Jones v. Wittenburg

509 F. Supp. 653, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16863
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Ohio
DecidedDecember 18, 1980
DocketCA-C70-388
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 509 F. Supp. 653 (Jones v. Wittenburg) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jones v. Wittenburg, 509 F. Supp. 653, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16863 (N.D. Ohio 1980).

Opinion

*657 MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

DON J. YOUNG, Senior District Judge.

This cause came to be heard upon the Fourth Report of the Special Master evaluating the state of compliance of the Defendants with the Court’s Orders of July 30th, 1971, as modified, and July 29th, 1977. Said Fourth Report is attached hereto as an appendix, incorporated herein by reference, and made a part hereof as fully for all intents and purposes as if set forth at length herein.

Both the Plaintiffs and the Defendant Sheriff have filed objections to the report of the Special Master. No objections have been filed by the Defendant Commissioners. The Sheriff has requested a hearing on his objections before any ruling of the Court.

The Court, however, has reviewed the report of the Special Master with great care and has considered the objections of the parties in light of the report and finds them to be without merit. The Court will, therefore, overrule all objections to the Fourth Report of the Special Master and confirm said report in all respects. In confirming said report, the Court adopts the findings with respect to the state of compliance in all aspects of the case. The Court further will adopt the recommendation of the Special Master that the rules for the regulation of the Lucas County Correction Center, which have been adopted by the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas, be substituted for and replace the Court’s original Order of July 30th, 1971, as amended.

Finally, the Court will grant to the Defendants sixty (60) days in which to effectuate full compliance with those areas wherein the Special Master found noncompliance. These include rules 6B 1-5; 6C; 10; 11; 12C; 14D; 15E; 15G; 151; 23B; 23F; 24B; 24D; 24F; 29B; and 29C. Within this time, the Defendants must make whatever physical repairs and alterations, including repair of plumbing fixtures, painting of showers and installation of laundry facilities, which are required to effectuate full compliance. The Court will require the Special Master to report on the state of compliance with respect to the above referred to rules within ninety (90) days from the date of this Memorandum and Order.

THEREFORE, for the reasons stated herein, and for the cause of appearing, it is

ORDERED that the objections of the parties to the Fourth Report of the Special Master should be, and they hereby are overruled in their entirety, and it is

FURTHER ORDERED that the Fourth Report of the Special Master is confirmed in all respects, and it is

FURTHER ORDERED that the rules for the regulation of the Lucas County Correction Center, adopted by the Lucas Court of Common Pleas, should be, and they hereby are, substituted for and replace the Court’s Order of July 30th, 1971, as modified by subsequent Orders of the Court; and it is

FURTHER ORDERED that all Defendants, as well as their subordinates, proceed at once to effectuate full compliance with the rules for the regulation of the Lucas County Correction Center; and it is

FURTHER ORDERED that all steps taken by the Defendants to effectuate full compliance with the rules, be supervised, coordinated and approved by the Special Master, acting for the Court.

In this connection, the Special Master shall have the authority to state to the Defendants, their subordinates, and all the persons acting in concert with them, or any of them, the actions required to be taken by them, or any of them, to effectuate full compliance, and to seek Orders from Court requiring any or all of the Defendants, their subordinates, and persons acting in concert with them, or any of them, to show cause why they should not be punished as for contempt for failure to carry out such actions required; and it is

FURTHER ORDERED that the Defendants shall have sixty (60) days from the date of this Order in which to effectuate full compliance with those rules wherein the Special Master found noncompliance and said compliance by the Defendant shall include making any and all physical alterations and repairs to the Correction Center, *658 including repairing of the plumbing fixtures, painting of the showers and installation of the laundry facilities, and it is

FURTHER ORDERED because of the disclosure of noncompliance contained in the Fourth Report of the Special Master, that the Special Master shall continue to investigate the Defendants state of compliance, and shall file a Report with this Court within ninety (90) days from the date of this Order.

For this purpose the Special Master shall have all the authority granted to him by the December 17th, 1976 Order of this Court.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

FOURTH REPORT OF SPECIAL MASTER

Timothy J. Doyle

Special Master

32055 Grand River Avenue

Farmington, Michigan 48024

INTRODUCTION

It has now been three years since a formal, complete report of the Special Master has been submitted to the Court in this case. There are a number of reasons for this, the most significant of which is the decision to submit a set of Jail Rules and Regulations to the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas for adoption.

A brief review of the chronology of events since the First Report is perhaps the best way to introduce this report. However, before presenting this chronology, the Special Master would like to express his appreciation to the former Special Master for his help and cooperation and also to the various student assistants, Daniel Cron, Bruce Beck, Amy Knowles, and Michael Wagner, whose assistance has been invaluable and without whose help, this report and the accomplishments reflected in it would not have been possible.

It was in late July of 1977 that the Court adopted, without objections, the findings of the Special Master in his First Report. And, it would not be an oversimplification to state that this First Report reflected a general state of noncompliance on the part of the Defendants. The Court thus in its July 29, 1977 Order ruled as follows:

FURTHER ORDERED, because of the disclosures of noncompliance contained in the First Report of the Special Master, that the Special Master shall continue to investigate the Defendant’s state of compliance with the July 30, 1971 order of this Court, as modified, and shall make supplemental reports to the Court in the event that further or continuing instances of noncompliance are discovered...

The former Master thus continued to work in an effort to bring the Defendants into a state of compliance with the Court’s Order and filed supplemental reports on Discipline, Recreation, Contact Visitation, and Classification. 1

On July 25,1978, the parties stipulated to a disciplinary procedure which was then introduced into the jail. Substantial progress was also made toward reaching agreement with respect to a new medical services program, a contact visitation program, and a complete classification procedure. Before implementation of any of these, however, the former Special Master resigned and the present Master was appointed by Order of the Court dated November 16, 1978.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
509 F. Supp. 653, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16863, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jones-v-wittenburg-ohnd-1980.