Miller v. King.

U.S. Appeals Court

HANDICAPPED

CELL SIZE

Miller v. King, 384 F.3d 1248 (11th Cir. 2004). A paraplegic state prisoner brought a [section] 1983 action alleging Eighth Amendment and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) violations. The district court granted summary judgment for the defendants on most of the claims, and following a jury trial entered judgment for a disciplinary hearing officer on the remaining claims. The prisoner appealed. The appeals court affirmed in part, reversed in part and remanded. The appeals court held that fact issues, as to whether the prisoner was afforded basic levels of humane care and hygiene, precluded summary judgment on the prisoner's [section] 1983 claims for monetary damages and injunctive relief under the Eighth Amendment. According to the court, the prisoner was "disabled" within the meaning of ADA and had standing to seek injunctive relief against a prison warden. The prisoner was due to remain in isolation for over eight years as the result of more than 180 disciplinary reports. Able-bodied inmates in disciplinary isolation are housed in less stringent units than the building in which the prisoner was housed. Because of the small cell size in his unit, prison policy calls for beds to removed daily so that wheelchair-bound inmates have some minimal area within with to move around in their cells. The prisoner alleged that there was no room in his cell, making him immobile and restrained for long periods of time, and that prison staff failed to remove the bed from his cell daily. The prisoner also alleged that the showers in the housing unit are not wheelchair-accessible. (Georgia State Prison)