Pippins v. Adams County Jail

851 F. Supp. 1228, 1994 WL 184379
CourtDistrict Court, C.D. Illinois
DecidedMay 10, 1994
Docket93-3122
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 851 F. Supp. 1228 (Pippins v. Adams County Jail) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, C.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pippins v. Adams County Jail, 851 F. Supp. 1228, 1994 WL 184379 (C.D. Ill. 1994).

Opinion

851 F.Supp. 1228 (1994)

Johnny PIPPINS, Plaintiff,
v.
ADAMS COUNTY JAIL; Louis Fergueson, Jail Administrator, Defendants.

No. 93-3122.

United States District Court, C.D. Illinois.

May 10, 1994.

*1229 *1230 Johnny Pippins, pro se.

Michael S. Nardulli, William W. Kurnik, Arlington Heights, IL, for defendants.

*1231 OPINION

RICHARD MILLS, District Judge:

Pippins is a state prisoner.

This is a civil rights action.

Pippins claims that while he was a pretrial detainee, Defendants violated his constitutional rights by: subjecting him to harsh conditions of confinement, infringing on the exercise of his religious beliefs, denying him access to the courts, and disciplining him without due process.

This matter is before the Court for consideration of the parties' cross-motions for summary judgment.

Judgment is granted in favor of Defendants.

LEGAL STANDARD

Summary judgment "shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Herman v. National Broadcasting Co., Inc., 744 F.2d 604, 607 (7th Cir.1984), cert. denied, 470 U.S. 1028, 105 S.Ct. 1393, 84 L.Ed.2d 782 (1985). In determining whether factual issues exist, the court must view all the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Beraha v. Baxter Health Corp., 956 F.2d 1436, 1440 (7th Cir.1992).

However, Rule 56(c) "mandates the entry of summary judgment, after adequate time for discovery and upon motion, against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party's case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial." Celotex, 477 U.S. at 322, 106 S.Ct. at 2552. "Where the record taken as a whole could not lead a rational trier of fact to find for the non-moving party there is no `genuine' issue for trial." Mechnig v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 864 F.2d 1359 (7th Cir.1988). A "metaphysical doubt" will not suffice. Matsushita Elec. Industrial Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 1356, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). Disputed facts are material only if they might affect the outcome of the suit. First Ind. Bank v. Baker, 957 F.2d 506, 507-08 (7th Cir.1992).

ALLEGATIONS

Pippins, currently an Iowa state prisoner, was a pretrial detainee at the Adams County, Illinois, Jail at all times relevant to this action (i.e., from July 19, 1992, through September 28, 1992, and again from November 3, 1992, through January 22, 1993).

Pippins brings this suit against the Adams County Jail and its administrator, Louis Fergueson.[1] He alleges that during his two periods of confinement at the jail, he was: denied any opportunity to exercise; was not provided with a Muslim diet; was not allowed access to a Koran or to a chaplain of his faith; was "locked down" for ten days as punishment without any hearing; was denied proper bedding; and was denied access to the courts. Accepting Plaintiff's allegations as true, the Court earlier found that the complaint stated an arguable claim for relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and allowed Plaintiff to proceed on his claims in forma pauperis.

The more fully developed record, however, shows that Defendants are entitled to judgment as a matter of law.[2] The Court will address each of Plaintiff's claims in turn.

I. JAIL CONDITIONS

A. Conditions Generally

There is no genuine issue as to whether the conditions of Plaintiff's confinement violated his constitutional rights. The *1232 standard for determining when conditions of pretrial confinement violate due process is "whether those conditions amount to punishment of the detainee." Lock v. Jenkins, 641 F.2d 488, 490-91 (7th Cir.1981), quoting Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 535, 99 S.Ct. 1861, 1872, 60 L.Ed.2d 447 (1979). Pretrial detainees constitutionally cannot be punished prior to a formal adjudication of guilt. See Salazar v. City of Chicago, 940 F.2d 233, 239 (7th Cir.1991).

But, as Justice Rehnquist made clear in Bell, not every restraint on a pretrial detainee constitutes punishment in the constitutional sense. "There is, of course, a de minimis level of imposition with which the Constitution is not concerned." Bell, 441 U.S. at 539 n. 21, 99 S.Ct. at 1874 n. 21 quoting Ingraham v. Wright, 430 U.S. 651, 674, 97 S.Ct. 1401, 1414, 51 L.Ed.2d 711 (1977). To determine whether a particular disability or condition amounts to punishment, the court "must determine whether the disability is imposed for the purpose of punishment or whether it is an incident of some other legitimate governmental purpose." Bell, 441 U.S. at 538, 99 S.Ct. at 1873.

In applying Bell to the case at bar, the Court finds no constitutional violation. Although Plaintiff may have been forced to endure a rather spartan environment, the conditions of which he complains were not so unreasonable as to violate due process. Pretrial conditions of imprisonment "do not reach even the threshold of constitutional concern until a showing is made of "genuine privations and hardship over an extended period of time." Duran v. Elrod, 760 F.2d 756, 759 (7th Cir.1985), quoting Bell, 441 U.S. at 542, 99 S.Ct. at 1875.

Here, the record does not present conditions implicating the Fourteenth Amendment. Plaintiff alleges no denial of basic needs (such as food, clothing, shelter, or medical care); furthermore, he does not purport to have suffered any constitutional harm from the purported deprivations. At his deposition, Plaintiff admitted that he remained healthy throughout his confinement (except for a brief cold and for an injury sustained in a fall), experienced no bodily or mental deterioration, and lost no weight. The limitations to which Plaintiff was subjected were not so harsh or shocking as to imply an intent to punish. Moreover, given the acknowledged overcrowding and fiscal crisis of the state's prisons and jails, the temporary restrictions alleged, neither singly nor in combination, were so excessive as to amount to an infliction of punishment proscribed by the Due Process Clause.

B. Exercise

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Bluebook (online)
851 F. Supp. 1228, 1994 WL 184379, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pippins-v-adams-county-jail-ilcd-1994.