Full opinion text
OPINION ENSLEN, District Judge. This is a prison case that concerns conditions of confinement at four major prisons in the Michigan system. It is a class action proceeding in which the plaintiff class is composed of all prisoners who are or will be confined by the Michigan Department of Corrections at the State Prison of Southern Michigan (“SPSM”), located in Jackson, Michigan; the Michigan Reformatory (“MR”), located in Ionia, Michigan; the Riverside Correctional Facility (“RCF”), also located in Ionia, Michigan; and the Marquette Branch Prison (“MBP”) (including the former Michigan Intensive Programming Center (“MIPC”), which now is designated as A-Block of the MBP), located in Marquette, Michigan. The defendants in the case are the Director of the Michigan Department of Corrections (“MDOC”), who now is Robert Brown, Jr.; the Deputy Director of the MDOC and the Director of the Bureau of Correctional Facilities, who now is Daniel Bolden; the Warden of the State Prison of Southern Michigan, who currently is John Jabe and who for most of the relevant time period was Dale Foltz; the Warden of the Michigan Reformatory, who currently is Pamela Withrow and who for most of the relevant time period was John Jabe; the Administrator of the Reception and Guidance Center, John Prelesnik; the Warden of the Marquette Branch Prison, Theodore Koehler; and the Warden of the Riverside Correctional Facility, who currently is Denise Quarles and who for part of the relevant time period was William Abshirer. Pursuant to Rule 25(d)(1) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, new defendants automatically have been substituted for original defendants as they have succeeded them in office. The Court notes here that although Jack Bergman was named as a defendant in his former capacity as the Administrator of the MIPC, he effectively has been dropped from the action because the MIPC has been converted into A-Block of the MBP, under the control of Warden Koehler. In their first amended complaint, filed on April 16, 1985, plaintiffs raised numerous grounds for relief against defendants. On March 20, 1986 the Court severed the following four issues for immediate trial: (1) whether the lack of toilets and washbasins in certain locked cells at the RCF violates plaintiffs’ Eighth Amendment right not to be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment; (2) whether defendants’ alleged failure to provide plaintiffs with proper winter clothing also violates their Eighth Amendment right not to be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment; (3) whether defendants engage in racially discriminatory actions concerning job assignments, cafeteria serving lines, and the placement of inmates in administrative segregation, punitive detention, and protective custody in violation of plaintiffs’ Fourteenth Amendment right to the equal protection of the law; and (4) whether defendants are unlawfully- interfering with plaintiffs’ constitutional right of access to federal and state court systems. This last issue includes the issue of whether defendants’ system for handling inmates’ incoming legal mail is constitutional. On May 14,1986 the Court declined to sever for immediate trial plaintiffs’ claim that defendants are not providing them with constitutionally adequate mental health care because it has conducted numerous hearings on that issue in connection with the Consent Decree entered in the related case of United States v. Michigan, No. G84-63 (W.D.Mich.). After numerous pretrial motions, hearings, and other skirmishes between the parties, many of which Magistrate Rowland handled, the Court conducted a thirty-five day bench trial on the severed issues that was spread over five months: June 1986, August 1986, October 1986, March 1987, and April 1987. During the trial it listened to testimony from 103 witnesses — seventy-eight for the plaintiffs and twenty-five for the defendants — and received hundreds of exhibits into evidence. There remain some unresolved evidentiary motions that I will decide when I discuss the substantive issue to which the evidence pertains. In accordance with Rule 52(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the following opinion constitutes the Court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law on the severed issues. Introduction to the Case The prisoners who have brought this action are confined in Michigan’s oldest and largest prisons. The Marquette Branch Prison, which is located in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, far away from the State’s major population centers, is both a maximum security and a minimum security facility. The maximum security inmates are housed inside the walls of the prison. The inside prison has a rated capacity of 606 inmates, which is broken down into three groups: 249 administrative segregation cells; 262 cells for inmates in the general population group; and 95 protective custody cells. The administrative segregation units of the prison house the system’s most difficult to manage inmates and is predominately black. Pis. Exh. 510B. The prison also has a trustee division, which houses the minimum security inmates and currently is predominately white. Pis. Exh. 521A. The staff of the institution is overwhelmingly white. Pls.Exh. 521Q; Transcript (“T”) of 3-16-87 at 12. The protective custody unit, which used to be the MIPC, also is predominately white, although it is more evenly divided between black inmates and white inmates than the rest of the institution. T of 3-17-87 at 93. The systems’ largest facility is the State Prison of Southern Michigan, which is located in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula near the major population centers of Lansing, Grand Rapids, and Detroit. The SPSM currently is composed of three complexes: the central complex, the south complex, and the north complex. The central complex houses close custody inmates, which is the security level just below maximum security, and includes inmates confined to administrative segregation and protective custody. Inmates confined in the central complex are involved in this case only on the racial discrimination claim. The north complex is a medium security facility, while the south complex is a minimum security facility. The inmates confined in the central complex are overwhelmingly black; the racial compositions of the south and north complexes are more evenly divided between black inmates and white inmates. The Michigan Reformatory and the Riverside Correctional Facility also are located in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. The MR houses both minimum security and close custody inmates. The minimum security inmates are housed in the institution’s trustee division. The close custody inmates are housed inside the walls of the institution, are primarily if not exclusively under the age of twenty-five, and are predominately black. The RCF is located near the Reformatory and contains four housing groups that are relevant to this case: protective custody, administrative segregation, general population, and inmates going through reception or quarantine. Some of the cells in this institution do not have a toilet or washbasin inside the cell. Located in the same group of buildings as the RCF is the Riverside Psychiatric Center (“RPC”), which also contains some cells that do not have a toilet or washbasin within the cell. The Court will divide its discussion of the severed issues into five parts: (1) legal mail; (2) lack of adequate winter clothing; (3) lack of in-cell toilets and washbasins at the RCF and the RPC; (4) access to courts; and (5) racial discrimination. Following my discussion of the substantive issues, I will briefly discuss for the benefit of the parties the appealability under rule 54(b) and 28 U.S.C. § 1292 of my judgments on those issues. Since plaintiffs’ claims generally implicate different constitutional provisions, I will discuss the applicable legal standards in connection with each substantive claim rather than in a general discussion at this point in the opinion. The Court does observe that one overriding standard it has considered and applied throughout this opinion is the substantial deference it must give state prison officials, who have the difficult task of determining how to run their institutions. See Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S. 396, 404-05, 94 S.Ct. 1800, 1807, 40 L.Ed.2d 224 (1974). Due to considerations of comity and federalism, a federal court should hesitate to interfere in the operation of state prison systems, and should do so only when necessary to protect the constitutional rights of inmates. See Kendrick v. Bland, 740 F.2d 432, 437-39 (6th Cir.1984). If a constitutional violation does exist, however, then it unquestionably is the Court’s duty to remedy it. See Rhodes v. Chapman, 452 U.S. 337, 352, 101 S.Ct. 2392, 2402, 69 L.Ed.2d 59 (1981). Rulings on the Severed Issues I. Plaintiffs’ Legal Mail Claim The Court will divide its discussion of plaintiffs’ legal mail claim into three parts. First, I will discuss the applicable legal standards. Secondly, I will discuss defendant's system of providing privileged treatment for inmates’ incoming legal mail. Finally, I will discuss whether defendants’ system is unconstitutional in any respect. Inmates retain “all first amendment [and other constitutional] rights not incompatible with their status as prisoners, ‘or with the legitimate penological objectives of the corrections system.’ ” Brooks v. Seiter, 779 F.2d 1177, 1180 (6th Cir.1985), quoting in part Pell v. Procunier, 417 U.S. 817, 822, 94 S.Ct. 2800, 2804, 41 L.Ed.2d 495 (1974). The Supreme Court has recognized that in the context of incoming inmate correspondence, a penal institution’s legitimate security needs justify certain measures that may infringe on inmates’ First Amendment and Sixth Amendment rights, as well as their right of access to the courts. See Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S. 396, 412-413, 94 S.Ct. 1800, 1810-1811, 40 L.Ed.2d 224 (1974). These measures, as with other measures affecting inmates’ constitutional rights, are valid if they are “reasonably related” to the institution’s security needs or other “legitimate penological interests”. Turner v. Safley, — U.S. -, -, 107 S.Ct. 2254, 2261, 96 L.Ed.2d 64, 79 (1987). In evaluating whether a particular measure satisfies this standard, a court must examine whether there is “a ‘valid, rational connection’ between the prison regulation and the legitimate governmental interest put forward to justify it”; whether “the governmental objective [is] ... a legitimate and neutral one”; whether “alternative means of exercising the right ... remain open to prison inmates”; the “impact accommodation of the asserted constitutional right will have on guards and other inmates, and on the allocation of prison resources generally”; and whether there are any ready alternatives to the challenged regulation. Id. — U.S. -, 107 S.Ct. at 2261-62, 96 L.Ed.2d at 79-80. In the legal mail context, prison officials bear the burden of putting “forth legitimate reasons for interfering with a prisoner’s incoming mail.” Parrish v. Johnson, 800 F.2d 600, 604 (6th Cir.1986). The Supreme Court has held that prison officials may open legal mail sent to inmates and inspect it for the presence of contraband, although they cannot read the mail. Wolff v. McDonald, 418 U.S. 539, 574-77, 94 S.Ct. 2963, 2983-85, 41 L.Ed.2d 935 (1974). The Supreme Court indicated in Wolff, however, and several courts have explicitly held, that an inmate has the right to be present when prison officials open his legal mail and inspect it for contraband. Id. at 577, 94 S.Ct. at 2985; see, e.g., Taylor v. Sterrett, 532 F.2d 462, 475 (5th Cir. 1976); see also Parrish, 800 F.2d at 604 (citing cases). Employing the standard established in Turner, it is fair to say that the Supreme Court has already determined that a prison regulation that allows officials to open and to inspect an inmates’ incoming legal mail for contraband is reasonably related to a legitimate penological interest and thus is constitutionally valid, particularly if the inmate is allowed to be present during the inspection process. See id. at 603-04. The real issue in this case, thus, is whether there is anything about Michigan's system in particular that is unconstitutional. Michigan’s system for treating legal mail as privileged, meaning that plaintiffs have the right to be present when the mail is opened and inspected for contraband, is contained in two administrative rules and a policy directive. Administrative Rule 791.-6603(4) provides that “[p]ursuant to a specific written request by a resident, mail which is clearly identified as coming from the resident’s designated attorney or the corrections ombudsman shall be opened and inspected for contraband in the resident’s presence.” This rule clearly requires the inmate to invoke his right to be present when mail coming from his attorney, whom he must designate in advance, or from the corrections ombudsman is inspected for contraband. The second Administrative Rule, rule 791.6615(2), apparently supplements rule 791.6603(4) by providing that in addition to mail from an inmate’s designated attorney and from the corrections ombudsman, prison officials shall treat as confidential mail communications between inmates and courts, public officials, the director of the Department of Corrections, and the corrections commission. Finally, Policy Directive PD-BCF-63.03 provides in pertinent part that “[u]pon written request by a prisoner to the institution’s mail room supervisor, mail which is clearly designated as being from the prisoner’s designated attorney, the courts, or from the Legislative Corrections Ombudsman, shall be opened and inspected for contraband in the prisoner’s presence.” This policy directive is similar to rule 791.-6603(4), except that it clarifies that an inmate must send his request for confidential treatment to the mail room supervisor for his institution and it encompasses mail from a court as well as mail from an attorney and the corrections ombudsman. As the policy directive indicates, inmates must renew their request for confidential treatment of their legal mail each time they are transferred to a new institution. Pis. exh. 404-A at 12; cf. T. at 3131-33. The testimony at trial also indicated that each institution has a different method for handling privileged legal mail. At the SPSM and the MBP, once an inmate has notified the mailroom that he has an attorney, the mailroom makes a notation that any mail the inmate receives that is clearly marked as coming from an attorney (not necessarily the inmate’s designated attorney), a court, or the corrections ombudsman is to be treated as privileged mail. T at 530. The MR employs a different system, however, under which mail from a court or the corrections ombudsman is automatically treated as privileged, but mail from an attorney is not treated as privileged unless the inmate specifically designates the attorney. Id. at 530-31; pis. exhs. 155 (grievance response) & 496 at 1. The privileged mail policy, including the institutions differing interpretations of it, is not, moreover, adequately explained to the inmates. The resident guidebooks for the various institutions do not contain a clear and correct explanation of the policy. The guidebook for the SPSM-North Complex, pis. exh. 404-C, in fact contains no discussion of the policy, while the guidebook for the MBP is misleading in that it does not inform inmates they must take action to have their legal mail treated as a privileged communication. During the orientation process the inmates are given a general guidebook to' read that does explain the privileged mail policy, and the policy is explained to them orally as well at that time. Pis. exh. 404-A at 12; 3-18-87 T at 24. An inmate is not allowed to keep this guidebook, however, and upon his arrival at an institution he. is given that institution’s guidebook. Copies of the general guidebook are not, moreover, readily available for inmates to read. Finally, on occasion inmates who have requested privileged treatment for their legal mail find that their mail has been opened and inspected outside of their presence, although the Court is convinced that these openings are rarely, if ever, intentional. Plaintiffs raise essentially three claims against defendants’ legal mail policy. First, they argue that the policy improperly requires the inmates to invoke their right to be present when their legal mail is opened and inspected for contraband. Secondly, they argue that the institutions differing interpretations and applications of the privileged mail policy creates confusion among the inmates. Finally, they argue that many inmates are not aware of the policy. They request the Court to invalidate the requirement that inmates must request privileged status for their legal mail. The Court agrees that certain aspects of defendants’ legal mail policy, both as it is written and as it is implemented, violate the inmates’ constitutional right to be present when prison officials open their legal mail and inspect it for contraband. I do not find that defendants’ policy unconstitutionally shifts to the inmates the burden of invoking this right. I agree that defendants bear the burden of putting forth legitimate reasons for their policy. The Supreme Court, though, already has sanctioned the “policy” of inspecting legal mail for contraband. The issue here is defendants’ method of implementing the inmates’ right to be present when that inspection occurs, i.e., whether inmates should be required to opt-in to the system or be considered “in” the system and allowed to opt-out of it. The Court believes that this is the kind of decision that courts generally should leave to the discretion of prison officials. Plaintiffs have produced no evidence that defendants’ decision to place the burden on the inmates by itself infringes on their First or Sixth Amendment rights or their right of access to the courts. Compare Guajardo v. Estelle, 432 F.Supp. 1373, 1381 (S.D.Tex.1977) (court found no legitimate basis for a “requirement that inmates specially request that inspection of incoming attorney mail take place only in their presence”) aff'd in part and rev’d in part, 580 F.2d 748 (5th Cir.1978). The Court thus sees no basis for invalidating that requirement, even though I agree with plaintiffs that the reasons for this policy are at best obscure. See 3-17-87 T at 60-61. Plaintiffs simply have not supported their claim that the present system unduly increases the possibility that an inmate will erroneously be denied privileged treatment of his legal mail. At best, plaintiffs have established that isolated incidents of error occur in a system that handles thousands of pieces of mail. See 3-23-87 T at 59. If defendants are going to use such a policy, however, they must implement it in a manner that will allow inmates a full and informed opportunity to invoke their right to be present when their legal mail is opened and inspected for contraband. I find that the way in which defendants presently administer their opt-in system does not achieve that goal. As the Court already has discussed, the guidebooks given to the inmates at the subject facilities do not adequately explain the system. The Court cannot, moreover, accept defendants’ contentions that inmates fully understand the system. There is no evidence that the general inmate guidebook, which does explain the system, is routinely available to the inmates; I cannot place much credence on the testimony of high level officials, such as Director Brown, who testified they did not know of any inmate confusion regarding the policy because such individuals are not in daily contact with the inmates; and plaintiffs produced evidence of confusion among both inmates and staff. See, e.g., T at 1526-27; pis. exh. 169 (staff misstating the policy at MBP). Although the evidence on this point is not overwhelming, the Court finds it sufficient to establish that defendants’ method of implementing their opt-in system unduly infringes on the inmates’ right to be present when their legal mail is opened and inspected for contraband. In particular, the Court finds that there are three unconstitutional flaws in defendants’ system. First, each institution implements the policy differently, and the differences are not adequately explained to the inmates. Indeed, even Director Brown did not know there are differences between the institutions. 3-18-87 T at 25. Second, an inmate must renew his request whenever he is transferred to a new institution. Given the number of transfers which the Court heard testimony on at trial, it finds that this requirement unduly infringes on the inmates’ right to be present when their legal mail is opened and inspected. Finally, and most importantly, the requirement that an inmate specifically designate an attorney, at least as it is implemented at the Reformatory, can cause inmates unintentionally to waive this right. This situation can arise in two contexts. First, whenever an inmate is appointed an attorney in a case there is a chance that defendants will inspect the initial communication from that attorney to the inmate for contraband outside of the inmate's presence because the inmate will have been unable to notify the mailroom of the attorney’s existence and identity. Secondly, in a class-action context, where one attorney or set of attorneys represent a number of inmates, the inmates similarly may be unable to invoke their right to be present when their legal mail is opened and inspected. The Court accordingly will grant plaintiffs partial relief on this issue, and will require defendants to submit a revised system for allowing inmates to invoke their right to be present when their clearly marked legal mail, i.e., mail from attorneys, the courts, and the corrections ombudsman, is opened and inspected for contraband that will remedy these constitutional defects. Defendants’ submission will be due sixty (60) days from the date of this opinion. Plaintiffs will have thirty (30) days to respond to the submission. The Court thereafter will issue a final judgment on the issue. To provide some guidance for defendants, the Court observes that the revised system should contain the following features. First, it should cover mail from an inmate’s attorney, from a court, and from the corrections ombudsman. See Taylor, 532 F.2d at 475. Secondly, the policy should be uniform throughout the subject institutions. Thirdly, an inmate should not be required to renew his request for privileged treatment whenever he is transferred. An inmate should be given the choice during the orientation process of receiving privileged treatment for his clearly marked legal mail, and. if he exercises his right to be present when the mail is inspected he should maintain that right whenever he is transferred among the subject institutions unless and until he decides to revoke his request. Fourthly, an inmate should not be required to designate a specific attorney, but rather only to state whether he wants privileged treatment for his legal mail. The requirement in rule 791.6603(4) that the mail be clearly identified as legal mail adequately informs prison officials that it may require special handling. See Harrod v. Halford, 773 F.2d 234 (8th Cir.1985), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 106 S.Ct. 2254, 90 L.Ed.2d 699 (1986). The Court believes that the SPSM’s system for handling privileged mail, under which no specific attorney is designated but an inmate rather is simply marked as wanting privileged treatment for his legal mail, adequately protects the inmates’ constitutional rights in this respect. See 3-23-87 T at 57-59 (testimony of Thomas Phillips). Finally, the Court recognizes plaintiffs’ contention that on occasion their legal mail is read. I find no evidence that these incidents, if they occur at all, are widespread, however, and thus will grant plaintiffs no relief on that issue. II. Plaintiffs’ Winter Clothing Claim Plaintiffs claim that defendants do not provide them with clothing that is adequate for Michigan winters. First Amended Complaint ¶ 47. The Eighth Amendment, which applies to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment, proscribes the infliction of cruel and unusual punishment. The Supreme Court has interpreted these words “ ‘in a flexible and dynamic manner’ ”, drawing upon objective criteria that reflect “ ‘the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society.’” Rhodes, 452 U.S. at 345-46, 101 S.Ct. at 2398-99 (citations omitted). Under the Eighth Amendment, a State may not incarcerate inmates under conditions that “involve the wanton and unnecessary infliction of pain,” which includes "inflictions of pain ... that are ‘totally without penological justification’ ”, or under conditions that are “grossly disproportionate to the severity of the crime warranting imprisonment.” Id. at 346-47, 101 S.Ct. at 2399 (citations omitted). In particular, conditions can be cruel and unusual if, considered alone or in combination, they “deprive inmates of the minimal civilized measure of life’s necessities.” Id. at 347, 101 S.Ct. at 2399; Walker v. Mintzes, 771 F.2d 920 (6th Cir.1985). Several courts, including the Sixth Circuit, have stated that adequate clothing is one of the necessities of life of which State prison officials cannot deprive an inmate. E.g., Bellamy v. Bradley, 729 F.2d 416, 419 (6th Cir.1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 845, 105 S.Ct. 156, 83 L.Ed.2d 93 (1985); Toussaint v. McCarthy, 597 F.Supp. 1388, 1410-11 (N.D.Cal.1984); aff'd in part, rev’d in part, vacated in part, and remanded, 801 F.2d 1080 (9th Cir.1986). An inmate is not entitled to the clothing of his choice, and prison officials do not violate the Constitution simply because the clothing they provide may not be aesthetically pleasing or may be illfitting. See Williams v. Duckworth, 598 F.Supp. 9, 16 (N.D.Ind.1983), aff'd mem., 749 F.2d 34 (7th Cir.1984); Wolfish v. Levi, 573 F.2d 118, 132-33 (2d Cir.1978), rev’d and remanded on other grounds sub nom., Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 99 S.Ct. 1861, 60 L.Ed.2d 447 (1979). States must, however, provide inmates with clothing that is at least minimally adequate for the conditions under which they are confined. Prison officials thus violate the Constitution if they provide inmates with clothing that is “patently insufficient to protect [them] from the cold in the winter months.” Balla v. Idaho State Board of Corrections, 595 F.Supp. 1558, 1575 (D.Idaho 1984). Inmates exposed to harsh winter conditions without proper winter clothing may indeed suffer “inflictions of pain” that are “totally without penological justification,” in violation of the Eighth Amendment. Defendants’ clothing policy is set out in Policy Directive PD-BCF-51.01, which provides in pertinent part that “[a]ll newly committed prisoners” will receive an unlined jacket and that “[wjinter coats, blue corduroy headgear with earmuffs, and long underwear, if requested will be issued to prisoners employed outside in cold weather.” In accordance with the policy, inmates are not provided gloves or boots unless they are assigned to an outside work detail, in which event they receive adequate winter clothing. E.g., T at 1539-40; T at 1337; T at 2587; see defs. exhs. 385 & 387 (boots and vests). Inmates at the MR and the SPSM in addition are not provided hats; most inmates at the MBP do receive knitted hats, and at least some apparently receive long underwear as well. Pis. exh. 397; T at 1379; T at 1963. The Court has examined the jackets that inmates generally receive during the orientation process. Pis. exhs. 511A & 511B. Exhibit 511A is a lightweight, unlined jacket that is totally inadequate for winter wear. Exhibit 511B is a similar jacket that has a medium-weight lining. Although it is a better winter jacket than exhibit 511A because of the lining, exhibit 511B also is inadequate for winter wear. The Court can take judicial notice of the severity of Michigan winters, and firmly believes that both of these two jackets fail to provide inmates with adequate protection from the cold and snow. Inmates presented credible testimony about the jackets’ inadequacy for winter wear. E.g., T at 1963-64; T at 2023. Although there was not a significant amount of testimony about inmates becoming seriously ill due to exposure to the cold, the Court does not believe that inmates are required to establish that they have become seriously ill, or that some of them have died, before being entitled to relief from unconstitutional conditions of confinement. There was abundant evidence, moreover, that inmates, except possibly those confined in segregation units, have to go outside to go to meals, to use the telephone, when they are transferred to other institutions, to go to jobs and other appointments, and for recreational periods. Defendants did introduce evidence at trial that they are producing and distributing a new coat, defs. exh. 315, that the Court considers to be adequate for winter wear. 3-18-87 T at 119-26. Between March, 1985 and March, 1987 defendants had manufactured and shipped 17,286 of the new coats. Id. at 120. A substantial portion of those coats had been sent to the subject facilities. Id. at 120-21. Well over half of the inmates at those facilities, however, did not have the new coat during the 1986-1987 winter. T at 242-47; T at 248-58. The Court observes here that it found both Mr. Hines and Mr. Valeroso to be very credible witnesses. In addition, defendants introduced no evidence that they have changed their policy concerning hats, gloves, and boots. Thus, the preponderance of the evidence demonstrates that defendants do not provide all inmates who are unable to provide adequate winter clothing on their own with an adequate winter coat, a hat, gloves, and boots. Even inmates who possess their own coats, moreover, must give them up when they are transferred, and risk never seeing them again. The Court finds, based on the facts in the record, that defendants are failing to provide inmates with adequate winter clothing. As I stated previously, the unlined coat and the coat with the light cotton lining are unsuitable for winter wear, and to force inmates to venture outside in them constitutes the infliction of substantial pain without an adequate penological justification. Moreover, inmates often are forced to forego outdoor exercise due to the lack of adequate winter clothing. Although exercise and other recreational pursuits are not necessarily a core concern of the Eighth Amendment, under certain circumstances a deprivation of recreational opportunities can violate the Constitution. See Walker, 771 F.2d at 927-28. Inmates who lack adequate winter clothing, particularly those confined at the MBP where the winters are long and harsh, face a substantial risk of such a constitutional deprivation. See T at 1964-66. Even if this were not the case, however, the Court finds, as it stated previously, that defendants are violating the Constitution by exposing inmates to winter weather without providing them with adequate clothing. The Court realizes that defendants now are manufacturing an acceptable winter coat. As I already have found, however, a majority of the inmates at the subject facilities do not have it. Defendants’ official policy, moreover, pis. exh. 396, requires only that inmates be given an unlined jacket. The Court thus believes it properly can order defendants to provide adequate winter coats, and that this issue is not moot and does not fall under Green v. Mansour, 474 U.S. 64, 106 S.Ct. 423, 88 L.Ed.2d 371 (1985), for two reasons. First, a majority of the inmates at the subject facilities have not yet received the new coat. Second, a voluntary cessation of unconstitutional conduct does not preclude a court from granting injunctive relief where it is not convinced that the unconstitutional conduct will not reoccur. In this case, the Court is not so convinced because defendants’ official policy on coats has not changed. Finally, defendants produced no evidence that they routinely provide inmates with gloves, hats, and boots. The Court finds that hats and gloves or mittens are required winter clothing at the subject facilities. The Court also finds, however, that boots are not required if inmates are given adequate winter socks and if walkways and outdoor exercise areas are kept free of snow. One final point the Court will discuss on this issue is defendants’ claim that they are not responsible for any constitutional deprivations that may be occurring. Due to the Eleventh Amendment,. and under the doctrine of Ex Parte Young, plaintiffs have sued defendants in both their official and individual capacities. The Supreme Court recently clarified that “[a]s long as the government entity receives notice and an opportunity to respond, an official-capacity suit is, in all respects other than name, to be treated as a suit against the entity.” Kentucky v. Graham, 473 U.S. 159, 165, 105 S.Ct. 3099, 3105, 87 L.Ed.2d 114, 121 (1985). Given the Eleventh Amendment, the only way a plaintiff can reach state action is to sue individual officers of the State in their official capacities. See id. 473 U.S. at 167, 105 S.Ct. at 3106 n. 14, 87 L.Ed.2d at 122 n. 14 (“implementation of state policy or custom may be reached in federal court only because official-capacity actions for prospective relief are not treated as actions against the State”). In an official-capacity action, however, “a governmental entity is liable under § 1983 only when the entity itself is a 'moving force’ behind the deprivation.” Id. 473 U.S. at 167, 105 S.Ct. at 3106, 87 L.Ed.2d at 122 (citation omitted). The Court thus must apply the Monell standard, see Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978), in deciding whether defendants are responsible for any constitutional deprivations plaintiffs may be suffering. See Clay v. Conlee, 815 F.2d 1164, 1170 (8th Cir.1987). This standard is similar to the standard for supervisory liability that the parties have argued in their written submissions. See Hays v. Jefferson County, 668 F.2d 869, 872-74 (6th Cir.1982), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 833, 103 S.Ct. 75, 74 L.Ed.2d 73 (1982). The Court need not discuss this issue further at this time, however, because defendants’ actions and inactions regarding winter clothing clearly represent official policy, and it is pursuant to official policy that plaintiffs’ constitutional rights are being violated. In accordance with the above discussion, the Court will grant plaintiffs relief on this issue, and will enter a judgment enjoining defendants to provide inmates with constitutionally adequate winter coats, hats, gloves, and, under specified circumstances, boots. Inmates are exempt from this order if they are confined in areas where they do not have to go outside during the winter. Defendants, however, must provide adequate winter clothing to inmates during all institutional transfers. III. Plaintiffs’ Lack of Access to Toilets Claim Plaintiffs’ third claim concerns only those inmates who are confined at the RCF and the RPC. Certain cells in these two buildings do not have toilets and wash basins in them. Consequently, inmates must use central lavatory facilities. This lack of in-cell sanitary facilities has caused inmates on occasion to have to urinate and to defecate in their cells in nonflushable receptacles. Plaintiffs contend that this situation violates their right under the Eighth Amendment not to be subject to conditions of confinement that constitute cruel and unusual punishment. Defendants respond that they have a system for releasing inmates from their cells to use the central lavatory facilities that works well, with only occasional sporadic breakdowns, and that no inmate is suffering from cruel and unusual conditions of confinement simply because he does not have a toilet and a washbasin in his cell. As the Court discussed previously in connection with plaintiffs’ winter clothing claim, the Eighth Amendment prohibits States from incarcerating inmates under conditions that, among other things, involve the wanton and unnecessary infliction of pain. This standard encompasses inflictions of pain that are totally without penological justification and conditions of confinement that deprive inmates of the minimal civilized measures of life’s necessities. Among the necessities of life the Eighth Amendment protects is sanitary living conditions and personal hygiene. Walker, 771 F.2d at 926 & 928. The amendment, moreover, also reaches out to protect the basic dignity of man, which is its primary underlying concept. Trop v. Dulles, 356 U.S. 86, 100, 78 S.Ct. 590, 597, 21 L.Ed.2d 630 (1958) (plurality opinion); see Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153, 173, 96 S.Ct. 2909, 2925, 49 L.Ed.2d 859 (1976) (plurality opinion). It ensures that the State exercises its power to punish “within the limits of civilized standards.” Trop, 356 U.S. at 100, 78 S.Ct. at 598. In the context before the Court, where prison officials are not required to balance against the safety and constitutional rights of inmates “competing institutional concerns for the safety of prison staff and other inmates,” inmates need not prove “[a]n express intent to inflict unnecessary pain.” Whitley v. Albers, 475 U.S. 312, -, 106 S.Ct 1078, 89 L.Ed.2d 251, 260-62 (1986). Although mere “inadvertence or error in good faith” will not constitute cruel and unusual punishment, prison officials cannot unnecessarily and wantonly inflict pain on inmates. Id. 475 U.S. at 1084, 106 S.Ct. at -, 89 L.Ed.2d at 260-61. When faced with a situation where inmates are confined in cells without toilets and washbasins and are forced to depend on corrections officials for access to those facilities, courts can and have followed one of three different approaches. First, a court can find that it is a per se violation of the Eighth Amendment to confine an inmate in a situation where he may have to defecate or urinate in a nonflushable toilet or other receptacle, particularly when the inmate has no means of cleansing himself after performing his bodily functions. Several courts have followed this approach, finding that it violates the Eighth Amendment to “lock[] a person, for any significant period of time, in a cell lacking a flush toilet and a washbowl.” Flakes v. Percy, 511 F.Supp. 1325, 1332 (W.D.Wisc.1981); see also LaReau v. MacDougall, 473 F.2d 974, 978 (2d Cir.1972) (“Causing a man to live, eat and perhaps sleep in close confines with his own human waste is too debasing and degrading to be permitted”), cert. denied, 414 U.S. 878, 94 S.Ct. 49, 38 L.Ed.2d 123 (1973); Strachan v. Ashe, 548 F.Supp. 1193, 1202 (D.Mass.1982) (objecting to the use of a “soil pot”); Heitman v. Gabriel, 524 F.Supp. 622, 626 (W.D.Mo.1981) (“[n]o inmate shall be confined for more than one hour in any locked cell which does not have working plumbing”); Wolfish v. Levi, 439 F.Supp. 114, 157 (S.D.N.Y.1977) (“it falls today below an acceptable level of humaneness to confine a prisoner of any sex where he or she must solicit freedom to use a toilet”), rev’d in part and remanded, 573 F.2d 118 (2d Cir.1978), rev’d and remanded on other grounds sub nom., Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 99 S.Ct. 1861, 60 L.Ed.2d 447 (1979); Negron v. Preiser, 382 F.Supp. 535, 539 n. 4 & 543 (S.D.N.Y.1974) (declining to find a constitutional violation where “only those patients who are free to leave the cells when they choose, or those patients who are so acutely agitated that they overly threaten to use the toilet facilities to harm themselves or others” will be confined in cells without toilets); cf. Groseclose v. Dutton, 609 F.Supp. 1432, 1437 (M.D.Tenn.1985) (noting potential problems where “meals must be eaten in the cells, often near a malodorous cement commode”), appeal dismissed, 788 F.2d 356 (6th Cir.1986); Blake v. Fair, 563 F.Supp. 836 (D.Mass.1983) (finding unconstitutional conditions where, among other things, inmates were confined in a cage area without a toilet or a sink). A second approach would be to consider that a constitutional violation occurs in a class action context only when the prison’s system of releasing inmates to use toilet facilities is inadequate, and instances of inmates not being released to use the facilities are sufficiently frequent that they face a substantial risk of being forced to defecate or urinate in their cells and not being able readily to dispose of their body wastes. Under this approach, a court may grant injunctive relief only if it finds a pattern or practice of noncompliance with a regular release program, or the absence of such a program. See Osborn v. Manson, 359 F.Supp. 1107, 1112 (D.Conn.1973) (holding that defendants may confine inmates in cells without toilets if the inmates are “permitted to use bathroom facilities at reasonable intervals and ... permitted to exercise outside their cells for one hour per day”); cf. Dimarzo v. Cahill, 575 F.2d 15 (1st Cir.1978) (upholding district court order that did not require defendants to install toilets in cells but only to install them “at the site of existing water and sewer lines”), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 927, 99 S.Ct. 312, 58 L.Ed.2d 320 (1979). Prison officials do not violate the Constitution, this approach holds, merely because they confine inmates in cells without toilets and inmates occasionally are forced to defecate or urinate in their cells without the benefit of a flushable toilet and a washbasin. A final approach would be to hold that prison officials violate the Constitution only if the conditions of confinement pose a serious risk of harm to the inmates’ health. Under this approach, even a pattern or practice of inmates not being released to use the bathroom facilities, and thus being forced to defecate or urinate in their cells, would not violate the Constitution if it did not pose a serious risk of harm to the inmates’ physical health. See Miles v. Bell, 621 F.Supp. 51, 61 (D.Conn.1985) (finding that forcing dormitory inmates to wait to use the bathroom does not cause “significant adverse health effects”; the court contrasted the situation, however, with one where inmates may experience “serious problems of toilets that [do] not flush, leaking toilets, wet floor and water shutdowns”); cf. Shrader v. White, 761 F.2d 975, 986 (4th Cir.1985) (finding food service conditions adequate where there was “no evidence of outbreaks of food poisoning, diarrhea, or other diseases which are indicative of unhealthy conditions in the preparation or handling of food”); Grubbs v. Bradley, 552 F.Supp. 1052, 1123 (M.D. Tenn.1982) (the Eighth Amendment requires conditions that are “sanitary enough so that inmates are not exposed to an unreasonable risk of disease”); Collins v. Haga, 373 F.Supp. 923, 926 (W.D.Va.1974) (the court found sanitary conditions to be adequate, in part because “there is no indication that any inmate has become ill by reason of the conditions”). Having reviewed the case law and the parties’ written submissions on this issue, the Court concludes that the first view properly interprets and implements the core values of the Eighth Amendment. It is too late in the development of our societal values to permit prison officials to confine inmates in cells where they do not have free access to toilet facilities and a washbasin. I fully agree with the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit that “pausing a man to live, eat and perhaps sleep in close confines with his own human waste is too debasing and degrading to be permitted.” LaReau, 473 F.2d at 978; see also Bel v. Hall, 392 F.Supp. 274, 277 (D.Mass.1975) (“[deprivation of elementary sanitary facilities automatically and without having disobeyed any of the institutional rules is not only hazardous to health but connotes an institutional disdain for the inmates which is bound to have a cumulative effect and to produce in them feelings of depression and despair”). Exposing an inmate to a situation where he may be forced to defecate or urinate in his own cell without the presence of proper toilet facilities or a washbasin violates the basic human dignity the Eighth Amendment protects. See Flakes, 511 F.Supp. at 1329-32. Even if I were to follow the second approach, moreover, the evidence in this case, which I will discuss in the following paragraphs, is more than adequate to support a finding that defendants are violating the Eighth Amendment rights of those inmates confined at the RCF who do not have free access, i.e., without staff assistance, to toilet facilities and washbasins. Plaintiffs have established by more than a preponderance of the evidence that defendants do not adequately provide these inmates necessary access to toilet facilities and a washbasin, and thus subject them to a substantial risk of having to defecate or urinate in their room without the benefit of a flushable toilet or a washbasin. Finally, the Court must reject the third approach, which defendants urge me to adopt. In this context, I believe that requiring plaintiffs to establish that they face a substantial risk of physical harm due to the conditions at the RCF does not give proper weight or respect to the somewhat intangible value of human dignity. The evidence does demonstrate, however, that inmates who are forced to defecate and urinate in their cells at the RCF are exposed to a health risk. See T at 743-47 & 758-60. The Court found Mr. Duel’s testimony on this point to be specific and credible. Although Mr. Duel could not quantify the health risk posed to the inmates, the Court finds that a not insubstantial risk does exist, particularly given that inmates are not always provided adequate facilities and materials for cleaning their urinals, i.e., they often have to clean them in the same sinks in which they brush their teeth and wash up and often are given no cleansers to use. T at 1032 & 1055-56 (R & GC); T at 1059, 1414-15, 1806, & 1889 (Protective Custody); T at 1076 & 1093-94 (Administrative Segregation); and T at 1734 (RPC). To compensate for the lack of toilets and washbasins in certain cells at the RCF and the RPC, defendants attempt to maintain a policy of allowing inmates out of their cells to use the toilet facilities. Since defendants’ policy tends to vary with each housing group at the institutions, the Court will discuss it in connection with a separate discussion of the status of each group. Defendants also maintain a regular policy of cleaning the hallways and other common areas at these facilities, and of providing inmates with ample opportunities to clean their own cells on a regular basis. The Court specifically finds that the RCF and the RPC generally are clean facilities, that defendants maintain clean hallways, and, with the exception of areas where urine may be spilled on the floor, see pis. exh. 376a, that the cells are clean. Defs. exhs. 373, 374, 378, 379, & 381. The issue in this context, however, is not necessarily the general sanitary condition of defendants’ physical facilities, but whether inmates are given adequate access to toilet facilities. I will discuss this issue separately for each of the four population groups that defendants house at the RCF and the RPC. The first population group the Court will discuss is the inmates confined in the Reception and Guidance Center, which is located in 7-Building on the first and second floors. Sixty-seven of the cells on the first floor and sixty-three of the cells on the second floor of seven building do not contain toilets or washbasins. Pis. exh. 27 at 13. Inmates are confined in this facility for an average period of two weeks while they are going through orientation and awaiting transfers to other institutions. 4-24-87 T at 20. During that two-week period, they are locked in their cells approximately eighteen hours per day and are allowed out of their cells three times a day for meals and once a day for recreation. Pis. exh. 388; T at 1353-54. They are given a urinal on their arrival at the Reception Center and are told to use it, and to attempt to attract the attention of an officer if they have an emergency. T at 1033, 1054, & 1353. At least two inmates were given a used urinal. T at 1414-15 & 1742. Several inmates testified that they were forced to use the urinals, and on occasion even to defecate in their cells, because they were unable to use the regular toilet facilities. T at 1033 (urinate); T at 1054 (urinate); T at 2298 (urinate); T at 1061 (urine in courtyard from inmates in 7-2 quarantine); T at 2296-97 (defecate); T at 2298 (urinate). This testimony was buttressed by testimony of urine and feces being thrown into the courtyard by inmates confined in the Reception area and the Protective Custody area. T at 1046 (feces and urine); T at 1061-62 (feces and urine); T at 1068 (feces and urine); T at 1078-79 (feces); T at 1417 (inmates in quarantine dumping urinals); T at 1436-37 (feces and urine); T at 1707 (feces); & T at 1885 (inmate dumped urinal out of window). The Court does not find that inmates throw urine and feces into the courtyard on a daily basis. I do find, however, that it occurs often enough to support a finding that defendants fail to provide inmates in the Reception area with regular access to bathroom facilities and that such inmates often are forced to urinate and defecate in their cells. In this regard, I specifically find that Mr. Waterman’s trial testimony was not credible and was insufficient to rebut plaintiffs’ evidence. It was not credible because it contradicted his detailed deposition testimony on this issue. Even if it were credible it was insufficient because Mr. Waterman did not deny at trial that inmates frequently throw urine and feces out the windows; he merely stated that it was not a “daily” occurrence. 3-25-87 T at 146. Defendants in their post-trial submissions have pointed the Court to nothing in the record demonstrating that they provide inmates confined at the Reception Center with regular access to bathroom facilities. The logs they submitted in support of their claim that they provide inmates with such access apparently concern only the protective custody and administrative segregation units. See pis. exh. 362. As I will discuss later in this opinion, moreover, even those logs do not adequately support defendants’ position. In summary, the preponderance of the evidence demonstrates that inmates confined in the Reception area are expected to use their urinals, do use their urinals in their cells, and on occasion even are forced to defecate in their cells. The Court already has found, moreover, that defendants do not always provide these inmates with adequate cleaning materials for their urinals. The second population group housed in seven building is the protective custody unit, which is housed on the third floor of the building. Ninety-six of the cells on this floor do not have toilets or washbasins. Protective custody inmates are locked in their cells during the night, from approximately 10:00 or 11:00 p.m. to approximately 6:00 or 6:30 a.m. During the day they generally are out of their cells on assignments or just around the housing unit. Pis. exh. 27 at 14-15; see T at 1034. As with the Reception Center inmates, inmates in protective custody are provided with urinals and are told to use them. 3-23-87 T at 107; T at 1040; T at 1704. Several inmates testified that they have had to urinate and to defecate in their cells because they could not get out to use the toilet facilities. T at 1040-44 (defecate and urinate); T at 1059-61 (defecate and urinate); T at 1415-17 (defecate); T at 1430-31 (defecate); T at 1704-05 (defecate); & T at 1886-88 (defecate). This testimony also was buttressed by testimony that inmates confined in the protective custody units dump urine and feces out of their windows. Defendants established on their cross-examination of some of the inmates that correctional officers frequently let inmates out during the night to use the toilet facilities. T at 1708-09; T at 1903. The bathroom logs defendants submitted, moreover, also demonstrate that the correctional officers frequently let inmates out of their cells during the night to use the facilities. Such logs do not, and cannot, however, indicate the number of times the correctional officers have ignored inmate requests to use the toilet facilities. The Court finds that plaintiffs have established by a preponderance of the evidence that inmates frequently are forced or required to urinate or to defecate in their cells, and face a substantial risk of not being allowed to use the toilet facilities when they need to do so. Finally, as I already have found, defendants do not always supply these inmates with adequate cleaning supplies for their urinals, and on occasion have provided inmates with used urinals. T at 1058-59. Defendants argue that the Court should not consider the situation of the protective custody inmates because they are phasing out that unit and are replacing those inmates with general population inmates, who are given adequate access to toilet facilities. Warden Quarles testified at trial that defendants are converting the protective custody unit to a general population unit, and expect to finish that project by the summer. 4-24-87 T at 21-22. The Court has no evidence, however, that this transition actually has occurred. I agree with plaintiffs, moreover, that even if the transition has occurred defendants have failed to demonstrate that “ ‘there is no reasonable expectation ... ’ that the alleged violation will recur.” County of Los Angeles v. Davis, 440 U.S. 625, 631, 99 S.Ct. 1379, 1383, 59 L.Ed.2d 642 (1979) (quoting in part United States v. W.T. Grant Co., 345 U.S. 629, 633, 73 S.Ct. 894, 898, 97 L.Ed. 1303 (1953)). Absent some kind of assurance that defendants will only confine in these cells inmates who will have free access to toilet facilities, without staff assistance, the Court believes it properly can enjoin any unconstitutional conditions that exist regarding the lack of toilets in them. The third population group housed in seven building is the administrative segregation unit. These inmates are confined in their cells most of the time, being allowed out only to use the toilet facilities and for a daily recreation period of one hour. Pis. exh. 29 at 17. There are approximately twenty inmates confined in the segregation unit. Defs. exh. 313. Correctional officers make regular bathroom runs four or five times a day, during which time inmates are allowed out of their cells to use the toilet facilities. Pis. exh. 369; Seg.Record dated 11-18-85. In addition, correctional officers make rounds on the unit every one-half hour, during which time inmates can request to be allowed to use the toilet facilities. 4-24-87 T at 19; pis. exh. 27 at 15; pis. exh. 29 at 21. These requests are not always granted, however, particularly during the late night and early morning hours. Defendants’ green log book for the segregation unit indicates that inmates are occasionally allowed out of their cells during the early morning hours to use the toilet facilities. Once again, however, the logs do not reflect the times when an inmate is not allowed out of his cell to use the facilities. See T at 1091-93; T at 1890-91; T at 1077. Plaintiffs’ evidence of administrative segregation inmates being forced to defecate or urinate in their cells is less convincing than their evidence on inmates confined in protective custody and in the Reception Center. Instances of these inmates being forced to urinate or defecate in their cells present significant constitutional concerns, however, because they are locked in their cells most of the time and must eat their meals in their cells. See pis. exh. 30 at 11; pis. exh. 29 at 14-15. They are not, moreover, always allowed to wash themselves before mealtimes. T at 1094; T at 1077. Under such circumstances, the Court finds that defendants are violating the Eighth Amendment rights of the administrative segregation inmates by confining them in cells without toilets or washbasins. As a concluding note on the administrative segregation inmates, the Court observes that the parties dispute whether the current American Correctional Association standards for Adult Correctional Institutions require defendants to give inmates in segregation units free access to toilet facilities. Defendants argue that standard 2-4130 of the January 1986 supplement indicates that prison officials are not required to provide inmates in segregation units with free access to toilet facilities. Plaintiffs respond that the January 1986 revisions did not affect standard 2-4135, which does require prison officials to provide inmates in segregation units with free access to toilet facilities. Plaintiffs attached standard 2-4135 to their post-trial brief on this issue. The Court believes that plaintiffs probably have the better of this argument. I do not find the ACA standards on this issue to be persuasive one way or the other, however. This is one issue on which the Court finds expert opinion to be helpful, but not persuasive. See Rhodes, 452 U.S. at 348 n. 13, 101 S.Ct. at 2400 n. 13. The final population group the Court will consider is the inmates confined in the Riverside Psychiatric Center, which is in 11 building. Forty-eight of the rooms in the east wing of this building do not have toilets or washbasins in them. Most of the inmates confined in these rooms are not locked in their cells and are allowed free access to toilet facilities, except during the relatively brief count times. 3-25-87 T at 148 & 159. Some inmates, however, are in seclusion, during which time they are not free to leave their cells to use the toilet facilities. Id. at 151-52. Approximately one to three inmates may be on seclusion at a time in the east wing of the building, although the number could be as high as twelve. Id. at 152-53 & 157. Many of these inmates take psychotropic medications that increase their thirst for liquids, and consequently also increase the frequency of their urination. T at 3300-04. To cope with this problem, defendants occasionally place urinals in the seclusion cells. 3-25-87 T at 157. These inmates also are offered a toilet break every two hours and are checked every fifteen minutes, during which time they may request to use the bathroom. Id. at 152. It appears, however, that nurses occasionally may delay allowing an inmate in seclusion out to use the bathroom if he or she believes the inmate is merely playing games. Id. at 159. In addition, there is evidence that not more than two inmates are allowed out of their rooms at any one time to use the bathroom facilities. See pis. exh. 368. Finally, there was some evidence that inmates confined at the RPC in cells without toilets have urinated and defecated in their cells. T at 1736-37 & 1740-41; T at 1897. Defendants contend that even inmates in cells with toilets at the RPC occasionally urinate and defecate in their cells, and that "the problem in 11 building has more to do with the medical problems of individual inmates, rather than the physical plant.” They cite to Dr. Bort’s deposition testimony, introduced by the plaintiffs, in support of their contention. The Court has reviewed the admitted portions of Dr. Bort’s deposition and finds nothing in them indicating that inmates in cells with toilets urinate and defecate on the floor of the cell. Dr. Bort did testify at his deposition, however, that the State Department of Mental Health is opposed to placing toilets in the cells at Riverside. Pis. exh. 4 at 11. Plaintiffs’ psychiatric expert, Dr. Rundle, testified, moreover, that patients may urinate and defecate on the floor even when they have direct access to toilet facilities and that most mental health hospitals have some seclusion rooms without