Taylor v. Breed

58 F.R.D. 101, 1973 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15342
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedJanuary 17, 1973
DocketNo. C-70-1522
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 58 F.R.D. 101 (Taylor v. Breed) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Taylor v. Breed, 58 F.R.D. 101, 1973 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15342 (N.D. Cal. 1973).

Opinion

ORDER

OLIVER J. CARTER, District Judge.

This is a class action brought under the provisions of 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1988, as well as the Sixth, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. The complaint alleges, inter alia, that confinement at the Deuel Vocational Institution [hereinafter “DVI”] of juvenile wards of the California Youth Authority [hereinafter “CYA”] who have been adjudicated delinquent in juvenile court proceedings violates the aforementioned provisions of the Constitution.

[104]*104The plaintiffs request a declaratory judgment that California Penal Code § 2037, which authorizes such confinement, is unconstitutional. They also seek an injunction against the further enforcement and operation of that statute insofar as it permits the transfer and confinement at DVI of juvenile court commitments.

Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2281, the plaintiffs requested, and the Chief Judge of this Circuit has convened this Three-Judge Court to consider the above claims.

The Court finds that jurisdiction is proper and that the plaintiffs’ claims are not subject to state exhaustion requirements. Wilwording v. Swenson, 404 U.S. 249, 251, 92 S.Ct. 407, 30 L.Ed.2d 418 (1971).

Presently before the Court in this action are several motions. The plaintiffs have moved for a partial summary judgment, for vacation of a protective order previously granted to the defendants pending the outcome of these motions, and for an order compelling answers to certain interrogatories which had been stayed by the aforementioned protective order. The defendants have moved the Court for dismissal or for summary judgment of the action.

Mootness and Standing

During argument on the instant motions, the defendants pointed out that the two named plaintiffs were no longer in DVI. According to the defendants, plaintiff Lionel Taylor is presently on parole, with his commitment to the CYA due to end on June 15, 1973. Plaintiff Henry Parker has been transferred from DVI to another institution, with his commitment set to expire on October 7, 1973. The defendants further assert that there are presently no CYA wards at DVI and that the current CYA policy is to place such wards in other facilities.

Nevertheless, the Court finds that the action is not moot and that the plaintiffs have the requisite standing to bring these claims before the Court.

A case is moot when there is no longer a subject matter on which the judgment of the Court can operate. St. Pierre v. United States, 319 U.S. 41, 42, 63 S.Ct. 910, 87 L.Ed. 1199 (1942); Singleton v. Board of Commissioners of State Institutions, 356 F.2d 771, 773 (5th Cir. 1966).

The fact that no CYA wards are presently being held in DVI, or that the CYA Board’s present intention is to make no further transfers to that institution does not moot the claim. As long as the present statutory and regulatorv language empowers the CYA to place its wards in DVI, there exists the subject matter on which this Court can operate.

The related question on the standing of the plaintiffs to challenge the statute or the procedures used for DVI commitments is likewise not an issue. The plaintiffs need only show past use of the facilities, where feasible, and a right to, or a reasonable possibility of future use. Singleton v. Board of Commissioners of State Institutions, 356 F. 2d 771, 773 (5th Cir. 1966).

Plaintiff Parker is still confined in a CYA institution, and there is nothing to prohibit his return to DVI at some future date under the present statute and regulations. Likewise, plaintiff Taylor is on parole and is subject to having that parole revoked for any one of a number of violations, whereupon he also could be returned to DVI.

Clearly, both the named plaintiffs have demonstrated past use of DVI and, so long as the statutory authority exists for their future commitment, they can claim a reasonable possibility of use at some later date.

Motion to Dismiss

The defendants have moved the Court for a dismissal of this action under Rule 12(b), F.R.Civ.P. The grounds stated are lack of jurisdiction and failure to [105]*105state a claim for relief against the defendants. The Court has already found that jurisdiction over this action is proper, and so the defendants’ motion to dismiss on that ground must be denied without further comment. The other ground for dismissal, failure to state a claim against the defendants, must receive more careful consideration by the Court.

Ordinarily a motion to dismiss should not be granted. Where there is any doubt about the character of the action, doubts should be resolved in favor of the pleader. Pond v. General Electric Company, 256 F.2d 824, 826-827 (9th Cir. 1958), cert, den., 358 U.S. 818, 79 S.Ct. 30, 3 L.Ed.2d 60 (1958).

Basically, the plaintiffs’ complaint raises two fundamental constitutional issues. The first is whether a minor who has been adjudicated delinquent by a juvenile court may, through proceedings which did not afford him many basic due process safeguards required by the Constitution in all criminal trials, be thereafter transferred to and confined in an institution such as DVI, which the plaintiffs allege is in effect, if not in name, a prison.

The second issue raised by the plaintiffs’ complaint is whether the Fourteenth Amendment requires that a CYA ward be afforded certain minimum procedural safeguards at CYA Board hearings which are held to determine whether or not he should be placed on parole, or be transferred to a functionally distinct institution such as DVI.

The defendants’ motion to dismiss is grounded on the assertion that neither of the two aforementioned issues raises a possible constitutional violation. It is not a simple matter to answer the questions which the defendants pose with this motion. Nevertheless the Court must deny it for the following reasons.

In cases factually similar to this the state courts have not been uniform with their decisions. Some states have upheld the constitutionality of juvenile commitments to penal institutions. E. g., Shone v. State, 237 A.2d 412 (Me. 1968); Wilson v. Coughlin, 259 Iowa 1163, 147 N.W.2d 175 (1966); People v. Scherbing, 93 Cal.App.2d 736, 209 P.2d 796 (1949); In re Robertson, 5 Terry 28, 44 Del. 28, 54 A.2d 848 (1947).

Other states have found various constitutional infirmities in commitments or procedures similar to those under attack here. E. g., Boone v. Danforth, 463 S.W.2d 825 (Mo.1971); In re Rich, 125 Vt.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
58 F.R.D. 101, 1973 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15342, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/taylor-v-breed-cand-1973.