Case: Gary H. v. Hegstrom

3:77-cv-01039 | U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon

Filed Date: 1977

Closed Date: July 20, 1989

Clearinghouse coding complete

Case Summary

In 1977, eleven inmates of Oregon's MacLaren School (a facility for adolescent wards of the juvenile court system, located in Woodburn, Oregon) filed a class action lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the Oregon Department of Human Resources in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon. The plaintiffs, represented by the Oregon Legal Services Corporation, the Legal Aid Service, the National Juvenile Law Center, and the Juvenile Justice Legal Advocacy Project of the National Center …

In 1977, eleven inmates of Oregon's MacLaren School (a facility for adolescent wards of the juvenile court system, located in Woodburn, Oregon) filed a class action lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the Oregon Department of Human Resources in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon. The plaintiffs, represented by the Oregon Legal Services Corporation, the Legal Aid Service, the National Juvenile Law Center, and the Juvenile Justice Legal Advocacy Project of the National Center for Youth Law, asked the district court for declaratory and injunctive relief. They alleged that their constitutional rights had been violated by cruel and unusual punishments such as beatings, macings, druggings with powerful psychotropic drugs, strapping juveniles to beds for long periods of time, forcing them to stand at attention for hours on end, forcing them to sit silently for days at a time, confining them in cramped isolation cells, depriving them of items such as mattresses, reading materials, and bathroom facilities, forcing them to urinate out windows or on the floor, overcrowding, and lack of personal security. They also complained of unconstitutional violations in the areas of due process of law, forced involuntary servitude, right to privacy, freedom of religion, and equal protection (such as failure to provide fire and emergency procedures, use of corporal punishment, failure to provide administrative hearings before discipline, and overcrowding, all of which are regulated by Oregon laws in adult correctional facilities).

On February 22, 1985, the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon (Judge James M. Burns) granted declaratory and injunctive relief to the plaintiffs, detailing specific requirements that the defendants had to meet before they could be found compliant with the Constitution. The court issued requirements in the areas of confinement requirements, procedural safeguards, environmental conditions, supplies, clothing, disciplinary procedures, use of restraints, exercise and recreation, education, food, visitation, medical care, drug and alcohol treatment, mental illness, staffing levels, and staff training. The defendants appealed.

On November 4, 1987, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (Judge Alfred Theodore Goodwin) vacated the district court's opinion and remanded the case for further consideration. The Ninth Circuit reasoned that, since the Eighth Amendment applied only to "convicted prisoners," the district court had used the wrong standard of review, and remanded the case so that the district judge could use the due process clause as the standard. Gary H. v. Hegstrom, 831 F.2d 1430 (9th Cir. 1987).

Our docket (current as of 7/12/2006) records that the district court (Judge Burns) dismissed the case without prejudice and without costs on July 20, 1989. We have no other record of the proceedings in this case.

Summary Authors

Kristen Sagar (7/12/2006)

People


Judge(s)

Burns, James Milton (Oregon)

Attorney for Plaintiff

Baily, Alan (Oregon)

Bull, Peter (California)

Costello, Jan C. (California)

Dale, Michael J. (California)

Attorney for Defendant
Expert/Monitor/Master/Other

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Documents in the Clearinghouse

Document

3:77-cv-01039

Docket (PACER)

Aug. 11, 1989

Aug. 11, 1989

Docket

3:77-cv-01039

Second Amended Complaint

Sept. 26, 1980

Sept. 26, 1980

Complaint

3:77-cv-01039

Final Decree and Judgment (Isolation and Detention)

Feb. 22, 1985

Feb. 22, 1985

Order/Opinion

85-03730

Reported Opinion

U. S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Nov. 4, 1987

Nov. 4, 1987

Order/Opinion

Docket

Last updated Jan. 22, 2024, 3:10 a.m.

ECF Number Description Date Link Date / Link
214

RECORD OF ord stip. ord of dism signed in open court. ntfd Honorable James M. Burns (former employee) (Entered: 08/01/1989)

July 20, 1989

July 20, 1989

215

Stipulation and ORDER: dismissing case w/out prej and w/out costs or atty fees. Pltf's may move for leave to reopen this act at any time upon the grounds that defts are acting in violation of the pltfs' federal statutory or constitutional rights. Signed 7/20/89 microfilmed 8/1/89 Honorable James M. Burns ntfd. (former employee) (Entered: 08/01/1989)

July 20, 1989

July 20, 1989

216

Mail Returned from Robert Walker re [docs [214 & 215]. (former employee) (Entered: 08/11/1989)

Aug. 11, 1989

Aug. 11, 1989

Case Details

State / Territory: Oregon

Case Type(s):

Juvenile Institution

Special Collection(s):

Multi-LexSum (in sample)

Key Dates

Filing Date: 1977

Closing Date: July 20, 1989

Case Ongoing: No

Plaintiffs

Plaintiff Description:

Adolescent wards of Oregonís MacLaren School (a facility for adolescent wards of the juvenile court system)

Plaintiff Type(s):

Private Plaintiff

Attorney Organizations:

Legal Services/Legal Aid

National Center for Youth Law

Youth Law Center

Public Interest Lawyer: Yes

Filed Pro Se: No

Class Action Sought: Yes

Class Action Outcome: Granted

Defendants

MacLaren School for Boys, State

Case Details

Causes of Action:

42 U.S.C. § 1983

Constitutional Clause(s):

Due Process

Unreasonable search and seizure

Free Exercise Clause

Freedom of speech/association

Equal Protection

Cruel and Unusual Punishment

Available Documents:

Trial Court Docket

Complaint (any)

Any published opinion

Outcome

Prevailing Party: Mixed

Nature of Relief:

None

Source of Relief:

Litigation

Form of Settlement:

Court Approved Settlement or Consent Decree

Order Duration: 1985 - None

Issues

General:

Bathing and hygiene

Disciplinary procedures

Fire safety

Religious programs / policies

Restraints : chemical

Restraints : physical

Sanitation / living conditions

Jails, Prisons, Detention Centers, and Other Institutions:

Confinement/isolation

Crowding / caseload

Assault/abuse by staff (facilities)

Affected Sex or Gender:

Male

Medical/Mental Health:

Medical care, general

Mental health care, general

Untreated pain

Type of Facility:

Government-run