Banks v. York
| Decision Date | 17 September 2007 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 05-1514 (ESH). |
| Citation | 515 F.Supp.2d 89 |
| Parties | Simon BANKS, Plaintiff, v. S. Elwood YORK, Jr., et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Columbia |
Simon Banks, Alexandria, VA, Pro se.
Denise J. Baker, Ellen A. Efros, Office Of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia, Richard S. Love, Office of Corporation Counsel, Office of the Solicitor General, Washington, DC, Colleen Elizabeth Durbin, Molod Spitz & Desantis, PC, New York City, Daniel P. Struck, Jones, Skelton & Hochuli, Phoeniz, AZ, Kelvin L Newsome, Megan Starace Ben'Ary, Leclair Ryan, Norfolk, VA, for Defendants.
This matter is before the Court on motions to dismiss filed on behalf of certain officials and employees of the District of Columbia and the Corrections Corporation of America.
All the claims set forth in plaintiffs Third Amended Complaint ("3d Am. Compl.") arise from his incarceration at the Central Detention Facility ("D.C.Jail"), which is operated by the District of Columbia Department of Corrections ("DOC"), and the Correctional Treatment Facility ("CTF"), a District of Columbia facility which is operated by the Corrections Corporation of America ("CCA"). Plaintiff brings this civil rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the District of Columbia, CCA, and nine individual defendants for alleged violations of rights protected by the Fourth, Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.1 3d Am. Compl. ¶ 1. Plaintiff also asserts claims for negligent supervision and training against certain of the individual defendants under District of Columbia law. Id. ¶¶ 89-404.2
In 2004, plaintiff was detained pursuant to four misdemeanor contempt orders issued by the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.3d Am. Compl. ¶ 82; see Banks v. United States, 926 A.2d 158 (D.C. 2007) (). On or about June 23, 2004, plaintiff was transferred to the custody of Alexandria, Virginia authorities pursuant to a detainer.3d Am. Compl. ¶¶ 167, 173. According to plaintiff, DOC staff failed to credit the six months he served in Virginia, thus miscalculating his sentence and his release date. Id. ¶¶ 21-23. Plaintiff was released from the D.C. Jail on April 28, 2006, allegedly 39 days past the date on which he should have been released. Id. ¶¶ 20, 23, 64. He claims to have "suffered anxiety, loss of freedom, loss of liberty and damages as a result of the overdetention." Id. ¶ 67.
Plaintiff attributes this overdetention not only to "the collapse of the Department of Corrections' inmate management system," 3d Am. Compl. ¶ 65, but also to the "deliberate indifference by Defendant District of Columbia [and] Devon Brown." Id. ¶ 56 According to plaintiff, defendants' alleged failure to train and supervise employees responsible for ensuring the timely release of prisoners not only was negligent, but also violated the Fourth, Fifth, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. See id. ¶¶ 90-97, 106-14, 129, 151-60.
Plaintiff alleges that, in May 2005, corrections officers "confiscated and destroyed [his] dental crown protecting some 7 teeth:" 3d Am. Compl. ¶ 71. Without the crown's protection, he states that his teeth were chipped and his gums became infected. Id. ¶¶ 75-76. The DOC's dental unit treated plaintiff with "pain medicine and antibiotics to alleviate the pain and suffering," id. ¶ 76, and offered to pull the affected teeth, id. ¶ 74; however, plaintiff alleges that defendants'"egregious, gross negligence, and reckless indifference" in failing to replace the crown and otherwise to provide proper treatment resulted in the removal of four teeth. Id. ¶ 77. He alleges that the loss of his teeth has resulted in damage to his gums, disfigurement of his face, infection, pain, and anxiety. Id. ¶ 78. In addition, he alleges that defendants Pane and Abdulwahab, the Director of the District of Columbia Department of Health and DOC's Medical Director, respectively, were aware of and were deliberately indifferent to the harm plaintiff would suffer as a result of the failure to provide proper dental care. See id. ¶¶ 79-81. He also alleges that CCA "deprived [him] of dental care needed to save [his] teeth from destruction, and further caused the [] harm to [his] teeth, [] gums, [] jaw, [] physical looks, and [] ability to eat, consume and digest food, resulting in the Plaintiff having to have root canals and removal of teeth." Id. ¶ 181.
Plaintiff's amended pleading also contains a virtual laundry list of prison conditions that he complains constituted a violation of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution.3d Am. Compl. ¶ 176. According to plaintiff, the D.C. Jail's population exceeded its capacity; its medical and nutritional staff was insufficient; its showers are defective and unsanitary; its law library lacked resources and staff; there were not enough correctional officers to maintain security; violent felons commingled with pre-trial misdemeanants; the grievance process was defective; reading materials were not available; there was no recreational equipment in the unit where plaintiff was housed; mattresses and blankets were infested with roaches; only one desk and one chair were available in each two-man cell; the commissary did not stock certain items; plaintiff was denied nail clippers; there were regular sewage backups; dental care was not available; staff opened legal mail outside of the inmates' presence; bunk beds without ladders posed a safety hazard for elderly inmates; no health and safety inspections of the D.C. Jail were conducted; no rehabilitative courses were available; and the heating and ventilation system was defective. Id.
Plaintiff also alleges that while detained at the CTF from September 2005 through February 2006, he was "expose[d] to cold temperatures ..., causing the Plaintiff to suffer pain, colds, and harsh living conditions, that violated the Plaintiff's rights pursuant to the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution." Id. ¶ 182.
Plaintiff alleges that on or about June 23, 2004, defendants caused his transfer to the custody of Alexandria, Virginia authorities, 3d Am. Compl. ¶ 167, even though he "had not waived his constitutional right to an extradition hearing and to protest the legal validity and authenticity of the detainer order." Id. ¶ 169. He asserts that defendants knew or had reason to know of his request for an extradition hearing, and that his transfer occurred because of defendants' "wanton/reckless disregard and [] reckless indifference to the rights of the Plaintiff." Id. ¶ 172.
Because of plaintiff's age and low custody level, he was initially housed at CTF "where [his] cell was never locked, and [he] was allowed to leave his cell at all times excepting Count Times and Lockdowns." 3d Am. Compl. ¶ 83. Notwithstanding his eligibility for placement at CTF, upon his return from the custody of the Alexandra, Virginia authorities, plaintiff was housed at the D.C. Jail. Id. ¶¶ 84-86. There, plaintiff was housed in a unit "where the Plaintiff suffered regular lockdowns, extreme restrictions on liberty, recreation, commissary, visitation, telephone privileges and cost." Id. ¶ 86. According to plaintiff, defendants' failure to reassign him to CTF caused him to suffer "humiliation, los[s] of liberty, undue hardship and deprivation of privileges." Id. ¶ 87. In addition, plaintiff was commingled with inmates charged with or convicted of murder and other violent offenses. Id. ¶ 88.
For these and other claims, plaintiff demands damages in excess of $125 million.3d Am. Compl. at 48-49 (Prayer for Relief).
There are two motions to dismiss filed on behalf of the District of Columbia defendants.3 The first [Dkt. # 55] is filed on behalf of Anthony Williams, Gregory Pane, and Norma Tally who are, respectively, the former Mayor of the District of Columbia, the Director of the Department of Health, and a DOC Captain. The second [Dkt. # 60] is filed on behalf of Devon Brown, Edward Reiskin, and Gloria Nelson who are, respectively, the DOC Director, the Deputy Mayor for Public Safety, and the DOC's Director of Records. Both motions essentially make the same arguments. For convenience, the Court refers to the Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of Defendants' Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff's Third Amended Complaint [Dkt. # 55] as "Williams Mot." and to the Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of Defendants' Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs Third Amended Complaint [Dkt. # 60] as "Brown Mot."
The District of Columbia defendants move to dismiss plaintiffs Third Amended Complaint under Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure on the ground that it fails to state claims upon which relief can be granted.
A complaint need not set forth detailed factual allegations. See Krieger v. Fadely, 211 F.3d 134, 136 (D.C.Cir.2000) (citing Leatherman v. Tarrant County Narcotics Intelligence & Coordination Unit, 507 U.S. 163, 168, 113 S.Ct. 1160, 122 L.Ed.2d 517 (1993)). However, a complaint must include "more than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do." Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, ___ U.S. ___, ___, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 1965, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). In deciding a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, the Court presumes the truth of the factual allegations of plaintiff's complaint and liberally...
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