Reply Brief — United States v. Georgia
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Nos. 04-1205 and 04-1236
In the Supreme Court of the United States
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, PETITIONER
o.
STATE OF GEORGIA, ET AL.
TONY GOODMAN, PETITIONER
2,
STATE OF GEORGIA, ET AL.
ON WRITS OF CERTIORARI
TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
REPLY BRIEF FOR THE PETITIONER IN NO. 04-1203
PAUL D. CLEMENT
Solicitor General
Counsel of Record
Department of Justice
Washington, D.C. 20530-0001
(202) 3914-2216
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
A. Prison administration is the relevant context ....... 1
B. Title II responds to a long history and a
continuing problem of unconstitutional
treatment of disabled prisoners .................... 2
1. Lane held that Section 5 legislation is
EE -nvncncepncdsandessecsiasdesbinekenid 3
By ee IES és ccsnccccnvectbasecees 4
3. The type of violation warrants congressional
DEED . d.woneneeuesesecscbiveciecseedsucueawans 13
4. Title Il is not underinclusive .................. 15
C. Title II is reasonably tailored to remedying
and preventing constitutional violations in
GUE coc cnnncincecciscecstesescccedes 16
PT EE. kk cekccsescveceviasndvaasesunteuenenns la
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
Cases:
Alabama v. United States, 304 F.2d 583 (1st Cir.),
eS eee 8
Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc.,
Gee Ce ED 6p ke y0nntnddcccssecnseussaons 10
Anderson v. Martin, 375 U.S. 399 (1964) ........... 8
Armstrong v. Davis, No. 99-15152, 2000
WL 369622 (9th Cir. Apr. 11, 2003) .............. 18
Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Auth., 297 U.S.
POPEEED <ncecnaseuensspcusaceseseiasuencen 18
Barnes v. Gorman, 536 U.S. 181 (2002) ............ 20
Baskin v. Brown, 174 F.2d 391 (9th Cir.
DD eusesncduesnecneenendsstsesceddaneerusdele 8
Beckford v. Irvin, 49 F. Supp. 2d 170
Fs SD 6 4.60 cncuncsccateesssasdsccnaasaes 11
II
Cases—Coatinued Page
Benten v. Kessler, 505 U.S. 1084 (1992) ............ 10
Bivens v. Sir Unknown Named Agents of Federal
Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388 (1971) ........ 20
Bliley v. West, 42 F.3d 101 (4th Cir. 1930) ........... 8
Board of Trs. of the Univ. of Ala. v. Garrett,
ED tn cine ieee eueghenness ve 5,7
Bowman v. Beasley, 8 Fed. Appx. 175 (10th Cir.
2001), cert. denied, 535 U.S. 1001 (2002) ......... 18
Brooks v. Horn, No. Civ.A. 00-03637, 2004
WL 764385 (E.D. Pa. Apr. 7, 2004) .............. 18
Buck v. Bell, 274 U.S. 200 (1927) .............eeees 8
Butler v. Thompson, 184 F.2d 526 (4th Cir. 1950) ....8
Carrington v. Rash, 380 U.S. 89 (1965) ...........64. 8
Chapman v. King, 154 F.2d 460 (5th Cir.), cert.
denied, 327 U.S. 800 (1946) ............c cee eeeeees 8
City of Boerne v. Flores, 521 U.S. 507
DT dite se cecakcededennennehs nneenesee se coces 6
City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Ctr., Inc.,
ED sc ct cocunaebéaduseaveessccecess 4
City of Rome v. United States, 446 U.S. 156
PT cried ehGeheeksdedeheshdsescececccesce 10
Couvillion v. Michigan Parole Bd.,
No. 4:04-CV-130, 2005 WL 1036973
FR GED occcvccsecccccccccccce 18
Cutter v. Wilkinson, 1258. Ct. 2113 ;
cts LaGEseheasdhebsnsesoconcecces 14, 18, 19
Davis v. Schnell, 81 F. Supp. 872 (S.D. Ala.),
og SR Rl) EPPPOTTTTITITTTTeTerTee 8
DeShaney v. Winnebago County Dep't of Soc.
Servs., 489 U.S. 189 (1989) ........cceeccrececes 18
Ill
Cases-—Continued Page
Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. (19 How.) 393
iii ehhenddddeedednesectssseocceoecocecs 10
Drueding v. Devlin, 380 U.S. 125 (1965) ............. 8
Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825 (1994) ........... 17
Gates v. Rowland, 39 F.2d 1439 (9th Cir. 1994) .... 18
Guinn v. United States, 238 U.S. 347 (1915) ......... 8
Hamm v. Virginia State Bd. of Elections, 230 F.
Supp. 156 (E.D. Va.), aff'd, 379 U.S. 19 (1964) ...... &
Harrelson v. Elmore County, 859 F. Supp. 1465
ED ib .60 cicedineendseneeooeveeees 11
Harris v. United States, 536 U.S. 545 (2002) ....... 18
Hicks v. Frey, 992 F.2d 1450 (6th Cir. 1993) ........ 11
Johnson v. California, 125 8. Ct. 1141
Dh e debeceeedieeseeedseoeerecooesoes 14, 18
Kimel v. Florida Bd. of Regents, 528 U.S. 62
DT Aiiecindsindsinendeadinesecesescoesenses 16
Lane v. Wilson, 307 U.S. 268 (1989) .............4.. 8
Lassiter v. Northampton County Bd. of Elections,
ECP EET TTT TTT TTT al
Lewis v. Casey, 518 U.S. 343 (1996) ............045. 13
Lopez v. Monterey County, 525 U.S. 266 (1999) .... 10
McCardle, Ex parte, 74 U.S. (7 Wall.) 506 (1869) ... 10
McDonald v. Key, 224 F.2d 608 (10th Cir.),
cert. denied, 350 U.S. 895 (1955) ...............4.. s
McKune v. Lile, 536 U.S. 24 (2002) ..............4.. 16
Miller v. King, 384 F.3d 1248 (11th Cir. 2004) ..... 2,5
Myers v. Anderson, 238 U.S. 368 (1915) .........4.. 8
Cases—Continued Page
Navedo v. Maloney, 172 F. Supp. 2d 276
Ga Be accnccscessdocedussverecesssooss 11
Nevada Dep't of Human Res. v. Hibbs,
Bee as We GED cca ccccsccescccsccocccens passim
Nixon v. Condon, 286 U.S. 73 (1932) .............44. s
Nixon v. Herndon, 273 U.S. 536 (1927) ............. 8
Oneisha v. Hopper, 171 F.3d 1289 (ilth Cir.
1999), cert. denied, 528 U.S. 1114 (2000) ........ 18
Oregon v. Mitchell, 400 U.S. 112 (1970) .............. 8
Parkinson v. Columbia County Dist. Att'y,
679 N.Y.S.2d 505 (Sup. Ct. 1998) ................ 11
Pennsylvania Dep't of Corrs. v. Yeskey,
Se ED bcc cccddsdedeedensacescees 4,16
Randolph v. Rodgers, 170 F.3d 850 (8th Cir.
EEE cnccnndéudnenscbecousecedsdeesasosuneeenc 18
Reed v. Reed, 404 U.S. 71 (1971) -............ceeeeees i)
Rice v. Elmore, 165 F.2d 387 (4th Cir. 1947),
cert. denied, 333 U.S. 875 (1948) ............60000. 8
Rostker v. Goldberg, 453 U.S. 57 (1981) .............. 7
Schmidt v. Odell, 64 F. Supp. 2d 1014 (D. Kan.
PEED coneconcesncuscesannsacededsbssisodesenes 11
Serrano v. Francis, 345 F.3d 1071 (9th Cir.
2003), cert. denied, 125 S. Ct. 43 (2004) ........... 11
Smith v. Allwright, 321 U.S. 649 (1944) ............. 8
South Carolina v. Katzenbach, 383 U.S. 301
GUE cdendnvecccassedannensadbadcsensesans 5, 6,8
Spicer v. Virginia, Dep't of Corrs., 66 F.3d 705
SEE EEE oécdeesccdsecaanseuensssensedeues 11
Tennessee v. Lane, 541 U.S. 509 (2004) ........ passim
Terry v. Adams, 345 U.S. 461 (1963) ............... s
Cases—Continued Page
Thorn v. Richardson, No. 9577, 1971 WL 201
Gera CH GE ER EEE cccccccccscccccccedece )
Turner v. Safley, 482 U.S. 78 (1987) ......... 13, 14,17
United States v. Gainey, 380 U.S. 63 (1965) .......... 5
United States v. Louisiana, 225 F. Supp. 353
(E.D. La. 1963), aff'd, 380 U.S. 145 (1965) .......... 8
United States v. Raines, 362 U.S. 17 (1960) ......... 3
United States v. Virginia, 518 U.S. 515 (1996) .... 7,9
Virginia, Ex parte, 100 U.S. 339 (1879) ........... 10
Weeks v. Chaboudy, 984 F.2d 185 (6th Cir. 1993) ... 11
Wilkinson v. Austin, 125 S. Ct. 2384 (2005) ........ 17
Constitution, statutes and regulations:
U.S. Const.:
Art. I, § 8 (Commerce Clause) .................... 5
HE WEE eabdaddcdbecdenccsecec< 1, 11, 14, 15, 16
Amend. XIV:
écdecccdeddaduacddsacsusnsasanededsneonesed 6
De cccccccsncssasnssnsenssacesescecceses passim
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C.
PU OROOE, ccvccecesceccesecccccccessoscees 7,12
Fp ee SEED sccdccccccccsccessese 3, 4, 16
42 U.S.C. 12111-12117 (Title I) .................. 5
42 U.S.C. 12131-12165 (Title IT) ........... passim
SPs SED Sncedccodececcesanedeceeoss 17
SP ME cui nddesentséecsdecuncoenss 14,17
BR EE me 18
Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act,
GR OPO dcdccccecccasccosseescsoseses 4
VI
Statutes and regulations—Continued Page
as SED cececccccncccccocececcess 4
42 U.S.C. 19B7(2K BMI)... 0... eee eee ween ee eees 4
Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972,
Pub. L. No. 92-261, § 2, 86 Stat. 103 ............... 8
Family and Medical Leave Act, 29 U.S.C. 2601
GGT. cccccccccocncecscccesceccnncesseaseses 6, 20
Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995, 42 U.S.C.
SED nc00ns0csencsencceseeceeeesecoeceseenaess 19
Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. 701 et seg. ........ 18, 20
CE, on nin eee encesedudeneebeeese 4
29 U.S.C. 794 (2000 & Supp. 2002) .............. 18
Religious Land Use and Institutionalized
Persons Act, 42 U.S.C. 2000ce et seg. ............ 19
Se ED vdccccecccccnsccccccecances 4
42 U.S.C. 2000ce-1an]) ...... ccc cece ecceeeees 19
42 U.S.C. 2000ce-1(a(2) 1... . cece eee ceeneees 19
20 U.S.C. 6421(a)(2) (2000 & Supp. I] 2002) .......... 4
20 U.S.C. 6421(a)(3) (2000 & Supp. 11 2002) ......... 4
Pe CED cecccecddcsecocsncvasocssceceses 4
42 U.S.C. 5633(a)(9)(A) (2000 & Supp. I1 2002) ....... 4
42 U.S.C. 5633(a)(9)(F (i) (2000 & Supp. II
ED dboudcadeducedasandwansedsesusiuccceeuecos 4
Mass. Gen. Laws Ann. ch. 123 (West 2003):
DE dtdeduddecccnsecdecdeecdesscesusdseeooceese 11
DED sdadenckesasdedustsedenedenecedeedeneseeds 11
DED cccccubondodsucsdentesqdessesecedtoesacsas 11
DED é0cccesdeeecdecnsdcedusecseeesdéénucsnneses 11
28 C.F.R.:
PEED cu ccccacccsecccesseossenens 17
PEED Sccccccocccsuccectsscooeens 17
——
Vil
Miscellaneous: Page
AIDS and the Admin.of Justice: Hearing
Before the Subcomm. on Courts, Civil Liberties,
and the Admin.of Justice of the House
Comm. on the Judiciary, 100th Cong., 1st
EEE =canaagcestnecncstadsenkbeounsesconc 12
Civil Rights for Institutionalized Persons:
Hearings on H.R. 2439 and H.R. 5791
Before the Subcomm. on Courts, Civil Liberties,
and the Administration of Justice of the
House Comm. on the Judiciary, 95th Cong.,
PEED -Gdnncececucedctscsasecaseussoces 12
Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons:
Hearings on S. 1393 Before the Subcomm.
on the Constitution of the Senate Comm. on
the Judiciary, 95th Cong., Ist Sess. (1977) .... 13, 15
118 Cong. Rec. (1972):
DG Ghdcdcdcstoccusddsodescenvcsecosceasacess 9
DBE ‘nedncndseeconscocecncatescuscsusauscsouces )
i, RPG cutncensnoccescececsessneescosecess 9
Dy EE Cecteccccnccdscdecesesscescccecsecesccese 9
DG Sdenbncssdbcnstesondecesescoseoeddenencss 9
136 Cong. Rec. 17,089 (1990) .............cceeeeees 13
Equal Employment Opportunities Enforcement
Act: Hearings on S. 2453 Before the Subcomm.
on Labor of the Senate Comm. on Labor and
Public Welfare, 91st Cong., 1st Sess.
EEE: ddeccdtdeceseesovedscndeedscdacenuneesees i)
Equal Employment Opportunities Enforcement
Act of 1971: Hearings on S. 2515, S. 2617 &
H.R. 1746 Before the Subcomm. on Labor
of the Senate Comm. on Labor and Public
Welfare, 92d Cong., Ist Sess. (1971) ............ 19
VII
Miscellaneous—Continued: Page
Equal Employment Opportunity Enforcement
Procedures: Hearings on H.R. 1746 Before
the General Subcomm. on Labor of the
House Comm. on Education and Labor,
Se Ge, SURE EEEED Secccecccasnsanescocess i)
Equal Employment Opportunity Enforcement
Procedures: Hearings on H.R. 6228 &
13517 Before the General Subcomm. on
Labor of the House Comm. on Education
and Labor, 91st Cong., lst & 2d Sess. (1969-
BED SaUdccescdccecenccoupencdebescusesdessesens i)
Robert D. Fleischner & Michael Cutler,
Annotated List of Cases Relating to
Treatment for Persons with Mental Illness
in Prisons and Jails (Dec. 2002), at
<http://www.centerforpublicrep.org/cgi-
SUOUED ccccccccccncctesccscesecees 4
FY 2004 Office of Justice Programs, Office
on Violence Against Women and Office of
Community Oriented Policing Services
Grants by State (visited Oct. 26, 2005)
<http://www.ojp.gov/Fy2004grants> ........... 19
H.R. Rep. No. 238, 92d Cong., lst Sess. (1971) ....... i)
H.R. Rep. No. 485, 101st Cong., 2d Sess. Pt. 3,
GUE 6 u06ctosceccsdseudecsdecesesececncosses 12
Kentucky Legis. Research Comm'n, Research
Report No. 125: Mentally Retarded Offenders
in Adult and Juvenile Correctional Institu-
ESO GRESED occtccccc sconce ehiiebenieneeduneee 11
IX
Miscellaneous—Continued: : Page
John Monahan et al., “Prisoners Transferred to
Mental Hospitals,” in Mentally Disordered
Offenders: Perspectives from Law and Social
Science (John Monahan & Henry J. Steadman
SED ducududduddcudensecddssesoccesseses< 11
Cathy Polter, Correctional Ass’n of N.Y.,
State of The Prisons: Conditions Inside
SEE Sancocacuchusuacdecussceseseuce 12
S. Rep. No. 415, 92d Cong., Ist Sess. (1971) ......... i)
Jn the Supreme Court of the United States
No. 04-1203
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, PETITIONER
Vv.
STATE OF GEORGIA, ET AL.
No. 04-1236
TONY GOODMAN, PETITIONER
Vv.
STATE OF GEORGIA, ET AL.
REPLY BRIEF FOR THE PETITIONER IN NO. 04-1203
Neither respondents nor their amici ask this Court to
overrule its recent decisions in Tennessee v. Lane, 541 U.S.
509 (2004), and Nevada Department of Human Resources
v. Hibbs, 538 U.S. 721 (2003). But, as evidenced by respon-
dents’ heavy reliance (Br. 29, 32, 34, 35, 37-38 n.10) on the
dissenting opinions in those cases, this Court’s holdings in
Lane and Hibbs establish that Congress properly exercised
its power under Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment to
apply Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA),
42 U.S.C. 12131-12165, to prisons.
A. Prison Administration Is The Relevant Context
The as-applied analysis of Congress’s Section 5 power
that was prescribed by this Court in Lane, 541 U.S. at 530-
534, properly focuses on the “class of cases” and “variety of
* * * constitutional guarantees” implicated by the States’
“administration of * * * the penal system.” /d. at 522,
525, 531. Neither respondents nor their amici make any
effort to defend the court of appeals’ much narrower focus
on the particular constitutional claim (the Eighth Amend-
ment) that happened to be asserted in the first case that
(1)
2
court decided involving prison administration. Miller v.
King, 384 F.3d 1248, 1272 (11th Cir. 2004); Pet. App. 19a.
- And with good reason: Lane made clear that the relevant
context for its as-applied analysis was not the individual
constitutional claim raised in the complaint—the complaints
in Lane raised no constitutional claims at all, Pet. App. 12-
28 (No. 02-1667)—but rather the entire “class of cases impli-
cating the accessibility of judicial services.” 541 U.S. at 531.
Moreover, the Court considered the full range of constitu-
tional concerns relevant to that entire substantive category
of governmental activity, including those not implicated by
the plaintiffs’ own claims, such as the constitutional interest
in access to the courts by civil litigants and jurors. That
approach recognizes that Section 5 legislation (i) responds
to and addresses not the isolated claims of future litigants,
but broad “pattern[s]” of unconstitutional conduct by gov- —
ernment officials in the substantive areas in which they op-
erate, Lane, 541 U.S. at 526, and (ii) may prophylactically
“proscribe| | facially constitutional conduct, in order to pre-
vent and deter unconstitutional conduct,” Hibbs, 538 U.S. at
727-728. See U.S. Br. 11-16.'
B. Title Il Responds To A Long History And A Continuing Prob-
lem Of Unconstitutional Treatment Of Disabled Prisoners
Respondents’ central argument (Br. 22-38) is that Con-
gress lacked an adequate record of unconstitutional treat-
ment of prisoners to apply Title II to the prison context.
That is wrong for four reasons.
1. Lane held that Section 5 legislation is warranted.
The short answer is that this Court held in Lane that the
constitutional predicate for Congress’s enactment of Title
II as Section 5 legislation is “clear beyond peradventure.”
' Even if a narrower context were appropriate, respondents and their amici
offer no response to the United States’ alternative argument (Br. 47-48) that,
at a minimum, Title II is constitutional as applied to Goodman's allegations
concerning actual violations of the Constitution (see Pet. App. 16a-18a).
3
541 U.S. at 529. In Lane, this Court surveyed a broad array
of evidence beyond the context of access to the courts to
support its determination that Congress passed Title II in
_ response to an established record “of pervasive unequal
treatment [of individuals with disabilities] in the administra-
tion of state services and programs, including systematic
deprivations of fundamental rights.” /d. at 524; see id. at
524-526 (discussing the history and evidence of discrimina-
tion in, inter alia, voting, marriage, unjust commitment and
institutionalization, public education, and the penal system).
The Court then concluded that “the sheer volume of evi-
dence demonstrating the nature and extent of unconstitu-
tional discrimination against persons with disabilities,” id.
at 528, combined with Congress’s express findings of dis-
crimination in areas that are the exclusive or predominant
domain of state governments, id. at 529; see 42 U.S.C.
12101(a)(3), “make[] clear beyond peradventure that inade-
quate provision of public services and access to public facili-
ties was an appropriate subject for prophylactic legislation,”
Lane, 541 U.S. at 529. It was only in the next step of the
Court’s Section 5 analysis—a separately designated section
of the opinion assessing whether “Title II is an appropriate
response to this history and pattern of unequal treatment,”
id. at 541 U.S. at 530—that the Court even discussed an as-
applied approach or precedents like United States v.
Raines, 362 U.S. 17 (1960). The Court then restricted “the
scope of that inquiry,” Lane, 541 U.S. 530, to the context of
access to the courts; id. at 530-531.
Respondents contend (Br. 20-21) that neither Congress
nor this Court focused on the prison context. Quite the op-
posite, Lane concluded that the “pattern of unequal treat-
ment” identified by Congress includes “administration of
* * * the penal system,” 541 U.S. at 525, and cited prison
cases that documerted that pattern, id. at 525 n.11. Con-
gress also specificaily found that “institutionalization” was
4
one “critical areal ]” in which “discrimination * * * per-
sists.” 42 U.S.C. 12101(a)(3). That targeted finding can
naturally “be thought to include penal institutions.” Penn-
sylvania Dep't of Corrs. v. Yeskey, 524 U.S. 206, 212 (1998).
Indeed, Congress employed the same terminology in the
Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, 42 U.S.C. 1997
et seqg., where it defined the “institutions” that house “insti-
tutionalized persons” to include a State or local “jail, prison,
or other correctional facility,” or “a pretrial detention facil-
ity,” 42 U.S.C. 1997(1)(B)(ii), (iii), and Subch. I-A (title).”
2. The record is substantial. Even were the Court to
re-open Lane’s holding concerning the predicate for Con-
gress’s exercise of its Section 5 power, ample evidence cor-
roborates the appropriateness of applying Title II to pris-
ons. See U.S. Br. 16-35; Goodman Br. 20-36; Paralyzed Vet-
erans Br. 7-13; ADAPT Br. 9-22; American Ass’n on Mental
Retardation Br. 15-20. Notably, while respondents criticize
various pieces of evidence, they do not actually deny the
reality of the Nation’s “history of unfair and often gro-
tesque mistreatment” of persons with disabilities, City of
Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Ctr., Inc., 473 U.S. 432, 438
(1985), nor could they. U.S. Br. 16-17 & n.8. Nor do they
deny the reality that Congress and the courts have, time
and again, documented the unconstitutional treatment
of disabled prisoners. See, e.g., U.S. Br. 24-32 & Add. A;
see also R. Fleischner & M. Cutler, Annotated List of
Cases Relating to Treatment for Persons with Mental IIl-
ness in Prisons & Jails (Dec. 2002), at <http://www.
centerforpublicrep. org/cgi-bin/pdf.pl?id=97283>. Instead,
respondents proffer a series of rules that would force this
* See Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, 42 U.S.C.
2000cc-1(a) (same definition); 20 U.S.C. 6421(a)(2) and (3) (2000 & Supp. I
2002) (“institutionalization” includes “correctional facilities”); 42 U.S.C.
5633(a)(9) A) and (F )(i) (2000 & Supp. I] 2002) (“institutionalization” of juvenile
delinquents); 29 U.S.C. 701(a)(5); Yeskey, 524 U.S. at 209 (Title II “unmis-
takably includes State prisons and prisoners within its coverage”).
arts
5
Court to disregard “the stuff of actual experience” that
prompted congressional action, United States v. Gainey,
380 U.S. 63, 67 (1965), and constrain its review to an artifi-
cial subset of judicially depurated material. Not one of re-
spondents’ proposed rules for disallowing actual experience
comports with controlling precedent or common sense.”
First, respondents insist (Br. 35) that the Court must
disregard all evidence of unconstitutional treatment by po-
litical subdivisions of the States. Lane, in which both re-
spondents had been denied access to “county courthouses,”
541 U.S. at 513-514, held the opposite, id. at 527 & n.16.
Respondents rely (Br. 35) on the statement in Board of
Trustees of the University of Alabama v. Garrett, 531 U.S.
356, 369 (2001), that evidence of discrimination by local units
of government should be discounted because Congress may
subject them to damages suits without relying on its Section
5 power. But Lane distinguished Garrett on this point, not-
ing that a rule disallowing evidence involving local govern-
ment officials could not be reconciled with South Carolina
v. Katzenbach, 383 U.S. 301, 312-315 (1966), or Hibbs. See
Lane, 541 U.S. at 527-528 n.16. In addition, the employment
provisions in Title I of the ADA at issue in Garrett inde-
pendently sustainable under the Commerce Clause, so that
“the sole purpose of reliance on § 5 [was] to place the States
on equal footing with private actors with respect to their
amenability to suit.” /d. at 528 n.16. Title II, by contrast,
specifically focuses on the operaticas of state and local gov-
ernments qua governments. Moreover, respondents and
numerous other States have argued that Title II is not
proper Commerce Clause legislation as applied to prisons,
Miller, 384 F.3d at 1268 n.23; Nevada, Georgia, et al. Ami-
cus Br. at 7-8, Pennsylvania Dep't of Corrs. v. Yeskey, (No.
97-634). This case thus draws into question the substantive
* To the extent the Court considers it relevant, the appendix to this brief
contains a case-by-case response to respondents’ appendix.
6
power of Congress to remedy and deter a documented pat-
tern of unconstitutional treatment of disabled inmates by
both States and local governments, regardless of whether
the law is enforced through private damages actions, private
injunctive actions, or by the United States itself. That
makes the actions of local governments clearly relevant.
See Lane, 541 U.S. at 527-528 n.16; City of Boerne v. Flores,
521 U.S. 507, 530-531 (1997); South Carolina, 383 U.S. at
308-313 (1966).
Finally, respondents’ effort to distinguish Lane on this
point fails for the additional reason that local jails, like local
courthouses, often serve as arms of the state, and the inter-
change of prisoners and shared use of facilities between
state and local authorities is commonplace. See U.S. Br. 18
n.9. Under those circumstances, Congress’s enforcement
power under Section 5, like the substantive protections of
Section 1, can charge the States with some responsibility for
the unconstitutional conduct of the political subdivisions
that the States themselves created and empowered to act,
and with which they coordinate prison programs and ser-
vices.
Second, respondents variously complain (Br. 25-26, 30-
31) that the testimony, reports, studies, and cases that sub-
stantiate the problem of unconstitutional treatment of dis-
abled prisoners came either too early or too late. Lane and
Hibbs are to the contrary. In Lane, the Court expressly
and repeatedly relied on material documenting unconstitu-
tional treatment of the disabled that predated Title II by
more than respondents’ proposed seven-year cutoff (Br. 26)
or postdated its enactment. See 541 U.S. at 524-527 & nn.5-
14. For example, two of the cases the Court cited in Lane
to “document a pattern of unequal treatment in * * * the
penal system” postdated the ADA. /d. at 525 n.11. The
Court did the same in Hibbs, relying on cases that predated
the Family and Medical Leave Act, 29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.,
7
by more than a century and others, like United States v.
Virginia, 518 U.S. 515 (1996), that postdated its enactment,
and legislative materials that also ran afoul of respondents’
seven-year cutoff. See Hibbs, 538 U.S. at 729-730, 733-734
& nn.3, 6-9.
Respondents, moreover, offer no rationale for their pro-
posed head-in-the-sand approach to “the gravest and most
delicate duty that this Court is called upon to perform.”
Rostker v. Goldberg, 453 U.S. 57, 64 (1981). After all, evi-
dence of unconstitutional treatment spanning a substantial
breadth of time would seem to be the very definition of a
“history and pattern” of constitutional violations. Garrett,
531 U.S. at 368. Moreover, with respect to information that
predates the enactment of Title I1, it would be an odd con-
ception of federalism that considered Congress’s lengthy
study of a problem and willingness to proceed incrementally
to be marks against the law’s constitutionality. With re-
spect to material that postdates Title II’s enactment, re-
spondents fail to explain why evidence of an endu_..1g prob-
lem does not substantiate Congress’s finding of an anteced-
ent problem. Indeed, the fact that violations continue to
occur would seem to undermine respondents’ argument for
discounting pre-enactment evidence, because it demon-
strates that earlier laws, and even Title II, have not eradi-
cated the problem.
Third, respondents (Br. 34-35) and Tennessee argue
(Amici Br. 14-18) that only final adjudications of constitu-
tional violations by the States can support an exercise of
Congress’s Section 5 power, and even then only if there are
sufficiently numerous adverse court judgments to meet
some unspecified adjudications-per-capita threshold (id. Br.
17-18), and if the legislation is targeted solely at adjudicated
offending States (id. at 17). That argument is irreconcilable
with precedent. The Court, for example, upheld nationwide
bans on literacy tests and durational residency require-
8
ments after the Court had repeatedly affirmed the constitu-
tionality of such procedures.' Likewise, the Court broadly
sustained the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in South Carolina,
supra, even though there were far fewer than “40 cases”
finding unconstitutional! discrimination in voting, and then
only by nine States “over decades” (id. 18), making the ratio
of violations to the number of eligible African American and
other minority voters (id. at 17-18) infinitesimally small.’
The argument also ignores that the absence of adjudi-
cated violations may reflect the courts’ own failure to recog-
nize the problem. See, e.g., Buck v. Bell, 274 U.S. 200
(1927); see also Hibbs, 538 U.S. at 729 (noting that historical
discrimination “is chronicled in—and, until recently, was
sanctioned by—this Court’s opinions”). For example, Con-
gress extended Title VII’s ban on gender discrimination to
the States, Pub. L. No. 92-261, § 2, 86 Stat. 103 (1972), just
four months after, “for the first time in our Nation’s history,
this Court ruled in favor of a woman who complained that
* Compare Oregon v. Mitchell, 400 U.S. 112 (1970) (upholding bans), with
Drueding v. Devlin, 380 U.S. 125 (1965) (mem.) (upholding residency require-
ments); Carrington v. Rash, 380 U.S. 89, 91 (1965) (same); Lassiter v. Nort-
hampton County Bd. of Elections, 360 U.S. 45 (1959) (literacy test upheld).
* We have found only 18 final judgments of unconstitutional voting
discrimination by the States before 1965. See Anderson v. Martin, 375 U.S.
399 (1964); Terry v. Adams, 345 U.S. 461 (1953); Smith v. Allwright, 321 U.S.
649 (1944); Lane v. Wilson, 307 U.S. 268 (1989); Nixon v. Condon, 286 U.S. 73
(1982); Nixon v. Herndon, 273 U.S. 536 (1927); Myers v. Anderson, 238 U.S.
368 (1915); Guinn v. United States, 238 U.S. 347 (1915); Alabama v. United
States, 304 F.2d 585 (5th Cir.), aff'd, 371 U.S. 37 (1962); McDonald v. Key, 224
F.2d 608 (10th Cir.), cert. denied, 350 U.S. 895 (1955); Butler v. Thompson, 184
F.2d 526 (4th Cir. 1950); Baskin v. Brown, 174 F.2d 391 (4th Cir. 1949); Rice v.
Elmore, 165 F.2d 387 (4th Cir. 1947), cert. denied, 333 U.S. 875 (1948);
Chapman v. King, 154 F.2d 460 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 327 U.S. 800 (1946);
Bliley v. West, 42 F.2d 101 (4th Cir. 1930); Hamm v. Virginia State Bd. of
Elections, 230 F. Supp. 156 (E.D. Va.), aff'd, 379 U.S. 19 (1964); United States
v. Louisiana, 225 F. Supp. 353, 396 (E.D. La. 1968), aff'd, 380 U.S. 145 (1965);
Davis v. Schnell, 81 F. Supp. 872 (S.D. Ala.), aff'd, 336 U.S. 933 (1949).
= >. 2
9
her State had denied her the equal protection of its laws” in
a non-employment case. Virginia, 518 U.S. at 532 (citing
Reed v. Reed, 404 U.S. 71 (1971)). Title VII's legislative
record contains no specific data or findings regarding
women employees in state or local governments,” and we
have uncovered only one case before 1972 that actually
found unconstitutional employment discrimination on the
basis of gender by a State. See Thorn v. Richardson, No.
9577, 1971 WL 201 (W.D. Wash. 1971).
Respondents’ and their amici’s approach also would re-
quire overruling Hibbs. There, the Court rejected the dis-
sent’s emphasis on Nevada’s own benefit policies, which
predated the federal enactment, and instead found that
Congress “could reasonably conclude” that nationwide re-
medial legislation was justified, “no matter how generous
petitioner’s own [policies] may have been.” 538 U.S. at 734.’
The Court reached that conclusion, moreover, despite the
* See H.R. Rep. No. 238, 92d Cong., Ist Sess. (1971); S. Rep. No. 415, 92d
Cong., Ist Sess. (1971); 118 Cong. Rec. 1840 (1972) (Sen Javits) (only “overall
figures” for sex discrimination); id. at 1816-1819; id. at 4935. The isolated
such discrimination, S. Rep. No. 415, supra, at 10; 118 Cong. Rec. at 1816 (Sen.
Williams); id. at 1412 (Sen Byrd). Congressional hearings on the 1972
amendments were equally silent. See Equal Employment Opportunities
Enforcement Act of 1971: Hearings on S. 2215, S. 2617, & H.R. 1746 Before the
Subcomm. on Labor of the Senate Comm. on Labor & Pub. Welfare, 92d Cong., -
Ist Sess. (1971); Equal Employment Opportunity Enforcement Procedures:
Hearings on H.R. 1746 Before the Gen. Subcomm. on Labor of the House
Comm. on Educ. & Labor, 92d Cong., 1st Sess. (1971); Equal Employment
Opportunity Enforcement Procedures: Hearings on H.R. 6228 & H.R. 13517
Before the Gen. Subcomm. on Labor of the House Comm. on Educ. & Labor,
Vist Cong., Ist & 2d Sess. (1969-1970); Equal Employment Opportunities
Enforcement Act: Hearings on S. 2453 Before the Subcomm. on Labor of the
Senate Comm. on Labor & Pub. Welfare, 91st Cong., Ist Sess. (1969).
" See also Lopez v. Monterey County, 525 U.S. 266 (1999); City of Rome v.
United States, 446 U.S. 156, 174 (1980).
10
dearth of adverse final judgments against States for uncon-
stitutional family-leave policies.
Further amici’s adjudicated-violations-per-capita ap-
proach cannot be squared with the original purpose of Sec-
tion 5, which was not to leave the protection of liberties so
completely dependent upon the same federal judiciary that,
less than a decade earlier, had constricted congressional
power to contain the spread of slavery, see Ex parte
McCardle, 74 U.S. (7 Wall.) 506 (1869); Dred Scott v. Sand-
ford, 60 U.S. (19 How.) 393, 436-452 (1857), or to relegate
Congress to enforcing only those rights that the courts were
already doing a good job of policing. Under Section 5, “i]t
isnot * * * the judicial power” but “the power of Con-
gress which has been enlarged.” Ex parte Virginia, 100
U.S. 339, 345 (1879). Amici’s argument also overlooks that
a single case against a State (especially a class action) may
expose hundreds of constitutional violations, the worst of-
fending cases may settle, and a central purpose of Section
5 legislation is to remedy and prevent the forms of discrimi-
nation that are least amenable to courtroom proof, e.g.,
Hibbs, 538 U.S. at 736."
In short, respondents’ focus (Br. 30) on the materials
before Congress “in 1990” asks the wrong question. The
appropriaceness of Section 5 legislation turns upon whether
a problem of unconstitutional treatment exists, not whether
a long series of widely dispersed judicial adjudications or an
elaborate legislative history exists.
Fourth, respondents criticize (Br. 23-24) the lack of
specificity in the testimony of a single witness before Con-
gress, Cindy Miller of Massachusetts, who testified that
* The insistence upon final judgments loses sight of the fact that a prelimi-
nary injunction reflects the prisoner's “substantial likelihood of success on the
merits,” Benten v. Kessler, 505 U.S. 1084, 1085 (1992) (per curiam), and a denial
of summary judgment means that a reasonable factfinder—whether a judge,
jury, or Congress—could find unconstitutional treatment of the prisoner,
Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248-249 (1986).
11
“jailers rational|ize] taking away [inmates’] wheelchairs as
a form of punishment as if that is different than punishing
prisoners by breaking their legs.” Respondents insist that
the “rehabilitation counselor|’s]” testimony must have re-
ferred to the treatment of residents in a state mental health
hospital rather than in a state prison. But it is not clear that
respondents’ purported distinction is even meaningful.
“(Rjehabilitation counselor|s]” routinely work in correc-
tional facilities as well as mental health institutions, see,
e.g., Spicer v. Virginia, Dep't of Corrs., 66 F.3d 705, 707
(4th Cir. 1995) (en banc), and in many States (including
Massachusetts), mentally ill prisoners may serve their sen-
tences within mental health institutions.”
In addition, even if that one witness’s testimony were
ambiguous, it would not alter the very specific judicial con-
firmation of the same point (including a Massachusetts
case)'’ and the sheer volume of other evidence of unconstitu-
tional treatment. Respondent and their amici simply ignore
* See U.S. Br. 32 n.27; Mass. Gen. Laws Ann. ch. 123, §§ 1, 13, 14, 18 (West
2003); Reply App., infra, 4a, 8a, lla, 23a; Vitek v. Jones, 445 U.S. 480 (1980);
John Monahan, et al., “Prisoners Transferred to Mental Hospitals,” in
Mentally Disordered Offenders: Perspectives from Law and Social Science
233-244 (John Monahan & Henry J. Steadman eds., 1983).
" See Navedo v. Maloney, 172 F. Supp. 2d 276 (D. Mass. 2001) (prisoner
denied access to his wheelchair); see also Serrano v. Francis, 345 F.3d 1071
(9th Cir. 2003) (inmate in disciplinary unit denied wheelchair, forcing him to
craw! around vermin and cockroach-infested floor), cert. denied, 125 S. Ct. 43
(2004); Hicks v. Frey, 992 F.2d 1450 (6th Cir. 1993) (paraplegic in disciplinary
unit denied wheelchair); Weeks v. Chaboudy, 984 F.2d 185, 187 (6th Cir. 1993)
(“squalor in which | prisuner| was forced to live as a result of being denied a
wheelchair” violated the Eighth Amendment); Schmidt v. Odell, 64 F. Supp. 2d
1014 (D. Kan. 1999) (inmate deprived of wheelchair); Beckford v. Irvin, 49 F.
Supp. 2d 170(W.D.N.Y. 1999) (Eighth Amendment violated by same); Harre!-
son v. Elmore County, 859 F. Supp. 1465, 1466 (M.D. Ala. 1994) (paraplegic pri-
soner denied use of a wheelchair and forced to crawl around cell); ef. Parkinson
v. Columbia County Dist. Att'y, 679 N.Y.S.2d 505 (Sup. Ct. 1998) (Constitution
violated where inmate was deprived of prosthetic leg for at least a year).
12
the evidence that (i) persons with disabilities are “deprived
of medications while in jail,” H.R. Rep. No. 485, 101st
Cong., 2d Sess. Pt. 3, at 50 (1990); (ii) “Kentucky Correc-
tions offers no appropriate treatment to the retarded and
subjects them to varied institutional abuse”;'’ (iii) “[mJedical
care at best in most State systems barely scratches the sur-
face of constitutional minima”;"* (iv) inmates with the most
serious medical problems “get dumped” into higher security
facilities regardless of whether their crimes or behavior
warrant it;”* (v) “the confinement of inmates who are in need
of psychiatric care and treatment * * * in the so called
psychiatric unit of the Louisiana State Penitentiary consti-
tutes cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the
Eighth Amendment”;" (vi) mentally ill prisoners were de-
prived of nutritional food because “mental cases don’t know
what they eat anyway”; and (vii) there have been repeated
instances of deliberate abuse and gross medical maltreat-
ment causing dangerous infections, maggot-infested
wounds, and the deaths of disabled inmates, see U.S. Br. 24-
'' Kentucky Legis. Research Comm'n, Research Report No. 125: Mentally
Retarded Offenders in Adult and Juvenile Correctional Institutions at A-3
(1975).
"AIDS and the Admin. of Justice: Hearing Before the Subcomm. on
Courts, Civil Liberties, and the Admin. of Justice of the House Comm. on the
Judiciary, 100th Cong., Ist Sess. 39 (1987).
" Cathy Potler, Correctional Ass'n of N.Y., State of the Prisons: Condi-
tions Inside the Walls 12-13 (1986); see J.A. 90; U.S. Br. 28-29.
' Civil Rights for Institutionalized Persons: Hearings on H.R. 2439 &
H.R. 5791 Before the Subcomm. on Courts, Civil Liberties, & the Admin. of
Justice of the House Comm. on the Judiciary, 95th Cong., lst Sess. 320-321
(1977).
Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons: Hearings on S. 1393 Before
the Subcomm. on the Const. of the Senate Comm. on the Judiciary, 95th Cong.,
Ist Sess. 234 (1977) (S. 1393 Hearings).
13
s
25 & n.19. With respect to that evidence, the silence of re-
spondents and their amici speaks volumes."
3. The type of violations warrants congressional ac-
tion. Rather than answer that extensive evidence—the
volume and specificity of which far exceeds the records in
Lane and Hibbs—respondents argue (Br. 10-19) that it
must all be ignored because the constitutional claims of pris-
oners are subjected to rational-basis review. The premise
is wrong. The rights of disabled prisoners to adequate med-
ical care, humane conditions of confinement, protection from
violence, and prison terms that are not lengthened or served
under inordinately harsh conditions, see J.A. 90; U.S. Br.
21-30, are protected by more than the any-conceivable-
rational-basis standard. Furthermore, prisoners have a
“fundamental constitutional right of access to the courts” to
challenge their convictions or conditions of confinement,
Lewis v. Casey, 518 U.S. 343, 346 (1996), and the Constitu-
tion’s protection of that right is at least as robust as the
general public’s (7.e., Lane respondent Jones’s) right to ob-
serve court proceedings. Indeed, because prison adminis-
tration is an area in which the “government exerts a degree
of control unparalleled in civilian society,” Cutter v.
Wilkinson, 125 S. Ct. 2113, 2121 (2005), and deprives dis-
abled inmates of the resources, freedom, and physical capac-
ity to meet their own needs, the Constitution’s attentiveness
to state conduct is heithtened and pervasive.
Respondents’ relia..ce (Br. 14-19) on Turner v. Safley,
482 U.S. 78 (1987), misunderstands the operation of both
" Respondents’ search (Resp. Br. 24 & n.8) of Westlaw’s (incomplete)
computerized legislative history of the ADA reveals the pitfalls of artificially
narrow, word-specific search requests. Respondents failed to look for the
terms Congress employed. Had they searched for “jail,” “inmate,” or “correc.
tional,” they would have found the specific consideration of Title II's application
to prison administration that they seek. See U.S. Br. 21-23, 28; 136 Cong. Rec.
17,039 (1990) (reproducing federal Bureau of Prisons’ guidance on the
management of HIV-positive prison inmates).
14
that standard and Title II. As this Court underscored just
last Term, the Turner standard of review applies “only to
rights that are inconsistent with proper incarceration.”
Johnson v. California, 125 8. Ct. 1141, 1149 (2005). More-
over, even when Turner calls for deference, it provides for
more searching review than rational-basis scrutiny, as
Turner itself demonstrates, see 482 U.S. at 94-99 (striking
down marriage restrictions). Title II, moreover, does not
mandate the creation of new programs or services. It re-
quires only that qualified individuals with disabilities be
afforded equivalent access to whatever programs and ser-
vices the prison already offers, 42 U.S.C. 12132. When the
State determines that certain accommodations of constitu-
tional rights are perfectly consistent with incarceration, but
makes them unavailable to qualified inmates with disabili-
ties, the State’s action is not saved by Turner. Indeed, in
that context, the judgments for which Turner suggests that
deference is appropriate will rarely be implicated. Like-
wise, the Court’s Eighth Amendment jurisprudence recog-
nizes that the pervasive control the State exercises over
prisoners imposes unique affirmative duties on the States
and does not broadly permit the State to engage in any con-
duct for which a rationale could be hypothesized.
Respondents’ argument also misunderstands the func-
tion of deferential judicial scrutiny-under Turner. Turner
recognizes that state action implicating and possibly violat-
ing the Constitution is pervasive in prisons, but neverthe-
less prescribes a measure of judicial restraint in evaluating
prison policies out of concerns for both federalism and the
separation of powers. However, both of those concerns have
substantially reduced force when Congress acts under Sec-
tion 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment. Further, to transform
Turner's expression of judicial restraint and respect for the
legislative process into a judicial sword that would preclude
Congress from responding, under Section 5 of the Four-
15
teenth Amendment, even to a proven record of constitu-
tional violations would get the Constitution’s structural
principles exactly backwards.
4. Title Il is not underinclusive. Respondents contend
(Br. 27-29, 31-33) that the extensive evidence of violations of
disabled inmates’ Eighth Amendment rights must be dis-
counted because the States were simultaneously violating
the constitutional rights of non-disabled inmates, rendering
Title Il “underinclusive[]” (id. at 44). That argument
largely answers itself. It would be an odd version of feder-
alism that deemed a congressional response to only one spe-
cies of constitutional violations to be suspect, or that allowed
States to insulate themselves from targeted Section 5 legis-
lation by violating an even broader swath of constitutional
rights. Congress, moreover, could reasonably conclude that
Eighth Amendment violations disproportionately endanger
the lives and physics! safety of inmates with disabilities,
given their often enhanced vulnerability to prison conditions
in general, and to the deprivation of adequate medical care
in particular. Congress, likewise, could (and did) conclude
that the unconstitutional treatment of inmates with disabili-
ties was an integral part of the broader problem of the
States’ improper treatment of Americans with disabilities.
Respondents’ companion argument (Br. 27-29) that Title
II is unconcerned with Eighth Amendment violations be-
cause they are not a form of “discrimination” is without ba-
sis. The concepts of inequitable treatment and inhumane
treatment overlap. When prison officials deny inmates with
disabilities access to toilet facilities or subject them to a
substandard diet because “mental cases don’t know what
they eat anyway,” S. 1393 Hearings 234, they discriminate
against disabled inmates with respect to the minimal condi-
tions guaranteed by the Eighth Amendment. Indeed, this
Court held in Lane that Title II enforces not just the consti-
tutional prohibition on “irrational disability discrimination,”
16
but also remedies and prevents violations of “other basic
constitutional guarantees.” 541 U.S. at 522 (citing cases
implicating Eighth Amendment rights). And that aspect of
Title II added to, rather than detracted from, its constitu-
tionality. Beyond that, respondents’ observation (Br. 22-23)
that Title II promotes mainstreaming overlooks that (i)
Congress also unambiguously expressed its desire to com-
bat discrimination in “institutionalization,” 42 U.S.C.
12101(a)(3); Yeskey, supra; (ii) Title II promotes the main-
streaming of disabled prisoners within prison life; and (iii)
the vast majority of disabled inmates “will eventually return
to society,” McKune v. Lile, 536 U.S. 24, 36 (2002) (plural-
ity), so that their inclusion in prison rehabilitative programs
and other institutional services directly promotes their later
transition into the mainstream of community life.
C. Title Il Is Reasonably Tailored To Remedying And Prevent-
ing Constitutional Violations in the Prison Context
Respondents contend (Br. 38-44) that Title II is not con-
gruent and proportional because it goes too “far beyond the
Constitution s requirements” (Br. 40). As an initial matter,
that argument is hard to reconcile with respondents’ com-
plaint elsewhere (Br. 27-29, 31-33, 44) that Title II is
“underinclusive” because it does not address more constitu-
tional violations committed by the States.
| In any event, while some applications of Title II might
provide stronger procedural and substantive protection
than the Constitution mandates, Section 5 permits that.
“Congress’ § 5 power is not confined to the enactment of
legislation that merely parrots the precise wording of the
Fourteenth Amendment.” Kimel v. Florida Bd. of Regents,
528 U.S. 62, 81 (2000). Rather, Congress may both remedy
past violations of constitutional rights and enact “prophy-
lactic legislation that proscribes facially constitutional con-
duct, in order to prevent and deter unconstitutional con-
duct,” Hibbs, 538 U.S. at 727-728.
_
17
Respondents and their amici also fail to show that the
gap between the Constitution and Title II as applied to pris-
ons is materially different from the gap between Title II and
the various constitutional rights of access to the courts up-
held in Lane. The features of Title II that this Court em-
phasized in upholding its application to the courts apply
with full force in the prison context. Title II does not im-
pose inflexible commands, but rather requires only that
States undertake “reasonable measures,” Lane, 541 U.S. at
531, and “reasonable” accommodations and modifications,
id. at 532; 42 U.S.C. 12131(2), to ensure only that otherwise
“qualified individual{s]” with disabilities, 42 U.S.C. 12132,
be afforded reasonable access to programs and services that
the State independently has determined are consistent with
incarceration. Title II does not require States to abandon
their essential eligibility criteria for prison programs, to
“fundamentally alter the nature of the service provided,” or
to incur “undue financial or administrative burden{s].”
Lane, 541 U.S. at 532; 28 C.F.R. 35.130(b)(7), 35.150(a)(3).
Those requirements echo the general mandate of “reason-
ableness” in prison regulations, Turner, 482 U.S. at 89; and
the States’ obligations to refrain from imposing “atypical
and significant hardship[s],” Wilkinson v. Austin, 125 S. Ct.
2384, 2395 (2005), and to provide “humane conditions of con-
finement,” “adequate food, clothing, shelter, and medical
care,” and “reasonable measures to guarantee [prisoners’]
safety,” Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 832 (1994).
Indeed, Title II’s flexible commands are, if anything, a
more reasonable and “appropriate response to [a] history
and pattern of unequal treatment,” Lane, 541 U.S. at 530, in
the prison context than in the court-access context. First,
to the extent Title I] imposes affirmative duties of accom-
modation on States, those duties are more congruent and
proportional within prison walls, where (unlike most other
contexts) affirmative obligations under the Constitution
18
itself are the rule, rather than the exception. See, e.g.,
DeShaney v. Winnebago County Dep't of Soc. Servs., 489
U.S. 189 (1989). Second, courts have been particularly re-
ceptive to the need to provide an appropriate degree of def-
erence to prison officials, even in applying statutory and
constitutional standards that are facially more rigorous.
See, e.g., Cutter, 125 S. Ct. at 2123, Johnson, 125 S. Ct. at
1152. And a number of courts have recognized that Title
II’s terms permit reasonable deference to prison adminis-
trators.'’ If doubt remains, courts should construe Title II
to preserve its constitutionality. £.g., Harris v. United
States, 536 U.S. 545, 555 (2002); Ashwander v. TVA, 297
U.S. 288, 348 (1936) (Brandeis, J., concurring).
Furthermore, Title II’s standards, see 42 U.S.C.
12134(b), largely mirror those that the Rehabilitation Act of
1973, 29 U.S.C. 794 (2000 & Supp. II 2002), imposes upon
the federal government, which operates the largest correc-
tional system in the Nation, and all fifty States, which have
voluntarily chosen to accept federal funding that triggers
that Act’s requirements. If those standards failed to accord
sufficient deference to the unique needs of the prison con-
text or if, in fact, tney “mark[ed] the end of deference to
State prison operations” that amici portend (Tenn. Br. 6),
then presumably some evidence of those problems would
have surfaced in the federal system or in the States in the
decades since the Rehabilitation Act and Title II were en-
See Bowman v. Beasley, 8 Fed. Appx. 175, 179 (4th Cir. 2001) (per
curiam) (“wide deference”), cert. denied, 535 U.S. 1001 (2002); Armstrong v.
Davis, No. 99-15152, 2000 WL 369622, at *1 (9th Cir. Apr. 11, 2000) (mem.)
(Turner-style deference); Oneisha v. Hopper, 171 F.3d 1289, 1300 (11th Cir.
1999) (en banc) (deferring to “penological concerns”), cert. denied, 528 U.S.
1114 (2000); Randolph v. Rodgers, 170 F 3d 850 (8th Cir. 1999); Cowvillion v.
Michigan Parole Bd., No. 4:04-CV-130, 2005 WL 1036973, at *6 (W.D. Mich.
May 4, 2005); Brooks v. Horn, No. 00-03637, 2004 WL 764385, at *9 (E.D. Pa.
Apr. 7, 2004); see also Gates v. Rowland, 39 F.3d 1439, 1447 (9th Cir. 1994)
(applying Turner-style deference under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act).
19
acted." But neither respondents nor their amici cite any
and, in fact, they all continue to accept federal funding for
their prisons. All Title II does is extend those workable
standards to every level of correctional facility and to each
prisoner with a qualifying disability within a State.
Amici’s concern (Br. 26) that Title II will “spur more
prison litigation” suffers from the same flaws. Indeed, just
last Term, the Court rejected the identical argument with
respect to the protections for prisoners’ religious freedom
required by the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized
Persons Act—protections that can potentially be invoked by
every prisoner and that subject state justifications to statu-
tory strict scrutiny, 42 U.S.C. 2000cc-1(a)(1) and (2). In
Cutter, the Court saw “no reason to anticipate that abusive
prisoner litigation will overburden the operations of state
and local institutions,” and noted that the Prison Litigation
Reform Act of 1995 (PLRA), 42 U.S.C. 1997e, was “designed
to inhibit frivolous filings.” 125 S. Ct. at 2124-2125. In fact,
while the State of Washington now joins a brief labeling the
PLRA a “facile assurance” (Tenn. Br. 25), Washington took
a decidedly different view last Term when it told this Court
that frivolous prisoner suits are “best addressed through
legislation like the PLRA,” rather than the denial of sub-
stantive civil rights protection. New York & Washington
Amicus Br. at 16, Cutter v. Wilkinson (No. 03-9877). If, as
Washington argued last year (id. at 2-3, 15), RLUIPA’s
strict scrutiny standard is a workable and appropriately
deferential standard for accommodating religion in prisons,
it is hard to understand the insistence this year that Title
II’s reasonableness standard is an unworkable standard for
accommodating disabilities (unless accompanied by federal
* Every State receives federal funding for its prisons. See Cutter, 125 S.
Ct. at 2118-2119 n.4; FY 2004 Office of Justice Programs, Office on Violence
Against Women & Office of Community Oriented Policing Services: Grants
by State (visited Oct. 26, 2005) <http://www.ojp.gov/ fy2004grants >.
20
funding, at which point the standard apparently becomes
acceptable again).
Finally, amici argue (Br. 24-25) that allowing damages
is not appropriate. But amici make no effort to explain why
damages here—which echo the damages relief already avail-
able against States under the Rehabilitation Act, Barnes v.
Gorman, 536 U.S. 181, 184-187 (2002)—are less appropriate
than they were under Title II in Lane, or under the Family
and Medical Leave Act in Hibbs, 538 U.S. at 740. The
“gravity of the harm” that past violations have caused,
Lane, 541 U.S. at 523 —some of which have led to the physi-
cal suffering and deaths of prisoners, see U.S. Br. 24-29 &
Add. A and B—strongly counsels in favor of equivalent en-
forcement authority in this context. Indeed, this Court has
held that damages are an appropriate remedy to address
the violation of constitutional rights in the cause of action
created by Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Fed-
eral Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388, 395 (1971). A forti-
ori, it is appropriate for Congress to make that same judg-
ment in exercising its Section 5 power.
For the foregoing reasons, and for those stated in our
opening brief, the judgment of the court of appeals should
be reversed.
Respectfully submitted.
PAUL D. CLEMENT
Solicitor General
OCTOBER 2005
REPLY APPENDIX
Detailed Annotation of Cases Evidencing the Problem of Unconstitutional
Treatment of Individuals with Disabilities in Correctional Facilities
Respondents’ United States’
Case Assertions Response
Balla v. Idaho * Conflates universal * See U.S. Reply Br. at 15-16.
State Bd. of deficiencies in
Corrs., 595 F. medical or * Court observed that psychiatric
Supp. 1558 (D. psychiatric care with care at prison was “
daho 1984) disability-based nonexistent,” 595 F. Supp. at 1568,
Department with
psychiatric care can be described
as deliberately indifferent,” ibid.,
with little or no care given to
inmates with serious mental
illnesses, id. at 1569. Failure to
provide needed diet to diabetic had
contributed to rendering him
blind, id. at 1574-1575, and had
(la)
2a
‘Respondents’ United States’
Case Assertions Response
Battle v. * Challenge to general | * See U.S. Reply Br. at 15-16.
Anderson, prison iti
376F. Supp. 402 * The court specifically noted that
(E.D. ¢ Conflates universal half of the prison’s in-patient
1974), aff'd deficiencies in population was hospitalized for
in part and medical or psychiatric reasons, that “there is
rev'd in part on psychiatric care with no professional psychiatric staff
other disability-based available for treatment on a
993 F.2d 1551 discrimination. regular basis,” and the “
(10th Cir. 1993) treatment” is “sedation.” F
(reversing only | * Inmates’ claims of Supp. at 415. The court's
as to district deficient prison injunction included detailed
court’s denial of conditions swept provisions concerning medical
two motions to much more broadly care. See id. at 434.
intervene) than mental health
care,
issues such as law
Deficiencies in
medical care were
systemic. Court
denied money
damages.
Bee v. Greaves, | * Not decided on the See U.S. Reply Br. at 5-6, 7-10, 15-
744 F.2d 1387 merits. 16; Tennessee v. Lane, 541 US. at
(10th Cir. 1984), 527-528 n.16.
cert. denied, * County jail.
469U.S. 1214 Regardless of the fact that the
(1985) ¢ Inmate's forcible- inmate initially demanded
arose after he a oe ae
initially requested response to an
medication. Court emergency situation, 744 F.2d at
held that liberty 1395-1397, and the court found that
interest in avoiding the evidence in the inmate's favor
unwanted treatment was sufficient to defeat summary
is not absolute. judgment, ibid.
Respondents’ United States’
Case Assertions Response
Bonner v * Not decided on the * See U.S. Reply Br. at 7-10.
Arizona t merits.
of Corrs., 714 F * While the court held that the deaf,
Supp. 420 (D * Court rejected mute, and impaired plaintiff
Ariz. 1989) plaintiff inmate’s had no due process li interest
argument that he in avoidi i iecteen, ®
had a due process also held the plaintiff had a
liberty interest in constitutional interest in not being
avoiding protective removed from the prison’s honor
lockdown. dorm. 714 F. Supp. at 424-425.
Court found a genuine issue of
material fact as to whether
“requir|ing| a deaf, mute, and
vision-impaired inmate to navigate
qualified interpreter” prevented
him from the
removed him from the dorm. /d.
at 425; see id. at 423.
Bonner v. ¢ Not decided on the * See U.S. Reply Br. at 7-10.
Lewis, 857 merits.
F.2d 559 (9th ° ing the dismissal of
Cir. 1988) * Court affirmed certain of the inmate’s claims, the
grant of court made clear that a
judgment to issue of material fact existed as to
defendant on “whether the denial of a qualified
inmate’s equal sign i
ion and prevented (the inmate| from _
him or presenting his views,” 857
F.2d at 565, and it remanded for
determination of whether the Due
Respondents’ United States’
Assertions Response
Burchett v * Court contemplated | ¢ Although the court found it
Bower, 355 F that inmate unnecessary to address the
Supp. 1278 (D receiving psychiatric constitutional right to treatment, it
Ariz. 1973) treatment in state noted the uncontradicted
a testimony that the plaintiff was
could have hi mentally ill and that no psychiatric
treatment treatment was available at the
terminated and be prison, 355 F. Supp. at 1281, and it
returned to prison. enjoined defendants from
transferring the inmate back to the
process, see id. at 1281-1283. The
court also enjoined Yn A mage J
statute to Burchett,” id. at 1282.
Cody v. Hil- ¢ Challenge to general See U.S. Reply Br. at 15-16
liard, 599 F. prison i
Supp. 1025 Though also addressing other
(D.S.D. 1984), ¢ Conflates universal deficiencies in conditions,
aff'd in part and deficiencies in the court found that inmates with
rev'd in part on medical or “serious psychiatric needs” were
other psychiatric care with mee nem Se
830 F.2d 912 disabilit y-based medical personnel; it
(8th Cir. 1987) iscrimi eiedemeantes an
(en bane) (ap- especially grave deficiency” at the
peal did not * Eighth Circuit later prison. 599 F. Supp. at 1058-1059.
encompass por- reversed court’s
tion of district holding that double-
court's order celling was uncon-
medical and held that
psychiatric for inmates’ special
care), cert. dietary needs were
denied, 485 .
U.S. 906 (1988)
Sa
United States’
Case Assertions Response
Cortes- Non-disabled * See U.S. Reply Br. at 5-6, 15-16;
inOnes V inmates subj to Lane, 5A1 U.S. at 527-528 n.16.
iminez- conditions li
Nettleship, 842 Goodman's. Though the schizophrenic inmate
F.2d 556 (1st died at the hands of fellow inmates,
Cir. 1988), cert District jail the court upheld a jury finding
denied, 488 that, by transferring him to the
U.S. 823 (1988) Schizophrenic pri- overcrowded jail where he was
soner was killed by killed and leaving him “unsegre-
other inmates, not ape wh we pte» ama daa
by state officials. psy: for
Prison was generally nearly four months,” Puerto Rico
overcrowded. No prison officials exhibited deliberate
claim of discrimi- indifference to his health and
nation against safety. 842 F.2d at 559-560
decedent.
Cummings v. Not decided on the U.S. Reply Br. at 5-6, 7-10;
Roberts, 628 merits. Lane, 5A1 U.S. at 527-528 n.16.
F.2d 1065 (8th
Cir. 1980) County jail The court reversed sum
judgment for the defendants not
Inmate was not only on the inmate’s claim of
disabled when taken deliberate indifference to his
into custody, but medical needs, but also on his
suffered hack injury claim that prison officials’ failure to
while in detention. give him a wheelchair made it
for him to crawl on the
floor. 628 F.2d at 1068.
Delafose v. Claim at issue was The court held that disparate
Manson, 385 F. more similar to Title treatment of the two groups
Supp. 1115 (D. I employment- amounted to irrational
Conn. 1974) discrimination claim discrimination against mentally ill
inmates itali patients; the situation is not
for physical ailments analogous to employment
received “hospital ination because members of
y” while inmates neither group were working. 385
italized for F. Supp. at 1116-1121.
mental ailments did
‘Respondents’ United States’
Case Assertions Response
Doe v. ¢ Not decided on the * See U.S. Reply Br. at 7-10.
Coughlin, 697 merits.
F. Supp. 1234 * Though observing that other
(N.D.N.Y. 1988) Court decided the constitutional challenges to similar
case on privacy plans had failed, the court was
and noted unequivocal that involuntary
that the same placement of an inmate in a
challenge had been dormitory designated for HIV-
rejected when positive individuals—and thus
brought under the involun disclosure of the
Fourteenth inmate’s HIV-positive status—
Amendment. violated his constitutional right to
privacy, see 697 F. Supp. at 1236-
1241, and that the prison program
operated “in a constitutionally
impermissible manner,” id. at
1240. The court determined that
“(there is no acceptable reason
why a prisoner must have his
constitutional rights violated
particularly in an incomplete
program.” /d. at 1243.
7a
Respondents’ United States’
Case Assertions Response
Duran v. Challenge to general | * See U.S. Reply Br. at 7-10, 15-16.
Anaya, 642 F. prison conditions.
Supp: 510 (D. * Though no harm had yet occurred,
NN.M. 1986) Not decided on the the court made clear that judicial
merits. intervention was necessary to
ensure “maintenance of minimal
Conflates universal constitutional standards” in the
deficiencies in areas of physical and mental
medical or psy- health, and that “the level of
chiatric care with psychiatric care being provided at
disability-based this time, particularly to prisoners
discrimination. in need of acute care, is
unacceptable by any conceivable
Preliminary injunc- measure or standard.” 642 F
tion was to prevent
certain reduc-
tions, not to cease
continuing constitu-
tional harm. Court
addressed harms to
the entire prison
population, not just
Supp. at 526. The court noted that
current programs “are deficient
even now in a number of important
——, ibid. (emphasis added),
that the impact would be
particularly severe for inmates
with serious mental health
problems, see id. at 516, 519.
8a
Respondents’ United States’
Case Assertions Response
Eng v. Smith, * Not decided on the * See U.S. Reply Br. at 7-10, 15-16.
849 F.2d 80 (2d merits.
Cir. 1988) * Though not deciding whether the
* Conflates universal “deliberate indifference” standard
deficiencies in had been met, the court noted that
medical or psy- the evider.iary record supported a
chiatric care with finding of “systemic
disability-based [constitutional] deficiencies” in the
discrimination. prison’s mental health system, 849
F.2d at 82, and “deliberate
* Court declined to indifference to serious medical
resolve whether needs, ibid.
problems in prison’s
mental h
system rose to the
level of “deliberate
indifference” to
inmates’ medical
needs.
Flakes v. Percy, | * Suit addressed * The hospital's population included
511 F. Supp. conditions in a state _ convicted sex offenders in need of
1325 (W.D. Wis. hospital, not a specialized treatment, as well as
1981) prison. . people convicted of crimes and
transferred from prison. 511 F.
Supp. at 1326. In addition, the
hospital was in the process of
conversion to a prison, and the
state Division of Corrections
shared responsibility for the
facility. /bid. The court noted that
confinement in a mental institution
is “closely analogous to existence
in many prisons, and much more
stern and dreary than existence in
» many medium and light security
ee institutions.” Jd. at
1333.
Respondents’ United States’
Case Assertions Response
Inmates of Challenge to general | * See U.S. Reply Br. at 15-16.
Occoquan v. prison conditions.
Barry, 717 F. ¢ Among a long litany of deficiencies,
Supp. 854 Conflates universal the court found that, by housing
(D.D.C. 1989) deficiencies in seriously mentally ill inmates in a
medical or psy- cell block where they were locked
chiatric care with in their cells 23 hours a day and
disability-based received little treatment, 717 F.
discrimination. Supp. at 863-864, prison officials
exhibited “deliberate indifference
Non-disabled to their psychiatric health needs,”
inmates subjected to id. at 868.
conditions like
Goodman’s.
Court found prison
conditions
unconstitutionally
deficient in
numerous respects,
going far beyond
treatment of
disabled people.
Inmates of the Conflates universal See U.S. Reply Br. at 5-6, 15-16;
Allegheny deficiencies in Lane, 5A1 U.S. at 527-528 n.16.
County medical or psychia-
Jail v. Peirce, tric care with dis- Court found that the “provision of
487 F. Supp. ability-based dis- care to mentally ill inmates * * * is
638 (W.D. Pa. crimination. inadequate to the extent of
1980) ‘deliberate indifference,’ ” and
County jail. listed numerous respects in which
such care was “far below minimum
standards.” 487 F. Supp. at 643.
10a
nts’ United States’
Case Assertions Response -
James v. Challenge to general | * See U.S. Reply Br. at 15-16. —
Wallace, prison conditions.
382 F. Supp. * The court refused to dismiss the
1177 (M.D. Ala. Conflates universal plaintiffs’ claims, specifically
1974) deficiencies in noting their allegations that
medical or psy- members of the class were “incar-
chiatric care with cerated in institutions having
disability-based inadequate facilities and programs
discrimination. designed to meet the treatment
and custodial needs of those with
mental or emotional difficulties or
with geriatric problems.” 382F. —
Supp. at 1182.
Johnson v. County detention * See U.S. Reply Br. at 5-6; Lane,
Hardin County, center. 541 U.S. at 527-528 n.16.
908 F.2d 1280
(6th Cir. 1990) Court held that * Though holding that the county
county could not be was not liable, the court upheld the
liable because jury’s finding that jail officials
inmate had produced were liable for their deliberate
insufficient evidence indifference to the inmate’s
of custom or policy medical needs. 908 F.2d at 1284.
of deliberate
indifference to
medical needs.
Respondents’ United States’
Case Assertions Response
Kendrick v. * Challenge to general | * See U.S. Reply Br. at 15-16; U.S.
Bland, 5A1 F. prison conditions. Opening Br. at 40-41 (existing laws
Supp. 21 (W.D. inadequate); Lane, 541 U.S. at 526
Ky. 1981) Inmates’ suit & n.15.
encompassed a wide
variety of prison * The court specifically noted “acts
conditions. Case of brutality and cruel and inhuman
demonstrates that punishment” committed against
existing remedies inmates suffering from severe
were adequate mental impairments, 541 F. Supp.
before ADA, at 25, attributing this to guards’
because court lack of “adequate, or apparently
required prison to any, training in dealing with
correct certain mentally disturbed inmates,” ibid.
deficiencies The Rehabilitation Act section of
pursuant to the consent decree addressed only
Rehabilitation Act “physical barriers to the
handicapped.” /d. at 40.
Knecht v. Institution at issue * lowa Security Medical Facility,
Gilman, 488 was state hospital, where inmates were held and
F.2d 1136 (8th not prison; received certain drugs
Cir. 1973) population included involuntarily, included not only
people who had been civilly committed but also mentally
tivill illy committed. ill inmates from jails. 488 F.2d at
1138.
l2a
Respondents’ United States’
Case Assertions Response
Laaman v. Challenge to general | * See U.S. Reply Br. at 15-16.
Helgemoe, 437 prison conditions.
F. Supp. 269 * Though the court estimated the
(D.N.H. 1977) Conflates universal prevalence of mental illness in the
deficiencies in prison based on national statistics,
medical or it explained that “(t]Jhis is due at
psychiatric care with least in part to defendants’ failure
disability-based to adequately diagnose the plaintiff
discrimination. class so that no records exist,” and
the court also found that “the
Case involved national statistics reflect the
numerous incidence of mental illness at
deficiencies in prison NHSP.” 437 F. Supp. at 276 n.1.
conditions. Court’s The prison lacked sufficient
infor mation about personnel to address inmates’
prevalence of mental “serious mental health care
illness came from needs.” /d. at 324.
national statistics.
LaF aut v. Federal prison. * See Lane, 541 U.S. at 527-529
Smith, 834 nn.16-17; Hibbs, 538 U.S. at 730-
F.2d 389 (4th 732 (relying on cases and
Cir. 1987) legislative history concerning
federal-government
discrimination).
¢ Eighth Amendment was violated
when paraplegic inmate was placed
in a cell with toilet facilities that he
could use only by ing himself
across the floor. 834 F.2d at 392.
13a
nts’ United States’
Case Assertions Response
Langley v. * Not decided on the * See U.S. Reply Br. at 7-10, 15-16.
Coughlin, 715 merits.
F. Supp. 522 * The court cited evidence of
(S.D.N.Y. 1989) | * Conflates universal “repeated and systemic failures in
deficiencies in the provision of health care
medical or services to inmates with very
psychiatric care with serious mental disorders,” 715 F.
disability-based Supp. at 540, “dramatic failures to
discrimination. meet even minimal professional
standards in providing psychiatric
* Only a subclass of services,” ibid., and testimony
plaintiffs complained that certain mentally ill inmates
of deficient medical may be severely impacted by their
care. Non-disabled proximity to other mentally ill
inmates complained inmates, ibid. The court held that
about being housed the evidence was “ample” to show
with inmates who that the inmates “were injured by
arguably were a failure to treat [their] serious
disabled. medical needs,” that the “findings
would suffice to justify a conclusion
that plaintiffs’ rights were
violated,” id. at 542, and that state
officials were deliberately
indifferent, id. at 540.
Leach v. Shelby | * County jail. See U.S. Reply Br. at 5-6; Lane,
County Sheriff, 541 U.S. at 527-528 n.16.
891 F.2d 1241
(6th Cir. 1989), Court found policy or custom of
cert. denied, deliberate indifference to the
495 U.S. 932 needs of paraplegic prisoners,
(1990) including the plaintiff, who was not
bathed regularly and who was
forced to sit in his own urine for
long periods of time. 891 F.2d at
1243, 1248.
l4a
Respondents’ United States’
Case Assertions Response
Lee v. * Not decided on the * See U.S. Reply Br. at 7-10.
McManus, 543 merits.
F. Supp. 386 ¢ Preliminary injunction granted
(D. Kan. 1982) where paraplegic prisoner’s
catheter was not cleaned, and
where he was forced to sit in bodily
waste. 543 F. Supp. at 389-390.
The court “wis | to impress
n defendants its distress” at
plaintiff's treatment and officials’
passivity and complacency in the
face of serious medical needs. /d.
at 392.
Lightfoot v. * Challenge to general See U.S. Reply Br. at 15-16.
Walker, 486 F. prison conditions.
Supp. 504 (S.D. Though addressing the prison’s
Til. 1980) * Conflates universal overall health care system, the
deficiencies in court noted that “epileptics,
medical or
psychiatric care with
disability-based
discrimination.
* Non-disabled
inmates subjected to
conditions like
Goodman’s.
diabetics, asthmatics,
hypertensives and |inmates with]
cardiovascular problems, as well as
psychiatrically disturbed inmates,”
were held in “control cells”; these
cells were infrequently observed,
such that a prisoner could become
ill and die “within minutes,” and
conditions in the cells were
“abysmal.” 486 F. Supp. at 511.
Court also noted that prison
officials had “recklessly failed in
their duties to design and
implement a mental health care
delivery system which is capable of
—s minimally required
evels of adequate Pater health
care.” Jd. at 525.
1Sa
~ Respondents’ United States’
Case Assertions Response
Littlefield v. ¢ County jail. * See U.S Br. at 5-6; Lane,
Deland, 641 541 U.S. at 527-528 n.16.
F.2d 729 (10th
Cir. 1981) ¢ Finding constitutional
ies in the treatment of
y ill prisoners. 641 F.2d at
Lynch v. ¢ County jails. . ad oe Lane,
Baxley, 744 541 U.S. at 527-528 n.16.
F.2d 1452 (11th | © This case is not
Cir. 1984) =e * While the ey ey ,
was com was their
mentally poe involuntary
individuals civil commitment, the fact remains
incarcerated in that this case found unconstitu-
jails while tional treatment in a setting
civil by prison officials, is an
commitment of prison administration
proceedings, but that Title I] addresses. The case
who were not in jail cited evidence that mentally ill
for punishment. individuals were kept in
conditions. See
744 F.2d at 1460-1461 (prisons
were plagued by ov ,
safety hazards, lack of and
mental health and
without recreational facilities).
Moreover, this case noted that the
mentally ill have
that were not met in
Alabama prisons. /d. at 1458
ek sperm wes y showing
that “jail harmful to
those who are ill.”).
Those conditions
would affect all ill
l6a
Respondents’ United States’
Case Assertions Response
M v. * Not decided on the * See U.S. Reply Br. at 7-10.
Procunier, 477 merits.
F.2d 877 (9th * The evidence in this case “raise[d]
Cir. 1973) serious constitutional questions
respecting cruel and unusual
punishment or impermissible
“ofa mentally i
” a g
prisoner. 477 F.2d at
Maclin v. * Not decided on the * See U.S. Reply Br. at 7-10.
Freake, 650 merits.
F.2d 885 (7th * Paraplegic inmate established a
Cir. 1981) enn aera fat ht
denied access to ph
therapy and that prison
exhibited “deliberate indifference
to [his] serious medical needs” that
could violate the Eighth
Amendment. 650 F.2d at 889.
Mandel v. Doe, | * County jail. * See US. Br. at 56; Lane,
888 F.2d 783 541 US. at 527-528 n.16.
(11th Cir. 1989) | ¢ omy te
the | ¢ The fact that the inmate’s
bed of a work-detail disability was created while he was
pick-up truck. incarcerated does not diminish
disability. evidence presented
was that the failure to x-ray and
peemelgiaemesenened
- iat 187
impairment. 888 F.2d at 790.
The Eleventh Circuit found the
deficient
indifference.” Jd. at 787.
17a
Respondents’ ~ United States’
Case Assertions Response
Maynard v * Dismissed case ¢ Sufficient evidence of
New Jersey, inst State on constitutional violations to permit
719 F. Supp. leventh suit against state officials by the
— ny me te Perper wig + sg
1989) grounds, but denied prison officials
motion to dismiss as Se diaodant tation te
to prison medical to and treat
personnel. inmate’s AIDS, instead offering
him fs near, mater
tel :
bones ee TTF
Supp. at 293-294, 296.
Miranda v. * District jail. See US. Br. at 5-6; Lane,
Munoz, 770 541 U.S. at 527-528 n.16.
F.2d 255 (1st
Cir. 1985) Court of appeals reversed grant of
a directed verdict to four
» i officials in the Puerto
Rico correctional ‘'
that evidence showed that the deep
failings in medical treatment
“were as much a matter of central
administration policy as of local
reaction,” such that a reasonable
factfinder could hold them
oo 770 F.2d at 257, 261-
Ra
Respondents’ United States’
Case Assertions Response
Mitchell v. Challenge to general | * See U.S. Reply Br. at 5-6, 15-16;
Untreiner, 421 prison i Lane, 5A1 U.S. at 527-528 n.16.
——_
(N.D. Conflates universal ¢ Evidence showed that mentally ill
1976) deficiencies in and disabled inmates were
medical or subjected to particulariy
psychiatric care with i ing treatment. See 421 F
disability-based Supp. at 890 (“The Jail is entirely
ee psychological, dental staff
or on
Non-disabled the premises. Jail personnel with
inmates sub) to only some first aid training
Goodman's. need treatment.”); id. at
891 (“As many as four or five
County jail. mentally disturbed inmates at a
time are crowded into ‘Z’ cell.
There is no shower in ‘Z’ cell.
Vi ill inmates are likewise
into ‘Z’ cell with other
mentally disturbed inmates.”).
Mullen v. Federal prison. * See Lane, 541 U.S. at 527-529
Smith, 738 nn.16-17; Hibbs, 538 U.S. at 730,
F 2d 317 78th 732.
Cir. 1984)
19a
Respondents’ United States
Case Assertions Response
Negron v. Not decided on the * See U.S. Reply Br. at 7-10.
Preiser, 382 F. merits.
1 OK * The court found sufficient evidence
(S.D.N.Y. 1974) Court entered of mistreatment of mentally ill
injunction to inmates in isolation cells, see 382
record- ing, F. Supp. at 540-541, to issue an
refused to injunction to monitor and
Ei Amendment document the conditions of
iolation on current confinement, id. at 542-543
record. (“Plaintiffs have demonstrated
very serious questions going to the
en ae
irreparable harm durin th
of this litigation.”).
Negron v. Challenge to general | * See U.S. Reply Br. at 7-10, 15-16;
Ward, = F. prison i Lane, 5A1 U.S. at 522-523.
. 748
(S.D.N.Y. 1978) Not decided on the * Court found wi violations
‘ merits. of the due i of
mentally ill inmates wy i
Due process psychiatric treatment as a form
violation, rather i t. 458 F. Supp. at 760-
than discrimination 1. The evidence was so strong
on basis of mental that good faith immunity was
illness. denied. /d. at 761-764.
20a
~ Respondents’ United States’
Case Assertions Response
Nelson v. * Challenge to general | * See U.S. Reply Br. at 15-16.
Collins, 455 F. prison conditions.
Supp. 727 ¢ The court found Eighth
(D.M.D. 1978), | * Conflates universal Amendment violations in use of
aff'd and deficiencies in isolation cells, and that some
remanded sub medical or “inmates whose bizarre behavior is
nom. Johnson psychiatric care with the result of mental illness are
v. Levine, 588 disability-based confined in the isolation area
F.2d 1378 (4th discrimination. without adequate medical
Cir. 1978) treatment.” 455 F. Supp. at 735.
a y= * Non-disabled Prison ordered to a
only for judici inmates subj to procedure “by which prompt and
approval of conditions like sieeute euattenl review and care”
State’s plan to Goodman's. is ided, i ing “psychiatric
alleviate prison assistance.” /d. at 735.
conditions)
2la
‘Respondents’ ~ United States”
Case Assertions . Response
Newman v. * Challenge to general | * See U.S. Reply Br. at 15-16.
Alabama, 349 prison conditions.
F. Supp. 278 * The court stated that “(t]he fate of
(M.D. ¢ Conflates universal those many prisoners who are
1972), aff'd in deficiencies in mentally ill or retarded deserves
part, 503 F.2d medical or special mention,” 349 F. Supp. at
1320 (5th Cir. psychiatric care with 284, and that “[mJental illness and
1974), cert. disability-based mental retardation are the most
denied, 421 discrimination. prevalent medical problems in the
U.S. 948 (1975) Alabama prison s ibid. The
court found that
majority of mentally disturbed
inmates receive no treatment
whatsoever,” and further cited
both statistics and specific
instances of mistreatment of
mentally ill inmates. /d. at 284-
285. The court also found
unconstitutional treatment of
physically disabled patients,
including wounds that became
infested with maggots. /bid. This
led the court to conclude that “{i}t
is tautological that such care is
aay inadequate.” /d. at
Palmigiano v.
Garrahy, 443
F. Supp. 956
(DR 11977)
* Challenge to general
prison conditions.
¢ Conflates universal
deficiencies in
medical or
psychiatric care with
* See U.S. Reply Br. at 15-16.
* In addition to general prison
conditions, the court specifically
noted that the “grossly inadequate
system of medical care, including
psychiatric care, afforded inmates
is part of the intolerable totality of
conditions” that violates the
— Amendment. 433 F. Supp.
at 983.
‘
22a
Respondents’ United States’
Case Assertions Response
Parrish v. Court declined to * The court determined that the
Johnson, 800 consider Fourteenth state prison guard violated the
F.2d 600 (6th Amendment claim Eighth Amendment by engaging
Cir. 1986) because “the in a long series of “deviant acts,”
Fourteenth including “|cJausing a prisoner to
Amendment sit in his own feces, assaultifig a
provides a prisoner prisoner with a knife, extorting
with no greater food from a prisoner, verbally
protection than the abusing a prisoner,” and failing to
Eighth provide him with medical care, all
Amendment.” of which was “exacerbated by [the
prisoner's] paraplegic condition.”
800 F.2d at 605. The court
declined to consider prisoner’s
substantive due process
Fourteenth Amendment claim,
finding such rights co-extensive
with the Eighth Amendment. 800
F.2d at 604 n.5.
Ramos v. Challenge to general | * See U.S. Reply Br. at 15-16.
Lamm, 639 prison conditions.
F.2d 559 (10th ¢ In addition to problems in the
Cir. 1980), cert. Conflates universal general condition of the prison and
denied, 450 U.S. deficiencies in availability of medical care, the
1041 (1981) medical or court cited expert evidence that
psychiatric care with 5%-10% of the inmates were
disability-based “seriously mentally ill,” another
discrimination. 10%-25% “need treatment
although they are not seriously ill,”
Non-disabled and “(the lack of adequate mental
inmates subjected to health services * * * contributes to
conditions like inmate suffering and at times
Goodman’s. causes suicide and self-mutilation
by inmates” sufficient to constitute
an Eighth Amendment violation.
639 F.2d at 577-578.
23a
Respondents’ United States’
Case Assertions Response
Ruiz v. Estelle, | * Challenge to general | * See U.S. Reply Br. at 15-16.
503 F. re prison conditions.
1265 (S.D. Tex. ¢ The court cited evidence that 10%-
1980), aff'd in Non-disabled 15% of the prison population was
part and rev'd inmates subjected to mentally retarded and that the
in part, 679 conditions like failure to protect mentally
F.2d 1115 (5th Goodman’s. retarded inmates from abuse and
Cir. 1982) physical harm, as well as the
(reversing as to prisoners’ inability to understand
the scope of the and participate in prison
district court’s disciplinary proceedings, violated
remedy, but not the Eighth Amendment. 503 F.
as to its finding Supp. at 1346. Moreover, the court
of constitu- determined that the Texas
tionally’ defi- Department of Corrections
cient medical specifically violated the Eighth
and psychiatric Amendment rights of physically
care), cert. disabled prisoners by limiting
denied, 460 U.S. access to wheelchairs, hearing
1042 (1983) aids, and other assistive devices,
and by refusing wheelchair
accessible cells, toilets, and shower
facilities. /d. at 1340-1343 &
nn.153-162. Paraplegic inmate was
denied parole for failure to
participate in inaccessible work
programs. /d. at 1341 n.157.
Sites v. Mentally disabled Besides the plaintiff's equal
McKenzie, 423 inmates were protection claim based on
F. Supp. 1190 seeking treatment differential treatment of inmates
(N.D. W. Va. equal to that of who were civilly committed versus
1976) civilly committed “ ‘criminally’ insane.” the court
mentally ill, or same separately found that the state
treatment as regulation which precluded
similarly disablea prisoners in mental institutions
non-prisoners. from parole eligibility denied them
equal protection of the law and
was “clear|ly] unconstitutional.”
423 F. Supp. at 1194-1195.
24a
nts’ United States’
Case Assertions Response
Sykes v. * Challenge to general See U.S. Reply Br. at 5-6, 15-16;
Kreiger, 451 F. prison conditions. Lane, 541 U.S. at 527-528 n.16.
Supp. 421 (N.D.
Ohio 1975) * Non-disabled The court stated that, in addition
inmates subjected to to concerns regarding the general
conditions like prison population, “[o}f equal
Goodman’s. importance and immediate concern
to the Court is the plight of
* County jail. psychiatric inmates detained at
Cuyahoga County Jail.” 451 F.
ia . at 425. The court found the
il had “a crisis evolving from the
detention of inmates with
advanced mental and emotional
disorders” due to the lack of
appropriate facilities, psychiatric
care, procedures, and personnel.
Ibid.
Talley v. * Not aclaim for Lane, 541 U.S. at 522-523.
F.Supp. 383 disability discri-
mination, and court The court found that injunctive
(E. D_Ar only noted that two relief was warranted on behalf of
1965) plaintiffs were two inmates with “serious physical
forced to perform handicaps” who were required to
labor with serious do work beyond their physical
physical handicaps. capabilities, 247 F. supp. at 687,
and court “ha[d] no difficulty”
finding Eighth Amendment
violations, ibid, Court also found a
lack of needed medical assistance.
Ibid.
'
'
25a
Respondents’ United States’
Case Assertions Response
Thompson v. ¢ County jail See U.S. Reply Br. at 5-6; Lane,
City of Port- 541 U.S. at 527-528 n.16.
land, 620 F. * Complaint stemmed
Supp. 482 (D. from events sur- Plaintiff was locked up in a jail cell
Me. 1985) rounding his arrest, even after officers learned that “he
and the court noted really is a blind diabetic,” and thus
that plaintiff was not no reasonable basis for detention
incarcerated so that existed. 620 F. Supp. at 485. Case
the Eighth Amend- also demonstrates a critical lack of
ment did not apply. training and attention on the part
of law enforcement officers to
medical needs. /d. at 488 (holding
that the State’s conduct shocked
the conscience, constituting a
violation of plaintiff's substantive
due process rights).
Tillery v. ¢ Challenge to general See U.S. Reply Br. at 15-16; Lane,
Ownens, 719 F. prison conditions. 541 U.S. at 527-528 n.16.
i 1256
(W.D. Pa. 1989), | * Non-disabled in- Court specifically discussed at
aff'd, 907 F.2d mates subjected to length the ae of
418 (3rd Cir. conditions like Good- psychiatric care for mentally ill
1990) man’s. prisoners, and found that it
violated the Eighth Amendment,
719 F. ~ oy 1284-1290, 1302-
1306; and that acutely ill
psychiatric patients are kept in
“medieval conditions” in cells
infested with roaches, id. at 1288,
and “neither the cells nor the
inmates are kept clean,” id. at
1289. Court found serious failures
and deliberate indifference in
medical care afforded inmates with
epilepsy, diabetes, and AIDS, id.
at 1299-1301, 1305.
26a
professionals.
Respondents’ United States’
Case Assertions Response
Vitek v. Jones, No claim that ¢ Lane, 541 U.S. at 522-523.
}\445 U.S. 480 prisoners were being
(1980) involuntarily ¢ Vitek demonstrates that, besides
transferred to equal protection concerns, due
mental hospital process considerations are
because of implicated when mentally ill
intentional, prisoners are transferred or when
irrational other changes in the conditions of
discrimination. confinement are made. 445 U.S. at
493-94.
Waldrop v. Court granted ¢ The court found that the record
Evans, 681 F. summary judgment permitted a reasonable factfinder
Supp. 840 (M.D. to nine of the to conclude that two state officials
Ga. 1988), aff'd, defendants, were deliberately indifferent to
871 F.2d 1030 including high plaintiff's serious mental illness.
(11th Cir. 1989) ranking prison 681 F. Supp. at 853-855.
administrators, in
part, finding that the
prison was
adequately staffed
with medical
27a
Respondents’ United States’ -
Case Assertions Response
Wellman v. * Challenge to general | * See U.S. Reply Br. at 15-16
Faulkner, 715 prison conditions.
F.2d 269 (7th ¢ In addition to general concerns
Cir. 1983), cert. | * Conflates universal about the quality and availability of
denied, 468 U.S. deficiencies in medical care, the court specifically
1217 (1984) medical or found that the State had not
psychiatric care with “adequately staffed the psychiatric
disability-based care component of Michigan City’s
discrimination. medical care system,” and that
there had been no staff
¢ Non-disabled — for over two years.
inmates subjected to fendants’ medical expert saw
conditions like this as "[t|he most obvious serious
Goodman’s. deficiency in health care at Indiana
State Prison" because, "without an
on-site psychiatrist there is no one
qualified to evaluate and treat
psychiatric emergencies such as
suicide and homicide candidates, or
to follow patients who need to be
maintained on long term
ychotropic medications." 715
.2d at 272. Court also found
deliberate indifference in provision
of colostomy bags. Jd. at 274.
28a
Respondents’ United States’
Case Assertions Response
Williams v. ¢ Challenge to general See U.S. Reply Br. at 15-16.
Edwards, 547 prison conditions.
F.2d 1206 (5th The parties stipulated that there
Cir. 1977) * Conflates universal was “no psychiatric unit,
deficiencies in
medical or
psychiatric care with
disability-based
discrimination.
* Non-disabled
inmates subjected to
conditions like
Goodman’s.
although ‘|alpproximately 40% of
the inmate population, or 1,360
inmates, would benefit from
psychiatric treatment.’ An area
of the cell block is used to house
those for whom in-patient
psychiatric care would be
appropriate. Those confined to
the cell block are under
supervision of correctional
officers who have no medical
training. ‘No notes, medical
records or observations of the
inmates confined to the
—, ic unit are recorded.’
e parties conclude this
stipulation saying ‘The
psychiatric unit is totally
inappropriate for the
confinement of a psychiatric
patient.” 547 F.2d at 1217-1218.
Court therefore affirmed district
court holding of constitutional
violations. /d. at 1218.
Respondents’ ‘United States’
Case Assertions Response
Yarbaugh v. * Not decided on the See U.S. Br. at 7-10; Lane,
ae ee: merits. 541 U.S. at 527-528 n.16.
upp. 318
(D.D.C. 1990) ° of Columbia District Court found that the
jail. prisoner had not had a bath or
shower in nine months and
received no assistance in changing
positions in bed. It therefore
determined that “it is clear to the
Court that plaintiff is not receiving
medical services” for
yy ey ees
736 F. Supp. at 320.
Young v. * Not decided on the See U.S. Reply Br. at 15-16.
Harris, 509 F. merits.
Supp. 1111 Court found an basis for
(S.D.N.Y. 1981) a reasonable to conclude
that the State had violated
necessary
509 F. Supp. at 1113-1114.
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