United States v. Michigan

989 F. Supp. 853, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22067
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Michigan
DecidedJuly 3, 1996
DocketNo. 1:84 CV 63
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 989 F. Supp. 853 (United States v. Michigan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Michigan, 989 F. Supp. 853, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22067 (W.D. Mich. 1996).

Opinion

OPINION

ENSLEN, Chief Judge.

This matter is before the Court on two motions. The first is the joint motion to dismiss portions of the Consent Decree at the Marquette Branch Prison and the Michigan Reformatory, filed June 10, 1996. The second is defendants’ motion for immediate termination of the Consent Decree, pursuant to the Prison Litigation Reform Act (“PLRA” or “the Act”), Pub.L. No. 104-134, .110 Stat. 1321, amending 18 U.S.C. § 3626, filed June 11, 1996.

The complaint in this action was filed ón January 18,1984 pursuant to the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act of 1980, 42 U.S.C. § 1997. The Consent Decree was approved by this Court on July 13, 1984, and filed on July 16, 1984. The terms of the Consent Decree involve six broad areas, and twenty-eight specific areas, of prison conditions. Attached to the Consent Decree as exhibit A is the State Plan for Compliance, which sets forth the specifications for compliance.

The parties have agreed that certain portions of the Consent Decree have been complied with at the Marquette Branch Prison and the Michigan Reformatory. Terminating those portions of the Decree will decrease the number of issues that the Court will need to address under the PLRA standard. Therefore, the parties’ joint motion will be considered first.

I. Joint Motion to Terminate Portions of the Consent Decree

The parties move, pursuant to Rules 60(b)(5) and (6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, for dissolution of all of the remaining provisions of the Consent Decree applicable to the Marquette Branch Prison (“MBP”), which includes the Michigan Intensive Programming Center (“MIPC”) because it has been merged into MBP, and the Michigan Reformatory (“MR”), with the exception of the provisions relating to medical and mental health care. These provisions involve sanitation, safety and hygiene; fire safety; crowding and protection from harm; access to the courts; and legal mail. Although the joint motion does not mention the issue of classification, based upon the exhibits on the classification system that were submitted with the motion, the Court understands the motion to include Section D.l on page 6 of the Consent Decree, which requires the defendants to design and implement a professionally-based classification system.

Partial termination of the Consent Decree in this case is permitted by this Court’s Order of July 2, 1992 approving a modification of the Consent Decree to that effect. [857]*857This modification was approved pursuant to a stipulation by the parties. The modification distinguishes the USA Decree from the Decree in Hadix v. Johnson, which contains language requiring compliance with all provisions prior to termination. In Hadix, the plaintiffs opposed a modification similar to that approved in USA, and the Court denied the modification. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the decision in an Opinion dated September 20, 1995.

In the Opinion of July 2, 1992, this Court adopted a two-step termination process. First, the Court reviews compliance under the Plan and deletes provisions where it finds compliance. Then, the Court considers motions relative to provisions with which defendants have not complied, including arguments that full compliance is not necessary based on relevant constitutional standards. Pursuant to this process, the Court dismissed many of the State Plan sections applicable to MBP, MIPC, and MR.

The parties have filed, with their motion, a stipulation to the effect that the defendants have reached compliance with the State Plan in all of the areas for which they are requesting termination of the Decree, and declarations of various experts regarding the reviews of the prisons performed pursuant to the joint review process which was begun by the parties in August of 1995.

Based upon the stipulation of the parties and the declarations, of the experts, and with the concurrence of the Independent Expert, this Court is satisfied that the provisions with regard to sanitation, safety and hygiene; fire safety; crowding and protection from harm; access to the courts; and legal mail should be deleted from the State Plan and Consent Decree as they apply to MBP, MR, and MIPC.

Defendants are required, by the. Order of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals dated July 2, 1991, which was in regard to the defendants’ duties under Section D.l of the Consent Decree, to maintain their classification system over-ride rate at a general norm of 20 percent or less. Chart II of Exhibit 11 attached to the parties’ motion indicates that defendants achieved compliance with this requirement at MR during 1993 and 1994, but returned to a state of non-compliance in March 1995, a condition that apparently continues today. This Court is not prepared to delete this provision, as- applicable to MR, based on the information presented in the joint stipulation. The Court is concerned about the continuing violation of the requirement, which involves placing high-risk prisoners with prisoners in lower classifications and in settings that do not meet the defendants’ own standards for their secure confinement. The Court is also concerned about the capacity of defendants to maintain compliance once it is achieved.

The Court will therefore grant the parties’ joint motion in part and deny it in part. The Consent Decree and the State Plan will be modified to reflect that the remaining provisions for sanitation, safety and health; fire safety; overcrowding and protection from harm; access to courts; and legal mail are deleted as they apply to MBP, MR, and MIPC, except that section D.l of the Consent Decree remains applicable to MR.

II. Motion to Terminate Pursuant to PLRA

Section 802 of the PLRA amends 18 U.S.C. § 3626, regarding appropriate remedies with regard to prison conditions. Section 3626(b) entitles a defendant or intervener in an action involving prison conditions to move for immediate termination of any prospective relief which was “approved or granted in the absence of a finding by the court that the relief is narrowly drawn, extends no further than necessary to correct the violation of the Federal right, and is the least intrusive means necessary to correct the violation of the Federal right,” unless the court makes such findings in writing as to the current conditions in the prisons subject to the decree. That section also provides for an automatic stay of any prospective relief that has already been approved or granted, beginning the 30th day after a motion for termination of that relief has been filed. The stay is to remain in effect until the court rules on the motion for termination of the relief.

Over the years, the Court has conducted numerous hearings, and issued numerous or[858]*858ders regarding the rights and duties of the parties under the Consent Decree. Application of the PLRA to the Consent Decree in this case mil require the Court to reconsider each provision of the Decree, the State Plan, and the associated plans and orders.

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Bluebook (online)
989 F. Supp. 853, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22067, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-michigan-miwd-1996.