Sabree v. Conley, No. 02-P-1267 (MA 9/27/2004)

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G. SAIF SABREE vs. PAUL CONLEY & others¹

No. 02-P-1267.

Court of Appeals of Massachusetts.

September 27, 2004.

Civil Rights, Coercion, Immunity of public official. Search and Seizure, Body examination. Imprisonment, Enforcement of discipline, Transfer of prisoner. Constitutional Law, Cruel and unusual punishment.

The case was submitted on briefs.

Nancy Ankers White, Special Assistant Attorney General, & Richard C. McFarland for the defendants.

G. Saif Sabree, pro se.

I. Plaintiff, G. Saif Sabree, a former inmate at MCI-Cedar Junction, filed suit, essentially alleging civil rights violations, against the Department of Correction and several correction officers for a visual body cavity search viewed by several prison visitors. The Superior Court granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment based, in part, on grounds of qualified immunity. We affirm.

A. On July 3, 1998, before returning to their housing units from the recreation yard, Sabree and numerous other male inmates were strip searched in groups of about three in an outside alcove walled on three sides with the fourth bounded by a chain link fence. Each search took three to five minutes, requiring that the inmate wiggle his toes and fingers, lift his tongue, spread his buttocks, and handle his genitals. A few women and children, leaving the prison, allegedly saw the inmates.² Sabree was not aware of a similar outdoor search conducted on any other occasion.³

Sabree, conceding that the search was justified by suspicion of contraband, claims that it was unduly invasive and violated the command of his religion for strict cross-gender modesty. Defendants state that the only alternate location, an interior corridor leading to Sabree's unit, was not suitable; its dimensions would have allowed only one search at a time, greatly delaying the process, and would have provided an insufficient area to safely conduct the search. Alternatively, Sabree alleges the search could have been moved to the nearby Health Services Unit (HSU).

B. 1. Plaintiff's claim for damages under the State Civil Rights Act fails as he cannot show "threats, intimidation, or coercion" associated with the search. See Longval v. Commissioner of Correction, 404 Mass. 325, 333 (1989); Abdullah v. Secretary of Pub. Safety, 42 Mass. App. Ct. 387, 396-397 (1997). Cf. Swain v. Spinney, 117 F.3d 1, 12 (1st Cir. 1997) (use of strip search to punish or intimidate would satisfy statute). Even if the manner of conducting the search was unreasonable, there is no evidence that it was conducted for an illegitimate or vindictive purpose. Cf. Langton v. Secretary of Pub. Safety, 37 Mass. App. Ct. 15, 20 (1994).

2. As to Sabree's § 1983 claim, the defense of qualified immunity invokes a three-part inquiry: "first, whether a constitutional violation has been alleged if plaintiff['s] allegations are established as true; second, whether the law was clearly established at the time of the alleged violation; and last, whether a reasonable official, similarly situated would understand that the challenged conduct violated a constitutional norm." Rivera-Jimenez v. Pierluisi, 362 F.3d 87, 93 (1st Cir. 2004). See Saucier v. Katz, 533 U.S. 194, 201-202 (2001).

(a) Strip searches conducted in nonprivate areas, viewed by nonessential persons (particularly of the opposite sex), violate the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution unless justified by legitimate penological interests.⁴ See Elliott v. Lynn, 38 F.3d 188 (5th Cir. 1994), cert. denied, 514 U.S. 1117 (1995); Cornwell v. Dahlberg, 963 F.2d 912 (6th Cir. 1992); Franklin v. Lockhart, 883 F.2d 654 (8th Cir. 1989); Michenfelder v. Sumner, 860 F.2d 328 (9th Cir. 1988); Hayes v. Marriott, 70 F.3d 1144 (10th Cir. 1995); Farmer v. Perrill, 288 F.3d 1254 (10th Cir. 2002). These cases indicate that the search in question if predictably vulnerable to viewing by visitors would be unconstitutional if alternate locations or measures would have accommodated Sabree's rights at minimal cost to institutional security and would not have negated the search's purpose as, for example, if relocating to a more private area might allow inmates to pass off contraband. Factual disputes persist as to whether defendants unreasonably failed to secure the search against visual intrusion: the view from the pedestrian entrance; the likelihood that visitors would pass by; the feasibility of alternate locations (such as the HSU), as well as other methods to ensure greater privacy; and the efficacy of contacting the guards at the entrance.

(b) Nevertheless, defendants are entitled to immunity on the latter two prongs as they were not on fair notice that the search violated the Fourth Amendment. See Hope v. Pelzer, 536 U.S. 730, 739-741 (2002). Cookish v. Powell, 945 F.2d 441, 447 (1st Cir. 1991), had summarized the case law as allowing "inadvertent, occasional, casual, and/or restricted" viewing of naked inmates by opposite sex guards, as an accommodation to equal opportunity employment, and circuit cases since Cookish had provided no further light on cross-sex viewing of naked inmates. The body of cases from other Federal circuits did not fill out the test outlined in Turner v. Safety, 482 U.S. 78, 89-90 (1987), in relation to similar facts and thus was insufficient to inform reasonable officials that their conduct was illegal. In sum, defendants could have characterized any potential view of the searches as no more than "inadvertent, occasional, casual and/or restricted," and could have further found the small risk of such incidental viewing to be outweighed by the need for expediency. In view of the central objective of ensuring prison security, we are cautioned to remain mindful of "the appropriate hesitancy to critique in hindsight decisions necessarily made in haste, under pressure, and frequently without the luxury of a second chance." Cookish v. Powell, supra at 449 n. 11, quoting Whitley v. Albers, 475 U.S. 312, 320 (1986). Qualified immunity insulates reasonable errors of judgment, protecting "all but the plainly incompetent or those who knowingly violate the law." Malley v. Briggs, 475 U.S. 335, 341 (1986). See, e.g., Richardson v. McKnight, 521 U.S. 399, 408 (1997); Saucier v. Katz, 533 U.S. at 201-202, 206. In addition, the violation of prison regulations does not by itself forfeit qualified immunity. See, e.g., Davis v. Scherer, 468 U.S. 183, 194 (1984).

3. Sabree's claims for injunctive and declaratory relief cannot proceed as he is no longer an inmate at the facility and as the recreation yard search appears to have been an isolated incident.⁵ See Shaheed-Muhammad v. Dipaolo, 138 F. Supp. 2d 99, 105-106 (D. Mass. 2001); Seaver v. Manduco, 178 F. Supp. 2d 30, 36 (D. Mass. 2002). See also Boston Herald, Inc. v. Superior Ct. Dept. of the Trial Ct., 421 Mass. 502, 504 (1995); Pidge v. Superintendent, Mass. Correctional Inst., Cedar Junction, 32 Mass. App. Ct. 14, 19-20 (1992).

II. The judge did not err in allowing summary judgment on plaintiff's claims related to his transfer to a less desirable cell.

A. On July 5, 1998, Sabree sent a grievance to the superintendent of the prison, complaining of the open nature of the search. Sabree alleged harassment due to his race, religion, and recent prisoner litigation. The superintendent replied, on July 17, 1998, that all of the inmates in the yard had been searched. On or about July 24, 1998, Paul Conley, one of the guards who conducted the search, ordered Sabree moved from his cell on the first tier to a cell on the second tier. Sabree remained in the new cell, which he claims to have been in disrepair, for twenty-three hours per day for one to two weeks. It is not contested that inmates on the first tier were routinely moved to accommodate those with medical needs. However, Sabree asserted "personal knowledge" that Conley departed from unwritten seniority procedures regarding placement in cells on the first tier. Conley denied any seniority policy, as such a policy would "create expectations" and cause "complaints and tensions" where deviations were necessary. Conley cited several factors generally used to place inmates and denied retaliation.

B. 1. Defendants do not contest that Sabree had a First Amendment right to file a grievance and that Conley could not retaliate against him for doing so. E.g., Shabazz v. Cole, 69 F. Supp. 2d 177, 197 (D. Mass. 1999); Langton v. Secretary of Pub. Safety, 37 Mass. App. Ct. at 18-20; Murphy v. Cruz, 52 Mass. App. Ct. 314, 319 (2001). Nevertheless, the judge correctly allowed the defendant's motion for summary judgment as the record raised no inference of retaliatory motive. See Messere v. Commissioner of Correction, 27 Mass. App. Ct. 542, 548-549 (1989); Puleio v. Commissioner of Correction, 52 Mass. App. Ct. 302, 313 (2001). While the chronology of events can in some circumstances defeat a motion to dismiss, it cannot create a triable issue when defendants have produced evidence of a legitimate purpose that would have prompted the transfer in the absence of the grievance. See Layne v. Vinzant, 657 F.2d 468, 476 (1st Cir. 1981); Shabazz v. Cole, 69 F. Supp. 2d at 197-198; Murphy v. Cruz, 52 Mass. App. Ct. at 317-318. Sabree's bare allegations do not show a reasonable expectation of proving a rigid seniority system for assigning cells. Cf. Powell v. Pittsfield, 221 F. Supp. 2d 119, 141-143 (D. Mass. 2002). Sabree did not rely upon or support his claim of ongoing retaliation. Cf. Ferranti v. Moran, 618 F.2d 888, 892 (1st Cir. 1980).

2. Plaintiff also raised a "conditions of confinement" claim pursuant to the Eight Amendment to the United States Constitution. See Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 832-833 (1994). Sabree must show (1) conditions "sufficiently serious" as to "result in the denial of the `minimal civilized measure of life's necessities'", id. at 834, quoting from Rhodes v. Chapman, 452 U.S. 337, 347 (1981), and (2) that defendants acted with "deliberate...