suspicious activity between Jackson and his visitor and terminated the visit. (Id). When the officers questioned the visitor, she turned over a small bag of marijuana. (Id).

Although not discussed at the time, Thomas was also aware of an incident [207]*207where an inmate who owed Jackson money was. stabbed. (Def. SMF ¶ 11). When he was asked what the debt was for, he said it involved drugs. (Id.).

Cruz instructed Verdini and Thomas to report to work on September 18 and stop Jackson’s visitor before she entered the secure part of the institution. (Def. SMF ¶ 16).

According to Hernandez, neither Verdini nor Thomas did anything to investigate or corroborate the anonymous tip. (PL SMF ¶ 22). Both officers knew that Jackson had enemies in SBCC. (Id. ¶23). They also knew that inmates sometimes used the IPS hotline to harass other inmates. (Id.).

2. The Non-Contact Visiting Room

On September 17, Jackson was involved in a fight in which he was seriously injured. (Def. SMF ¶ 17). As a result, he was transferred to the Health Services Unit. (Id.). Because he was transferred to the HSU, his visits the next day were to be non-contact visits. (Id.).

Non-contact visits for HSU inmates are held in the prison’s non-contact visiting room. (Id.). In that room, visitors and prisoners are separated by a glass barrier. (PI. SMF ¶ 6). A small metal device in the center of the glass allows sound to pass through. (Id.).

On previous occasions, visitors in non-contact visiting rooms had smuggled drugs to inmates. (Def. SMF ¶2). For example, visitors had sometimes removed the rubberized caulking around the windows and slipped drugs through the openings; funneled the drugs through the round metal speaker piece using a straw; or taped the drugs to the bottom of a chair on the visitor’s side to be picked up by another inmate. (Id.). The SBCC staff had taken measures to prevent visitors from using those tactics to deliver drugs to inmates. (Thomas Dep. at 24-26).

There is no surveillance, supervision, or monitoring equipment in the non-contact visiting room. (PI. SMF ¶ 26). There are no officers stationed in the room to observe the visitors and prisoners during non-contact visits, and there are no video or audio recording devices to monitor communications. (Id.).

3. Zenaida Hernandez’s Visit

Zenaida Hernandez is a resident of New Bedford, Massachusetts. (PI. SMF ¶ 1). She is originally from Puerto Rico and primarily speaks Spanish. (Id.).

In 2009, a mutual friend introduced Hernandez to Jackson by showing her a picture of him; they subsequently began corresponding by mail. (Id. ¶ 3). After several months, she agreed to visit Jackson at SBCC. (Id.). Hernandez visited Jackson several times without incident. (Id.).

On September 18, 2011, Hernandez arrived at SBCC at around 1:00 p.m. to visit Jackson. (Id. ¶ 2). To enter the prison, she successfully passed through a security checkpoint. (Id. ¶ 4).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Fitzgerald v. Pollard
S.D. California, 2021
Latimore v. John Houle
D. Massachusetts, 2018

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
36 F. Supp. 3d 202, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 61335, 2014 WL 1784053, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hernandez-v-montanez-mad-2014.