Mills v. Larson

56 F.R.D. 63, 1972 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12196
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedAugust 25, 1972
DocketCiv. A. No. 44-72 Erie
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 56 F.R.D. 63 (Mills v. Larson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mills v. Larson, 56 F.R.D. 63, 1972 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12196 (W.D. Pa. 1972).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER (MOTION TO DISMISS)

KNOX, District Judge.

This is another of the numerous civil rights actions filed by prisoners against the authorities of the institutions in which they are confined claiming various matters of mistreatment and deprivation of constitutional rights. This field of the law is fast developing and new decisions come down every month.

By the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 92 S.Ct. 594, 30 L.Ed.2d 652, (1972), we have been admonished not to dismiss such a complaint unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief. This was previously the rule in this Circuit as laid down by our Court of Appeals in Mayberry v. Prasse, 449 F.2d 1266 (3d Cir. 1971). For this reason, this case will either have to go to trial or else have to wait until the facts have been fully developed so that it can be determined whether summary judgment should be entered. This, however, does not prevent us from considering certain of the points raised by the defendants and particularly the liability of certain of the individual defendants as to whom we have determined the complaint as to damages must be dismissed subject to possible amendment. It further appears that there may be grounds for Declaratory and Injunctive relief under the decision of our Court of Appeals in Gray v. Creamer, 465 F.2d 179 (3d Cir. 1972).

Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss also urges that the complaint shows on its face that plaintiffs have not exhausted their remedies under state law. The simple answer to this is that under the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, exhaustion of state remedies is not required as a prerequisite to an action in Federal Court. Wilwording v. Swenson, 404 U.S. 249, 92 S.Ct. 407, 30 L.Ed. 2d 418 (1971). In Wilwording where plaintiffs complained of living conditions and disciplinary measures in a state prison, the court said:

“Petitioners were therefore entitled to have their actions treated as claims for relief under the Civil Rights Acts, not subject, on the basis of their allegations, to exhaustion requirements. The remedy provided by these Acts ‘is supplementary to the state remedy, and the latter need not be first sought and refused before the federal one is invoked.’ Monroe v. Pape, 365 U.S. 167, 183, 81 S.Ct. 473, 482, 5 L.Ed.2d 492, 503 (1961); McNeese v. Board of Education, 373 U.S. 668, 83 S.Ct. 1433, 10 L.Ed.2d 622 (1963); Damico v. California, 389 U.S. 416, 88 S.Ct. 526, 19 L.Ed.2d 647 (1967). State [65]*65prisoners are not held to any stricter standard of exhaustion than other civil rights plaintiffs.”
See also Sostre v. McGinnis, 442 F.2d 178 (2d Cir. 1971).

Incidentally, the alleged state remedies upon which defendants rely, to wit: Act of 1730, February 14, 1 Smith Laws 181 and Act of April 5, 1790, 2 Smith Laws 531, providing for complaints to “His majesties courts of record” or to judges of the Supreme Court or the judges of the Court of Quarter Sessions appear to have been partially repealed by the Appellate Jurisdiction Act of July 31, 1970, No. 223 and the Act of June 3, 1971, No. 6. (See notes to 61 Purdons Pa. Statutes, 451 and 452.)

Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss is apparently filed under Rule 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, but under Haines v. Kerner, supra, we are not to dismiss a case of this type in toto until the testimony has been fully developed by deposition or otherwise and the case is in shape for Summary Judgment or until there has been a trial on the merits. While defendants have attached an affidavit of the Warden to the effect that conditions require beard and hair regulations in the prison because of the presence of lice and so forth, we are not disposed at this time under the provisions of Rule 12(b) to convert the motion into one for summary judgment because there has been inadequate opportunity for the parties to develop their evidence. At this time, we will consider only whether the allegations of the complaint are sufficient to state a possible cause of action against one or more defendants. We thus do not now reach the question whether a partial summary judgment can be granted which action is generally reserved for cases where there are distinct and separate claims and not where there is but a single claim. Shultz v. United Steelworkers, 319 F.Supp. 1172 (W.D.Pa.1970); RePass v. Vreeland, 357 F.2d 801 (3d Cir. 1966).

We will, however, express our opinion as to the standing of the plaintiffs to press the various issues raised by them and also dispose of the Motions to Dismiss with respect to various individual defendants.

(1) Confinement to Solitary As Cruel and Unusual Punishment and Need For Hearing.

As to this, it is apparent that under Haines v. Kerner we will have to have a hearing or at least have the facts fully developed by deposition or otherwise. It must appear, however, that the confinement was a barbarous act shocking to the conscience. Marnin v. Pinto, 463 F.2d 583 (3d Cir. 1972). See also our decision in Biagiarelli v. Sielaff, 349 F.Supp. 916, Civil Action No. 71-1093, 1972, as to the necessity of a due process hearing for confinement to solitary. We have just now held that such hearing may be required to a limited extent as the result of the decision in Gray v. Creamer, supra. In this decision, handed down since argument of this motion to dismiss, the court reversed the decision of our court in Gray v. Creamer, 329 F.Supp. 418 (W.D.Pa.1971) holding there was no constitutional right to a due process hearing before confinement in solitary and said:

“But we do hold that the transfer of a prisoner from the general prison population to solitary confinement without either notice of the charges or a hearing does not, absent unusual circumstances not evident in the pleadings, meet minimal due process requirements. See Sostre v. McGinnis, 442 F.2d 178, 198 (2d Cir. 1971):
“If substantial deprivations are to be visited upon a prisoner, it is wise that such action should at least be premised on facts rationally determined. This is not a concept without meaning. In most cases it would probably be difficult to find an inquiry minimally fair and rational unless the prisoner were con[66]*66fronted with the accusation, informed of the evidence against him. . and afforded a reasonable opportunity to explain his actions.”
“This decision is consistent with a great number of federal court decisions indicating that the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution requires that certain safeguards accompany the imposition by state prison authorities of substantial punishment.”

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Bluebook (online)
56 F.R.D. 63, 1972 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12196, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mills-v-larson-pawd-1972.