Hiatt v. County of Adams

155 F.R.D. 605, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8419, 1994 WL 289112
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Ohio
DecidedMay 2, 1994
DocketNo. C-1-93-585
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 155 F.R.D. 605 (Hiatt v. County of Adams) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hiatt v. County of Adams, 155 F.R.D. 605, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8419, 1994 WL 289112 (S.D. Ohio 1994).

Opinion

ORDER CERTIFYING CLASS

SPIEGEL, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on the Plaintiffs’ Motion for Class Certification (doc. 3). The motion is unopposed.

BACKGROUND

Three named Plaintiffs have moved the court to certify this case as a class action. At the time that this action was filed, all were incarcerated in the Adam County Jail. Plaintiff Hiatt began his incarceration at the jail on April 9, 1992. He was a pretrial detainee. Plaintiff W. Ray Collett was originally incarcerated at the jail on February 28, 1993. He also was being held as a pretrial detainee. Plaintiff Collett remained incarcerated at the jail until approximately July 27, 1993, when he was transferred to the state penal system. Plaintiff David Stutts commenced incarceration at the jail on July 2,1993. He also was being held as a pretrial detainee.

These Plaintiffs contend that the conditions of confinement in the Adams County Jail, as well as the policies and practices of the Defendants violate both federal and state law. Plaintiffs seek to have the class defined as all inmates housed in the jail at the time this lawsuit was filed and all inmates housed in the jail thereafter. The Plaintiffs seek on behalf of themselves, and all other present and future inmates of the jail, equitable and declaratory relief, requiring the Defendants to correct certain conditions and policies at the jail which allegedly violate federal and state law.

STANDARD FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION

Rule 23(a) Fed.R.Civ.P. sets forth the requirements for class certification. A class action can only be maintained if the following criteria are met:

1) the class is so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable,
[608]*6082) there are questions of law and fact common to the class,
3) the claims or defenses of the representative parties are typical of the claims or defenses of the class, and
4) the representative parties will fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class.

In addition to the criteria outlined in Rule 23(a), a class action can only be maintained if one of the additional three requisites contained in Rule 23(b) are satisfied. In the instant case, Plaintiffs are proceeding under Rule 23(b)(2) which states:

The party opposing the class has acted or refused to act on grounds generally applicable to the class, thereby making appropriate final injunctive relief or corresponding declaratory relief with respect to the class as a whole.

Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(b)(2). A trial court has broad discretion in determining whether a particular ease shall proceed as a class action. Sterling v. Velsicol Chemical Corp., 855 F.2d 1188, 1197 (6th Cir.1988). However, the requirements of the rule should be liberally construed in the context of civil rights suits. Weathers v. Peters Realty Corp., 499 F.2d 1197, 1200 (6th Cir.1974).

DISCUSSION Rule 23(a)

We will first consider each of the requirements for class certification under Rule 23(a).

1. Numerosity

Rule 23(a)(1) requires that a proposed class must be so numerous as to make joinder of all members “impracticable.” Plaintiffs estimate that the average daily jail population is approximately 38 or more. This is based on the capacity figures noted in the report of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections. Plaintiffs’ Motion for Class Certification, Exhibit 1, Document 3. Further Plaintiffs’ affidavits allege an overcrowding situation evidenced by the use of cots in addition to the 38 permanent beds.

By its very nature a jail is a short term holding facility. People pass in and out of the jail on a frequent basis. As a short term holding facility, its population is very fluid. If the average length of stay is 15 days, it is estimated that the total number of inmates housed in any one year would be over 900 persons. If the average length is 30 days, the number of inmates housed in any one year would be over 450. The numbers in the instant case are sufficient to meet the numer-osity requirement.

The proper focus is whether joinder is practicable in view of the numbers involved in the class and all other relevant factors. Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(a)(1); Senter v. General Motors Corp., 532 F.2d 511, 522 (6th Cir.1976). In the instant ease, a joinder of all members of the class is extremely impracticable. The class in the instant case will be constantly changing. Pretrial detainees unable to make bond will be tried in a speedy fashion. If found innocent, they will be released. If found guilty of felonies, they will be transferred to a state penal institution. The same can be said for those inmates serving sentences for misdemeanors in the jail. Although their sentence may vary, there will always be a constant turnover. The transient and fluctuating nature of the jail population makes joinder impracticable.

Another effect of the short term nature of incarceration in a county jail is that individual plaintiffs seeking injunctive relief would soon lack standing. Therefore, their claim is one that is distinctly capable of repetition, yet one evading judicial review. Gerstein v. Pugh, 420 U.S. 103, 110 n. 11, 95 S.Ct. 854, 861 n. 11, 43 L.Ed.2d 54 (1975)1. Class action is the only vehicle whereby the legality of the operation of the Adams Coun[609]*609ty Jail can be reviewed. Jones v. Wittenberg, 323 F.Supp. 93, 99 (N.D.Ohio 1971) (holding that certification was appropriate when an individual’s claims would become moot within a short period of time).

2. Common Questions of Law and Fact

Rule 23(a)(2) requires that there be “questions of law or fact common to the class.” This requirement is satisfied “as long as the members of the class have allegedly been affected by a general policy of the defendant, and the general policy is the focus of the litigation.” Sweet v. General Tire & Rubber Co., 74 F.R.D. 333, 335 (N.D.Ohio 1976) (emphasis in the original). It is not necessary that all questions of fact be identical. Senter v. General Motors Corp., 532 F.2d at 524. Further, the fact that each class member’s claim may in other aspects be unique does not affect the “commonalty” of the class action, so long as all the members of the class have allegedly been similarly affected by the policies of the defendants, and so long as those policies remain the primary focus of the litigation. See Sweet, 74 F.R.D. at 335; 7A Wright, Miller & Kane, Federal Practice and Procedure: Civil 2d § 1763 (1986). In the instant case the commonalty requirement has been met. The actions challenged in the Complaint relate to the class generally.

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155 F.R.D. 605, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8419, 1994 WL 289112, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hiatt-v-county-of-adams-ohsd-1994.