CA8: Arrestee cannot be transported in K-9’s cage in police car

It violates due process to transport a presumed innocent arrestee in the K-9 dog cage of the back of the police car with dog hair and dried urine and feces. Defendant’s claim of legitimate penological interest is rejected on the totality of the circumstances, and qualified immunity denied. Morris v. Zefferi, 08-3141 (8th Cir. April 13, 2010)*:

Because Morris was a pretrial detainee at the time of the alleged violation of his constitutional rights, we analyze Morris’s claim against Zefferi under the Fourteenth Amendment, rather than the Eighth Amendment. See Owens v. Scott County Jail, 328 F.3d 1026, 1027 (8th Cir. 2003) (citing Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 535 n.16 (1979)). Under the Fourteenth Amendment, a pretrial detainee’s constitutional rights are violated if the detainee’s conditions of confinement amount to punishment. See Bell, 441 U.S. at 535 (“[U]nder the Due Process Clause, a detainee may not be punished prior to an adjudication of guilt in accordance with due process of law.” (citation omitted)). “[P]retrial detainees are entitled to ‘at least as great’ protection [under the Fourteenth Amendment] as that afforded convicted prisoners under the Eighth Amendment,” …. The Eighth Amendment prohibits penalties “that transgress today’s ‘broad and idealistic concepts of dignity, civilized standards, humanity, and decency.’” Hutto v. Finney, 437 U.S. 678, 685 (1978) (quoting Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 102 (1976)). “Punishment that ‘deprive[s] inmates of the minimal civilized measures of life’s necessities’ is unconstitutional.” Owens, 328 F.3d at 1027 (quoting Rhodes v. Chapman, 452 U.S. 337, 347 (1981)).

. . .

Zefferi’s piecemeal analysis of the conditions of Morris’s confinement misses the point. In considering whether the conditions of pretrial detention are unconstitutionally punitive, we review the totality of the circumstances of a pretrial detainee’s confinement. See Owens, 328 F.3d at 1027 (citing Smith, 87 F.3d at 268) (“[A]ny analysis of confinement conditions must be based on the totality of the circumstances.” (citation omitted)). When considered separately and in isolation, Morris’s allegations of the unsanitary conditions of the cage, the degree of discomfort experienced by Morris, or the humiliation and degradation suffered by Morris may not appear to state a constitutional violation. But Morris did not experience these conditions in isolation. Morris was a presumed innocent pretrial detainee. According to Morris, he was forced to crawl into a small cage littered with dog hair, excrement, and dried urine. He was then required to lie in an uncomfortable position while restrained by a waist belly chain, handcuffs and ankle restraints, for a ninety-minute car ride. Exigent circumstances did not exist, and other transportation options apparently did exist. Based on the totality of the circumstances and accepting Morris’s allegations as true, as we must, we conclude Zefferi’s decision to transport Morris in this manner “transgress[ed] today’s broad and idealistic concepts of dignity, civilized standards, humanity, and decency.” Hutto, 437 U.S. at 685 (internal marks omitted).