D. B. v. Tewksbury (545 F. Supp. 896, 1982)

FINDINGS OF FACT, CONCLUSIONS OF LAW, and ORDER

FRYE, District Judge:

This is a civil rights action brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiffs and members of plaintiffs’ class are all children who are presently confined, or who are subject to confinement in the Columbia County Correctional Facility (CCCF), an adult jail, in St. Helens, Oregon. Plaintiffs challenge the constitutionality of defendants’ actions in confining plaintiffs and members of their class in CCCF. Plaintiffs seek declaratory and injunctive relief.

The case was tried to the court on February 2-12,1982, Plaintiffs were represented by Susan F. Svetkey and David B. Hatton. Defendants were represented by Jill Thompson, Columbia County Counsel, and John McLean and John C. Rhodes, Oregon Attorney General’s Office.

The court has jurisdiction of this action under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1343(3) and (4).

SPECIAL FINDINGS OF FACT

The named plaintiffs are children, all of whom have been detained in CCCF. Plaintiffs and their next friend and next friend of the class, Susan F. Mandiberg, represent a class certified by the court as consisting of similarly situated children.

Defendant Graham Tewksbury is the Director of the Columbia County Juvenile Department. Defendants A. J. Ahlborn, Robert M. Hunt, and Marion Sahagian are commissioners of the Columbia County Board of Commissioners. Defendant Tom Tennant is the Sheriff of Columbia County. He is responsible for the general operation and supervision of the Sheriff’s Department, including CCCF. Defendant Willard E. Jones is the corrections supervisor of CCCF. He is responsible for the general operation and supervision of CCCF and for carrying out the Sheriff’s policies and procedures in CCCF. Defendant James D. Taylor is the assistant corrections supervisor of CCCF. Defendants James E. Cox, Dale Len Durant, Larry C. Knowles, and Dale R. Stubbs are corrections officers in CCCF.

In acting and/or failing to act and in maintaining the conditions in CCCF, defendants, and each of them, separately and in concert, have been and are acting under color of and pursuant to the statutes, ordinances, regulations, customs, and usages of the State of Oregon and in their capacities as heretofore stated. Children have been and continue to be detained in CCCF with the knowledge of all the defendants.

CCCF houses both adults... and children in the-same facility. Many adults are convicted prisoners serving time on sentences already imposed. All children held in CCCF are pretrial detainees, i.e., there has been no adjudication with regard to these children’s acts, status, or behavior. They range in age from 12 to 18^ Many of the children are “status offenders.” Status offenders are children who, by virtue of their ages, are confined for being beyond parental control or running away from home. Of 101 children held at CCCF during a nine month period in 1980, 36 were held on status offense charges. The remaining children during this period were held for acts which, if they had been done by an adult, would constitute crimes. Sometimes children are placed in CCCF for shelter care: for example, a child who has been raped can be placed in CCCF.

Children do not stay in CCCF for long periods of time, but status offenders ordinarily are confined longer than those detained for criminal acts. In any event, 70 percent of the children who were confined in CCCF in 1981 were released within 24 hours. Nearly 75 percent of the children held in CCCF are released to their parents. A small number pose an immediate threat to community safety or their own safety or may flee from the court’s jurisdiction. In 1980, of 124 children confined in CCCF, during a nine month period, only 25 required secure custody. The others could have been released without posing a serious threat to community safety, personal safety, or court jurisdiction.

CCCF is located on the ground floor of the Columbia County Courthouse in St. Hel-ens, Oregon. It was built in 1962 and was altered in 1975. The offices of defendant Tewksbury and each of his three juvenile counselors are located in a building connected to the CCCF building.

Children detained in CCCF are usually placed in quarters consisting of multiple-occupancy cells with a common day space. They" may be-placed imlsolatifipjcgls,-.^iow-Jever. Each multiple-occupancy cell con-Jtains steel bed frames, a toilet-sink installa-one overhead light, and a steel-barred with a sliding door. Children are locked inside the cells from 10 p. m. to 6 a. m.

The day room area, i.e., the common room, contains a metal picnic table, fluorescent lighting fixtures, and a single shower unit. There is no natural light in the cells occupied by children. Illumination is sufficient for overall visibility. All walls, floors, and ceilings are solid concrete or concrete block materials. The walls are painted blue.

Doors entering into these areas are either steel bars or solid metal. Each door contains a small viewing window and a food service slot. Children are detained in cells geared for as many as three children. Sometimes children ranging in age from 12 to 17 years are placed in the same cell.

Children held in CCCF are not issued sheets, mattress covers, or pillows. They sleep on mattresses covered with urethane and they are given a wool blanket. Occasionally children are not given mattresses. Those children placed in isolation cells sleep on cement floors.

Female children are not advised by matrons that sanitary napkins or tampons are available. If requested, however, they are made availableJ_J\Iatrons are not stationed within the secure detention area of CCCF. They are stationed in the front office area and are in the jail only to make checks on the female children. In order to obtain a sanitary napkin or tampon, female children must strike their cell doors or yell to attract the attention of a male corrections officer, who in turn contacts a matron. There are no full-time matrons available during night shifts, but if a female child is detained during the night, a part-time matron is called and is available.

There is no 24-hour a day intake screening process at CCCF. The intake process at CCCF is essentially an admissions process rather than a screening process. Part of the reason that children are detained at CCCF rather than being placed elsewhere is that there__are ,jiq . written criteria upon which to make decisions., regarding who should be detained in CCCF. There is no policy 'as to who makes a decision when a child is to be lodged in jail. There is a phone list for jail staff to use to try to reach juvenile counselors, but counselors are sometimes unavailable. Children are then lodged based upon the decision of the corrections officer (jailer). If an arresting officer can locate a juvenile counselor, there is nothing in writing that tells the officer or the juvenile counselor when to lodge the child. For example, D. P. was arrested with a friend. D. P.’s friend was released to his parents who came to pick him up. D. P., however, was lodged in CCCF because his custodial grandmother did not have a car and therefore could not pick him up. Even if a juvenile counselor is available, the juvenile counselor does not speak directly with the child before he or she makes an intake decision. There are no written procedures for how to handle physically, mentally, or emotionally handicapped children. Jail personnel testified that none of these children are ever detained.

All clothing of children detained in CCCF is confiscated. Children are issued jail clothes which consist of jeans, a shirt, and socks for boys, and slacks, a blouse, and socks for girls. No child lodged in CCCF may have underwear.

Toilet facilities at CCCF are not screened from view and children using these toilet facilities are visible to other children and to corrections officers. The day room area has a shower which can be used at all times when the children are not locked in their cells. On occasion showers in CCCF are not equipped with shower curtains. Children showering are visible to other children and to corrections officers. Female children using the toilet or shower are visible to male corrections officers. Male children using the toilet or shower are visible to matrons.

Children in CCCF are sometimes placed in either, of two isolation-cells. These are 8' X 8' windowless concrete block rooms, barren of all furniture and furnishings. Sometimes it is very cold in the isolation cells. Near the center of the isolation cell there is a sewer hole which is the only facility for urination and defecation.

Lighting and the mechanism for flushing the sewer hole for each isolation cell are controlled outside the cell by the corrections staff. Lights in the isolation cells are sometimes left on or off for long periods of time. Sometimes the sewer hole is not flushed for long periods. When the mechanism for the sewer hole is flushed by a corrections staff officer, water and sewage gushes onto the cell floor.

The isolation cells are located across a corridor from the adult male dormitory cell which holds up to 18 prisoners. For a child to be placed in isolation, that child must be moved down a corridor immediately outside the adult male dormitory cell. The child can see the adult male prisoners, and the adult male prisoners can see him or her. When the isolation cell door is closed, children in isolation and the adults in the dormitory cell can and do communicate by talking in loud voices. Children may also encounter adult inmates during the intake process.

‘-•There are no written standards for placement of children in isolation: There is no designated to determine if and when a child should be placed in isolation. There is no absolute limit to the period of time that a child can be held in isolation. Isolation cells have been used when children were intoxicated or under the influence of drugs. Children have also been placed in isolation for perceived offenses or disputes between children held in the same cell. There is no psychological screening of children placed in isolation. No log is maintained when a child is placed in isolation.

Meals-served ttrchildren are planned, prepared, and served by corrections officers. Corrections officers must prepare meals in addition to performing their other duties. Corrections officers are not trained in nutrition or food preparation. They are not supervised by a nutritionist or a dietitian. There are no written menus. Meals are prepared from foods available in storage. Food served to children is the same as that served to adult prisoners and to the corrections personnel themselves, except that children at CCCF are not allowed to buy food through the commissary, while adult prisoners are. Special dietary needs of children, or special dietary needs of a child such as a diabetic child are not considered.

No medical screening procedure is used,for children admitted to CCCF other than a visual inspection by an untrained ^corrections officer.“'Children who are intoxicated or under the influence of drugs are admitted to CCCF. Corrections officers have no training in identifying or meeting the needs of intoxicated or drug dependent children. These children may be placed in isolation. For example, one of the plaintiffs, D. P., was arrested while intoxicated and was placed in isolation for uncooperative behavior. He received no counseling or assistance from anyone trained to deal with an intoxicated child. After shattering his finger and breaking out several teeth, he was transported to Dammasch Hospital.

K. K. was also detained at CCCF while intoxicated. Because of belligerent behavior, he was placed in a juvenile section in handcuffs. He received no medical screening, monitoring, or assistance, and was later found on his cell floor in a pool of vomit and urine. He was then taken to Columbia District Hospital where he was admitted for observation.

There is no-daily sick'call-for children at CCCF. • There is no regular program for "a" docEóror a registered nurse to visit the jail to identify or attend to the medical needs of children held in CCCF. Emergency medical equipment in the jail consists of a first aid kit and an oxygen tank.

Corrections officers determine whether a child needs medical treatment based upon perception, common sense, and experience. If a child believes he-or,sh.e_is,ilUllLej;hild notifies-a -corrections - officer,“who decides whether the child should be taken "to a doctor. There are