In Re Gallego

133 Cal. App. 3d 75, 183 Cal. Rptr. 715, 1982 Cal. App. LEXIS 1697
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 24, 1982
DocketCrim. 11857
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 133 Cal. App. 3d 75 (In Re Gallego) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Gallego, 133 Cal. App. 3d 75, 183 Cal. Rptr. 715, 1982 Cal. App. LEXIS 1697 (Cal. Ct. App. 1982).

Opinion

Opinion

SPARKS, J.

Charlene Adell Gallego, a person in the custody of the Sheriff of Sacramento County awaiting a criminal trial, seeks by petition for writ of habeas corpus to obtain an order from this court directing the sheriff to permit her to touch and hold her infant son. Petitioner first sought a so-called “contact visit” in the Superior Court of Sacramento County. After an evidentiary hearing, that court denied relief. Petitioner then filed her petition for writ of habeas corpus in this court and we denied the petition without opinión. She sought a hearing in the California Supreme Court, and that court issued an order to show cause returnable in this court. 1 We now consider the merits of pe *78 titioner’s claims, We hold that under the circumstances of her confinement petitioner, as a pretrial detainee, does not have a constitutional, statutory or administrative right to a contact visit. We therefore deny the petition for a writ of habeas corpus.

I

Petitioner is charged, along with her codefendant husband, with a variety of criminal acts including two counts of first degree murder with special circumstance allegations. (Pen. Code, §§ 187, 190.2.) Her requests to have bail set in the superior court, this court, and the Supreme Court have all been unsuccessful. The pretrial proceedings have been lengthy, with the result that petitioner has been held in custody in excess of one year.

After her arrest petitioner gave birth to a son. When the child was approximately one week old, petitioner was allowed a contact visit, but since that time her requests to touch and hold her son have been denied. The contact visit which did occur was in violation of sheriffs department policy, and the employee who permitted the contact did so without authorization.

At the hearing in the superior court, a transcript of which has been lodged in this court, it was established that it is the policy of the sheriffs department that no pretrial detainees, either male or female, are allowed contact visits. Sheriff Lowe testified that considerations behind the policy include the inadequacy of the jail facility to permit contact visits and the level of security that must be maintained.

Captain Wallace, the Commander of the Rio Consumnes Correctional Center where petitioner is being held, testified that pretrial detainees are considered to be maximum security prisoners and are not allowed contact visits for that reason. He did not believe that they could allow contact visits without jeopardizing the security of the jail. Among other things, such visits provide an opportunity for contraband to be smuggled into the jail.

Chief Deputy Baker, who is in charge of security and correctional services, testified that in his opinion it was not feasible to permit contact visits for pretrial detainees. He testified that, with the facilities and staff that are available, such visits cannot be safely permitted.

*79 II

The issue of the right of pretrial detainees to contact visitation has been extensively litigated in the federal courts. A review of those authorities is appropriate.

In Rhem v. Malcolm (2d Cir. 1974) 507 F.2d 333, the court of appeals reviewed a district judge’s order declaring the Manhattan House of Detention for Men to be in violation of the federal Constitution. The district judge had held that subjecting pretrial detainees to restrictions and privations other than those which inhere in their confinement or that are justified by “compelling necessities” of jail administration is a violation of due process and equal protection. Among the practices the trial judge found improper was the denial of contact visits, which eliminated any chance “‘to shake hands with a friend, to kiss a wife, or to fondle a child.’” The court of appeals adopted the approach of the district judge and affirmed. (507 F.2d at pp. 337-338.) In contrast, in Oxendine v. Williams (4th Cir. 1975) 509 F.2d 1405, at page 1407, the court of appeals dealt briefly with the question by stating: “Finally, Oxendine has no constitutional right to physical contact with his family.”

Decisions in the courts of appeals subsequent to Rhem and Oxendine have been divided. Cases which have required contact visitation include Marcera v. Chinlund (2d Cir. 1979) 595 F.2d 1231, 1234; Wolfish v. Levi (2d Cir. 1978) 573 F.2d 118, 126, footnote 16 (“Pretrial detainees certainly have a first amendment [sic] to contact visits”); Miller v. Carson (5th Cir. 1977) 563 F.2d 741, 748, footnote 9 (holding that contact visits may be denied to some detainees based upon classification related to security, but may not be denied to all detainees); and Rhem v. Malcolm (2d Cir. 1975) 527 F.2d 1041, 1043 (Rhem II). To the contrary is Feeley v. Sampson (1st Cir. 1978) 570 F.2d 364, 373 (holding that unless the denial of contact visits can be found on the basis of evidence of record to be an exaggerated response to security needs the courts should not interfere in the running of jails). Finally, in Campbell v. McGruder (D.C.Cir. 1978) 580 F.2d 521, 547, the court held that jail officials have flexibility in classifying those detainees that may be permitted contact visits, but left open the question whether such visits may be precluded altogether.

The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari in Wolfish v. Levi, supra, under the name Bell v. Wolfish. (439 U.S. 816 [58 L.Ed.2d 107, 99 S.Ct. 76].) In Bell v. Wolfish (1979) 441 U.S. 520 [60 *80 L.Ed.2d 4.47, 99 S.Ct. 1861], the Supreme Court rejected the Second Circuit Court of Appeals’ “compelling-necessity” test. Where no express guarantee of the Constitution is alleged to be breached, what is at issue is the detainee’s right to be free from punishment, and his desire to be comfortable. (441 U.S. at p. 534 [60 L.Ed.2d at p.

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Bluebook (online)
133 Cal. App. 3d 75, 183 Cal. Rptr. 715, 1982 Cal. App. LEXIS 1697, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-gallego-calctapp-1982.