Hernandez v. Velasquez

• Decision Date: 28 March 2008
• Docket Number: No. 06-40426.,06-40426.
• Citation: 522 F.3d 556
• Parties: Robert Z. HERNANDEZ, Jr., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Arthur H. VELASQUEZ; Steven R. Swift; Laurence P. Ching; Agrello Villareal; E. Franco; H. Barrera; M.K. McCleary; Albert Deleon; William J. Dugger; Michael P. Geerde; Ronda L. Camby; Jeffrey E. Newman; Donald R. Wilson, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

522 F.3d 556

Robert Z. HERNANDEZ, Jr., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Arthur H. VELASQUEZ; Steven R. Swift; Laurence P. Ching; Agrello Villareal; E. Franco; H. Barrera; M.K. McCleary; Albert Deleon; William J. Dugger; Michael P. Geerde; Ronda L. Camby; Jeffrey E. Newman; Donald R. Wilson, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 06-40426.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

March 28, 2008.

Robert Z. Hernandez, Jr., Abilene, TX, pro se.

Harold Joseph Liller, Jr., Austin, TX, for Defendants-Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Before JONES, Chief Judge, and WIENER and CLEMENT, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:

Robert Z. Hernandez, Texas prisoner # 837364, brought this § 1983 action against Defendants, alleging violations of his Eighth Amendment and due process rights. The district court granted summary judgment to all Defendants, and Hernandez appeals. We affirm.

BACKGROUND

In March 2002, Texas Department of Criminal Justice ("TDCJ") officials received information that two rival Hispanic gangs, the Texas Syndicate ("TS") and the Raza Unida ("RU") were planning a gang war. Security Threat Group ("STG") officers in each prison unit were ordered to compile lists of all known, suspected, and affiliated TS and RU members. In late March 2002, RU members assaulted and killed a TS member at the Polunsky Unit, and lockdowns were ordered for all known or suspected TS and RU members and affiliates. These lockdowns were not punitive in nature, but were for the safety of the suspected gang members and others in the prison system.¹

At that time, Robert Hernandez was incarcerated at the Darrington Unit, serving a life sentence for capital murder. Prior to his lockdown he was classified as a minimum custody, State Approved Trusty III inmate living in the general prison population. In April 2002, Hernandez was identified by a Darrington STG officer as a suspected TS member and was placed in lockdown status. This custodial assignment was based on a "screen" in Hernandez's file indicating he had been a suspected TS member since June of 2001. The STG also had received a handwritten communication from Hernandez dated April 3, 2002, in which Hernandez admitted he was a TS "helper" in the past, though he claimed he had never become a full-fledged "member" and had since withdrawn from the TS completely.

Hernandez claims that, beginning in July 2002, he was denied all outdoor and out-of-cell exercise privileges. He remained in lockdown status while prison officials investigated suspected gang members and worked to defuse tensions between the rival gangs. In November 2002, a search of Hernandez's regular cell turned up evidence suggesting a possible TS association. Prison officials found a letter mentioning a TS member, a note from the TS member, and addresses of confirmed TS members. According to the STG officer, this was not enough to confirm Hernandez as a TS member, and as Hernandez was already classified as a suspected TS member, nothing was done with the new information. Hernandez remained in lockdown until June 2003, when he met with the STG officer to ask that questionable information be removed from his file. At that time the STG officer determined that the initial "screen" linking Hernandez to the TS actually applied to another inmate surnamed Hernandez. Robert Hernandez was removed from lockdown, and his record was cleared of the suspected TS status.

Hernandez alleges that during lockdown he was confined to a cell measuring 5' × 9', which he usually shared with another inmate. He was allowed to leave his cell only for showers, medical appointments, and family visits. Defendants presented evidence at summary judgment that prisoners on lockdown are allowed indoor recreation in the "dayroom," but the evidence does not show that Hernandez himself was ever allowed this opportunity. Prison officials did provide Hernandez with information on how to perform in-cell exercises. Nonetheless, Hernandez claims that due to his confinement his "muscles have allowed to atrophy — stiffening up and he has lost his range of movement and flexibility." Hernandez also complains he suffered from depression.

During his time on lockdown status, Hernandez filed administrative grievances, arguing that he was not a TS member and asking to be returned to the general prison population. TDCJ officials responded to these grievances, advising that Hernandez was properly on lockdown for safety and security reasons.² Nevertheless, Hernandez contends he was provided with no hearing or review, either prior to or during lockdown, in violation of his due process rights.

Hernandez filed this lawsuit on June 13, 2003,³ alleging he was placed on lockdown status in violation of his due process rights, and that the denial of outdoor and out-of-cell exercise constituted cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment. Defendants filed a motion for summary judgment, which the district court granted as to the Eighth Amendment claims. The district court denied the motion for summary judgment on the due process claims, noting that Defendants had failed to include this issue in their motion for summary judgment. With the permission of the court,⁴ Defendants filed a second motion for summary judgment on the due process claims. The district court granted this motion, adopting the report of the magistrate judge. This appeal followed.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

This court reviews the district court's grant of summary judgment de novo. Berquist v. Wash. Mut. Bank, 500 F.3d 344, 348 (5th Cir.2007). Summary judgment is appropriate if the submissions show that "there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." FED R. CIV. P. 56(c). When deciding whether a fact issue exists, we review the evidence and the inferences drawn from it in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Reaves Brokerage Co. v. Sunbelt Fruit & Vegetable Co., 336 F.3d 410, 412 (5th Cir.2003). Even if this court disagrees with the reasons given by the district court, it may affirm a grant of summary judgment on any grounds supported by the record and presented to the court below. Berquist, 500 F.3d at 349; Leverette v. Louisville Ladder Co., 183 F.3d 339, 342 (5th Cir. 1999).

DISCUSSION

I. Eighth Amendment

Hernandez claims the denial of outdoor and out-of-cell exercise for thirteen months constituted cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution.⁵ We read his complaint primarily as a challenge to the conditions of his confinement, and address it first under that standard. To maintain this action under the Eighth Amendment, Hernandez must meet two requirements. First, he must show that his confinement resulted in a deprivation that was "objectively, sufficiently serious." Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 834, 114 S.Ct. 1970, 128 L.Ed.2d 811 (1994) (internal quotation and citation omitted). It is well settled that "the Constitution does not mandate comfortable prisons," and that prison conditions may be "restrictive and even harsh" without running afoul of the Eighth Amendment. Rhodes v. Chapman, 452 U.S. 337, 347, 349, 101 S.Ct. 2392, 69 L.Ed.2d 59 (1981); see also id. at 347, 101 S.Ct. 2392 (noting that such conditions are "part of the penalty that criminal offenders pay for their offenses against society"). Nonetheless, conditions may not be "grossly disproportionate to the severity of the crime warranting imprisonment." Id. The Supreme Court has defined a "sufficiently serious" deprivation under the Eighth Amendment as the denial of "the minimal civilized measure of life's necessities." Farmer, 511 U.S. at 834, 114 S.Ct. 1970 (quoting Rhodes, 452 U.S. at 347, 101 S.Ct. 2392).

Assuming Hernandez can show a sufficiently serious deprivation, he also must show that prison officials acted with "deliberate indifference" to his health or safety. Id. This follows from the principle that "only the unnecessary and wanton infliction of pain implicates the Eighth Amendment." Id.; see also id. at 837, 114 S.Ct. 1970 ("The Eighth Amendment does not outlaw cruel and unusual `conditions'; it outlaws cruel and unusual `punishments.'"). A prison official acts with deliberate indifference "only if he knows that inmates face a substantial risk of serious harm and disregards that risk by failing to take reasonable measures to abate it." Id. at 847, 114 S.Ct. 1970. This knowledge requirement is subjective: The official "must both be aware of facts from which the inference could be drawn that a substantial risk of serious harm exists, and he must also draw the inference." Id. at 837, 114 S.Ct. 1970.

We conclude that Hernandez cannot show deliberate indifference as required by Farmer because there is no record evidence he was ever placed at "substantial risk of serious harm." At summary judgment there was evidence on both sides as to the nature of Hernandez's discomfort. Defendants presented expert testimony that Hernandez's records revealed no complaint of muscle disorder. Defendants' exhibits also included Hernandez's grievance forms and medical requests, along with the prison officials' responses, which reference the same symptoms Hernandez recites in his complaint. For his part, Hernandez presented no evidence at summary judgment, though the allegations in his verified complaint may be considered competent evidence insofar as they comply with the requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(e). King v. Dogan, 31 F.3d 344, 346 (5th Cir.1994). Assuming the evidence creates a fact issue as to whether Hernandez suffered from muscle atrophy, stiffness, loss of range of motion, and depression, there is nonetheless no indication these conditions posed a substantial risk of serious harm. The district court properly concluded there was no genuine issue as to whether Hernandez suffered a "serious illness or injury" sufficient to constitute an Eighth Amendment violat...