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Case Name
Harris v. Thigpen
PC-AL-0012
Docket / Court
87-1109 ( M.D. Ala. )
State/Territory
Alabama
Case Type(s)
Disability Rights-Pub. Accom.
Prison Conditions
Attorney Organization
ACLU National (all projects)
ACLU National Prison Project
Case Summary
In 1987, prisoners of the state of Alabama filed this action against the Alabama Department of Corrections in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama; they amended the complaint on March 30, 1988. We don't have the initial complaint, but the amended complaint was a class action ...
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In 1987, prisoners of the state of Alabama filed this action against the Alabama Department of Corrections in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama; they amended the complaint on March 30, 1988. We don't have the initial complaint, but the amended complaint was a class action under 42 U.S.C. §1983. In it, the plaintiffs, represented by Southern Prisoners Defense Committee and the National Prison Project of the American Civil Liberties Union, alleged that their constitutional rights had been violated by the defendants' requirement that all inmates be subjected to testing for AIDS upon induction into, and before discharge from, the state's penal system. Specifically, the plaintiffs complained that the defendants tested them for AIDS against their will, failed to notify them of the results, failed to provide mental health counseling for inmates who tested positive, compelled the inmates who tested positive to live in segregated units that were "like leper colonies," branded them as socially unacceptable, provided them with grossly deficient medical care, and deprived them of the opportunity to participate in vocational and education programming, and the opportunity to earn good time credits under the Rehabilitation Act.
On January 8, 1990, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama (Judge Robert Varner) denied the plaintiffs' request for relief, holding that the testing program did not amount to an invasion of constitutionally protected privacy and that the plaintiffs had shown no credible evidence of any violations of their constitutional rights. Harris v. Thigpen, 727 F.Supp. 1564 (M.D.Ala. 1990). The plaintiffs appealed.
On September 18, 1991, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (Judge Peter Fay, Judge Stanley Birch, and Judge Walter Hoffman) affirmed the district court's judgment in part, and vacated and remanded in part, holding that the defendants were not deliberately indifferent to the inmates' medical or psychiatric needs, that the defendants' blanket policy of isolating HIV-positive inmates from the general inmate population did not violate any of the plaintiffs' constitutional rights, and that more complete findings of fact and conclusions of law were necessary for proper resolution of the claim that they had been denied programming and good time credits under the Rehabilitation Act. Harris v. Thigpen, 941 F.2d 1495 (11th Cir. 1991).
On remand, the district court (Judge Varner) again ruled in favor of the defendants, finding no violation of the plaintiffs' constitutional right to programming and good time credits under the Rehabilitation Act. The inmates appealed.
On November 4, 1997, the Eleventh Circuit (Judge Emmett Cox, Judge Phyllis Kravitch, and Judge Thomas Stagg) vacated the district court's decision and remanded the case, holding that the inmates had the burden to show that they were otherwise qualified or could be made so with reasonable accommodation, that less that significant risk of transmitting HIV did not alone justify excluding inmates from participating in programs, that determination that Rehabilitation Act rights could be subordinated to correctional concerns violated law of the case doctrine, that refusal to consider inmates' potential integration into off-site programs violated the law of case doctrine, that the cost of adding correctional officers did not make accommodation unreasonable, and that the case should be reassigned to a new judge on remand. Onishea v. Hopper, 126 F.3d 1323 (11th Cir. 1997). The defendants appealed the remand, and the Eleventh Circuit decided to hear the case en banc. Onishea v. Hopper, 133 F.3d 1377 (11th Cir. 1998).
In the rehearing en banc on April 7, 1999, the Eleventh Circuit (Judges Gerald Tjoflat, Robert Anderson, James Edmondson, Emmett Cox, Stanley Birch, Joel Dubina, Susan Black, Edward Carnes, and Stanley Marcus for the majority; Judges Rosemary Barkett, Joseph Hatchett, and Frank Hull dissenting) vacated the prior appellate decision and affirmed the district judge's decision that the prisoners' rights had not been violated. The majority of the en banc court held that "significant risk" of HIV transmission existed for any prison program in which HIV-positive inmates sought participation, that the court's finding that integrated programs would risk violence was not clearly erroneous, that the court's finding that segregation of HIV-positive inmates was not an exaggerated response was not clearly erroneous, that cost was a proper consideration in the determination of whether the hiring of additional guards to deter high risk behavior was a reasonable accommodation, and that the finding that the hiring of additional guards imposed an undue burden on the prison system was not clearly erroneous. Onishea v. Hopper, 171 F.3d 1289 (11th Cir. 1999).
The plaintiffs appealed the en banc ruling, and on January 18, 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case. Davis v. Hopper, 528 U.S. 1114 (2000).
Kristen Sagar - 05/02/2006
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Issues and Causes of Action
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Issues
Constitutional Clause
Cruel and Unusual Punishment
Due Process
Equal Protection
Unreasonable search and seizure
Discrimination-basis
Disability (inc. reasonable accommodations)
General
Administrative segregation
Classification / placement
Counseling
Education
Personal injury
Recreation / Exercise
Religious programs / policies
Sanitation / living conditions
Search policies
Staff (number, training, qualifications, wages)
Suicide prevention
Visiting
Medical/Mental Health
HIV/AIDS
Type of Facility
Government-run
Causes of Action
42 U.S.C. § 1983
Case Details
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Defendant(s)
Alabama Department of Corrections
Alabama Department of Corrections
Plaintiff Description
prisoners of the state of Alabama
Indexed Lawyer Organizations
ACLU National (all projects)
ACLU National Prison Project
Class action status sought
Yes
Class action status granted
Yes
Filed Pro Se
Unknown
Prevailing Party
Defendant
Public Int. Lawyer
Yes
Nature of Relief
None
Source of Relief
None
Filed
1987
Case Closing Year
2000
Case Ongoing
No
Additional Resources
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Documents
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Court
Docket(s)
No docket sheet currently in the collection
General Documents
M.D. Ala.
03/30/1988
Amended Complaint
PC-AL-0012-0001.pdf
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Detail
M.D. Ala.
06/24/1988
Comprehensive Amended Complaint
PC-AL-0012-0002.pdf
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Detail
M.D. Ala.
01/08/1990
Opinion
(727 F.Supp. 1564)
PC-AL-0012-0003.pdf
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WESTLAW
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LEXIS
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Detail
Source: Google Scholar
U.S. Court of Appeals
09/18/1991
Opinion
(941 F.2d 1495)
PC-AL-0012-0004.pdf
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WESTLAW
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LEXIS
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Detail
Source: Google Scholar
U.S. Court of Appeals
11/04/1997
Opinion
(126 F.3d 1323)
PC-AL-0012-0005.pdf
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WESTLAW
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LEXIS
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Detail
Source: Google Scholar
U.S. Court of Appeals
01/23/1998
On Petition for Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc
(133 F.3d 1377)
PC-AL-0012-0006.pdf
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WESTLAW
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LEXIS
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Detail
Source: Google Scholar
U.S. Court of Appeals
04/07/1999
Opinion
(171 F.3d 1289)
PC-AL-0012-0007.pdf
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WESTLAW
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LEXIS
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Detail
Source: Google Scholar
U.S. Supreme Court
01/18/2000
On Petition for Writ of Certiorari
(528 U.S. 1114)
PC-AL-0012-0008.pdf
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WESTLAW
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LEXIS
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Detail
Source: Westlaw
People
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Judges
Anderson, Robert Lanier III
(Fifth Circuit, Eleventh Circuit)
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PC-AL-0012-0006 | PC-AL-0012-0007
Barkett, Rosemary
(Eleventh Circuit)
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PC-AL-0012-0006 | PC-AL-0012-0007
Birch, Stanley F. Jr.
(Eleventh Circuit)
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PC-AL-0012-0006 | PC-AL-0012-0007
Black, Susan Harrell
(M.D. Fla., Eleventh Circuit)
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PC-AL-0012-0006 | PC-AL-0012-0007
Carnes, Edward Earl
(Eleventh Circuit)
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PC-AL-0012-0006 | PC-AL-0012-0007
Cox, Emmett Ripley
(S.D. Ala., Eleventh Circuit)
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PC-AL-0012-0005 | PC-AL-0012-0006 | PC-AL-0012-0007
Dubina, Joel Fredrick
(M.D. Ala., Eleventh Circuit)
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PC-AL-0012-0006 | PC-AL-0012-0007
Edmondson, James Larry
(Eleventh Circuit)
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PC-AL-0012-0006 | PC-AL-0012-0007
Fay, Peter Thorp
(S.D. Fla., Fifth Circuit, Eleventh Circuit)
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PC-AL-0012-0004
Hatchett, Joseph Woodrow
(Fifth Circuit, Eleventh Circuit)
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PC-AL-0012-0006 | PC-AL-0012-0007
Hull, Frank M.
(N.D. Ga., Eleventh Circuit)
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PC-AL-0012-0006 | PC-AL-0012-0007
Kravitch, Phyllis A.
(Fifth Circuit, Eleventh Circuit)
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PC-AL-0012-0005
Marcus, Stanley
(S.D. Fla., Eleventh Circuit)
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PC-AL-0012-0006 | PC-AL-0012-0007
Stagg, Thomas E. Jr.
(W.D. La.)
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PC-AL-0012-0005
Tjoflat, Gerald Bard
(M.D. Fla., Fifth Circuit, Eleventh Circuit)
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PC-AL-0012-0006 | PC-AL-0012-0007
Varner, Robert Edward
(M.D. Ala.)
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PC-AL-0012-0003
Plaintiff's Lawyers
Alexander, Elizabeth R.
(District of Columbia)
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PC-AL-0012-0003 | PC-AL-0012-0004 | PC-AL-0012-0005
Bright, Stephen B.
(Georgia)
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PC-AL-0012-0001 | PC-AL-0012-0002 | PC-AL-0012-0003 | PC-AL-0012-0004
Freeman, Alexa P.
(District of Columbia)
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PC-AL-0012-0001 | PC-AL-0012-0002 | PC-AL-0012-0003 | PC-AL-0012-0004 | PC-AL-0012-0005
Glassroth, Steve
(Alabama)
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PC-AL-0012-0001
Harris, Rick
(Alabama)
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PC-AL-0012-0001 | PC-AL-0012-0002
Khan, Ayesha N.
(District of Columbia)
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PC-AL-0012-0005 | PC-AL-0012-0006 | PC-AL-0012-0007
Krakoff, Jere
(District of Columbia)
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PC-AL-0012-0001 | PC-AL-0012-0002
Mandell, Howard
(Alabama)
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PC-AL-0012-0001 | PC-AL-0012-0002 | PC-AL-0012-0003 | PC-AL-0012-0004
Ortega, Nancy E.
(Georgia)
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PC-AL-0012-0001 | PC-AL-0012-0002 | PC-AL-0012-0003 | PC-AL-0012-0004
Winter, Margaret
(District of Columbia)
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PC-AL-0012-0005 | PC-AL-0012-0006 | PC-AL-0012-0007
Defendant's Lawyers
Boswell, Alice Ann
(Alabama)
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PC-AL-0012-0004
Byrne, David Bryson Jr.
(Alabama)
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PC-AL-0012-0003 | PC-AL-0012-0004 | PC-AL-0012-0005 | PC-AL-0012-0006 | PC-AL-0012-0007
Byrne, Alice Ann
(Alabama)
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PC-AL-0012-0005 | PC-AL-0012-0006 | PC-AL-0012-0007
Curtis, Jack M.
(Alabama)
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PC-AL-0012-0004 | PC-AL-0012-0005
Gaston, Geary A.
(Alabama)
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PC-AL-0012-0003 | PC-AL-0012-0004 | PC-AL-0012-0005
Kellum, Julia Elizabeth
(Alabama)
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PC-AL-0012-0005 | PC-AL-0012-0006 | PC-AL-0012-0007
Leonard, Ellen Ruth
(Alabama)
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PC-AL-0012-0005
Lyles, Harry A.
(Alabama)
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PC-AL-0012-0003 | PC-AL-0012-0004
Lynn, Horace N.
(Alabama)
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PC-AL-0012-0003 | PC-AL-0012-0004
Masters, Daryl L.
(Alabama)
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PC-AL-0012-0004
Norwood, Dorothy F.
(Alabama)
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PC-AL-0012-0003 | PC-AL-0012-0004
Redd, Andrew Weldon
(Alabama)
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PC-AL-0012-0003 | PC-AL-0012-0004 | PC-AL-0012-0005
Talkington, Scott R.
(Alabama)
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PC-AL-0012-0003 | PC-AL-0012-0004 | PC-AL-0012-0005
Wilhelm, Alice B.
(Alabama)
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PC-AL-0012-0004
Other Lawyers
Galanter, Seth Michael
(District of Columbia)
show/hide docs
PC-AL-0012-0007
King, Neil
(District of Columbia)
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PC-AL-0012-0004
Seaton, Elizabeth A.
(District of Columbia)
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PC-AL-0012-0005 | PC-AL-0012-0006 | PC-AL-0012-0007
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