WESTEFER v. SNYDER
725 F.Supp.2d 735 (2010)
United States District Court, S.D. Illinois.
July 20, 2010.
Some inmates testified to receiving misleading information from IDOC personnel about the likely duration of their confinement at Tamms and what they needed to do to be transferred out of the prison. For example, Plaintiff Sparling testified that during orientation at Tamms he was told that he would be confined at Tamms only for a year, provided that he behaved himself and was not disciplined: "[W]hen we came in for orientation they said do your year, go through level systems, don't get any tickets, and we will ship you out of Tamms." Doc. 513 (Sparling Testimony) at 11-12. Although Sparling complied with these instructions, in fact he remained at Tamms, as already has been noted, for six years and seven months, his confinement at the supermax prison being explained to him only as that he was "[p]roperly placed." Id. at 12. See also Doc. 514 (Carroll Testimony) at 37 (the witness testified that the common understanding among IDOC inmates in 1999 was that placement at Tamms was only for a year). Relatedly, IDOC inmate Gene Arnett, who currently is confined at Tamms, testified that IDOC personnel have told him that because of his poor disciplinary record he will never be transferred out of the supermax prison:
Q. And has anybody told you how long you are likely to stay here at Tamms?
A. Wardens have told me I'm never leaving Tamms.
Q. Have they told you what you can do to modify your behavior to get out of here?
A. They've told me because of my past I will never leave Tamms.
Doc. 433 (Testimony of Gene Arnett) at 75.
Significantly, even Tamms inmates who have maintained clean disciplinary records for years remain at the supermax prison, with no idea how long they may be confined there. For example, IDOC inmate Richard McCue testified that he remains confined at Tamms despite not having received a disciplinary ticket in nine years and despite having been in level three, which, as already has been discussed, is the security level assigned to the best-behaved Tamms inmates and the one that carries the most privileges, for eight years:
1. The Court notes that there is also a minimum security prison at Tamms; all references to Tamms in this Order are to the supermax prison there.
2. This perhaps is the place to note that this Order is intended to be a concise account of the bench trial conducted on the procedural due process claims in this case, and to that end only matters deemed by the Court to be credible, material, and relevant will be reported. The reader should presume that evidence omitted from the Court's findings of fact was considered by the Court to be irrelevant or in any event less persuasive than competing evidence. The Court notes in passing that, in addition to alleging violations of procedural due process, Plaintiffs Von Perbandt, Taylor, Sparling, Sorrentino, Santiago, V. Rodriguez, E. Rodriguez, Lasley, Knox, Horton, Harper, Felton, Combs, Clayton, Chapman, Burrell, Bivens, and Cunningham also assert claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging that they were assigned by Defendants to the supermax prison at Tamms in retaliation for filing grievances and lawsuits and engaging in other protected activities challenging the conditions of their confinement, in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution. These retaliation claims have been resolved in a series of jury trials, and they are not at issue here.
3. In fact, statistical data assembled by the IDOC shows that the average time served for the current population at Tamms is 73.4 months, or over six years. See Ten-Point Plan (Plaintiffs' Exhibit 7) at 6. Seventy of the 243 inmates (28.3%) have been at Tamms for at least ten years, and more than half have been at Tamms for over five years. See id. at 8. Over three-quarters (76.9%) or 190 of the inmates at Tamms have been there for over three years. See id., Table 4.
4. The Court recognizes that it is assuming here that, were work, education, and substance abuse programs available at Tamms, inmates of the supermax prison would participate in such programs. This assumption seems reasonable to the Court. Participation in such programs doubtless would be a happy alternative to the crushing monotony of being confined alone in a cell for up to twenty-four hours a day that currently is the lot of Tamms inmates. Also, it seems probable that Tamms inmates would welcome the opportunity to earn money by participating in work programs, in order to purchase small items like walkmans or arch supports that make life in a place like Tamms somewhat more bearable. See Doc. 433 (Testimony of Adolfo Rosario) at 50-51 (the witness, a Tamms inmate, complained that the shoes issued to him by Tamms correctional personnel lack arch supports, but he cannot purchase shoe inserts at the prison commissary because he is indigent and has no money to spend at the commissary).
5. Finally, although strictly speaking Point Two of IDOC Director Randle's Plan is not concerned with the issue of whether or not an inmate should be placed at Tamms, it is worth noting that Point Two protects inmates from spending an unnecessary amount of time in the supermax prison. Under the Plan, as already has been noted, upon arrival at Tamms new inmates of the supermax prison will be advised at orientation of the probable length of their stay at the prison, expressed as a range of possible terms of supermax confinement; further, inmates will work with counselors to ensure that they achieve the behavioral levels necessary to be transferred out of Tamms in the least possible time. See Ten-Point Plan (Plaintiffs' Exhibit 7) at 16; Doc. 522 (Randle Testimony) at 13-14.