Pierce v. County of Orange

519 F.3d 985, 20 Am. Disabilities Cas. (BNA) 1127, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 6148, 2008 WL 762072
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedMarch 24, 2008
Docket05-55829, 05-55845
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 519 F.3d 985 (Pierce v. County of Orange) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pierce v. County of Orange, 519 F.3d 985, 20 Am. Disabilities Cas. (BNA) 1127, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 6148, 2008 WL 762072 (9th Cir. 2008).

Opinion

*989 BETTY B. FLETCHER, Circuit Judge:

In 2001, plaintiffs-appellants Fred Pierce, Timothy Lee Conn, Fermin Valenzuela, and Laurie D. Ellerston—pretrial detainees in Orange County’s jail facilities—initiated Pierce v. County of Orange, No. 05-55829 (D.Ct. No. 01-981), a class action suit against the County of Orange and Michael S. Carona, the county’s sheriff and agent. 1 Seeking relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violations of their Fourteenth Amendment due process rights, plaintiffs contend, in essence, that the Orange County jails are operated in an unconstitutional manner, depriving them of opportunities for exercise, unduly limiting their access to common areas, and impermissibly restricting their ability to practice religion. Plaintiffs further assert that they have been deprived of a number of the federal rights previously recognized in Stewart v. Gates, 450 F.Supp. 583 (C.D.Cal.1978) (“Stewart ”) — a decision and resulting injunctive orders (“the Stewart orders” or “the Stewart injunction”) that established standards for pretrial detention in Orange County jails. The plaintiffs seek relief for the same injuries under the California Constitution, as well as Title 15 of the California Code of Regulations (which sets minimum standards for county jails) in violation of § 815.6 of the California Government Code, and breach of § 54.1 of the California Civil Code. Finally, the plaintiffs in Pierce assert an equal protection claim under § 1983 based on the denial of equal treatment to disabled detainees, and they advance a separate claim for violations of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), 42 U.S.C. § 12131 et seq., alleging non-compliant jail facilities and denial of access to programs and services available to non-disabled detainees. On appeal, the plaintiffs also challenge a number of the district court’s pretrial procedural and evidentiary rulings.

After a six day trial, the district court found that the plaintiffs had failed to establish any constitutional injury giving rise to relief under § 1983. The district court went on to find that the fourteen Stewart orders at issue were no longer necessary, and ordered them all terminated pursuant to the Prison Litigation Reform Act (“PLRA”), 2 18 U.S.C. § 3626(b)(3). The district court likewise rejected plaintiffs’ equal protection and ADA claims, finding that although the County was not in “full ADA compliance, [ ] it can reasonably be expected to move toward full compliance.”

Having conducted a thorough review of the extensive pretrial and trial record, we affirm in part and reverse in part. We affirm the district court’s pre-trial and evidentiary rulings challenged by the plaintiffs; the district court did not abuse its discretion in its pre-trial management of the case or its decisions related to the admission of evidence. On the merits, we affirm the district court’s termination of nearly all of the fourteen Stewart orders at issue. Two of those orders, however, which secure inmates housed in administrative segregation some minimal access to religious services and exercise, may not be terminated. The district court clearly erred in its finding that these two orders are unnecessary to correct a current and ongoing violation of a Federal right. We likewise conclude that, because of physical barriers that deny disabled inmates access to certain prison facilities (bathrooms, *990 showers, exercise and other common areas), and because of disparate programs and services offered to disabled versus non-disabled inmates, the County is in violation of the ADA.

I. Plaintiffs’ Allegations

A. Violation of the Stewart orders governing prison conditions.

Stewart v. Gates was commenced in 1975 when a class of pretrial detainees challenged the constitutionality of various practices and conditions of confinement in the Orange County Central Jail in Santa Ana, California. 450 F.Supp. 583 (D.C.Cal.1978). In 1978, the district court presiding over the case issued an injunction, establishing various standards for pretrial detention. Id. at 590-91 (holding that the court retained jurisdiction to modify the orders upon a showing of good cause). In 1991, the district court made clear that the order applied to all of the Orange County jails: Men’s Central Jail, Women’s Central Jail, Intake Release Center, James A. Musick Facility, and Theo Lacy Facility.

The Stewart orders — which have been modified in the years since the initial injunction was issued — address detainees’ access to telephones, law books, reading materials, and interjail mail to jailhouse lawyers; provide for mattresses, beds, and blankets; establish mealtimes and sleep-times; require seating while awaiting transport to and from court; and set population caps. The orders also address several issues pertaining specifically to inmates in administrative segregation: their access to religious services, day rooms, exercise, and visitors. 3 The Stewart orders subject to challenge in this litigation are reproduced as Appendix A to this opinion. Specifically, plaintiffs in Pierce maintain that they have been subjected to holding-cell conditions deemed unconstitutional in Stewart and have been denied the minimum mealtime held to be constitutionally required in Stewart. In addition, plaintiffs contend that inmates housed in administrative segregation are denied the minimum access to religious services, the day room, and exercise that Stewart held to be constitutionally required. Plaintiffs sought relief for the alleged violations pursuant to § 1983. Attacking the same conduct, plaintiffs also allege due process violations under the California Constitution, breach of mandatory duties under Title 15 of the California Code of Regulations (which sets minimum standards for county jails) in violation of § 815.6 of the California Government Code, and breach of § 54.1 of the California Civil Code.

The County, meanwhile, sought termination of the Stewart orders in their entirety pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3626(b), a section of the PLRA that allows a court to terminate prospective injunctive relief governing prison conditions on a showing that the injunction is no longer needed to correct a current and ongoing violation of a Federal right.

B. Equal protection and ADA violations.

Plaintiffs in Pierce

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Related

Messier v. Southbury Training School
562 F. Supp. 2d 294 (D. Connecticut, 2008)
Pierce v. County of Orange
526 F.3d 1190 (Ninth Circuit, 2008)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
519 F.3d 985, 20 Am. Disabilities Cas. (BNA) 1127, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 6148, 2008 WL 762072, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pierce-v-county-of-orange-ca9-2008.