Nelson v. District of Columbia, Civil Action No. 12–0715 (BAH).

• Decision Date: 08 March 2013
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 12–0715 (BAH).
• Citation: 928 F.Supp.2d 210
• Parties: Ronnie NELSON, Plaintiff, v. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Columbia

928 F.Supp.2d 210

Ronnie NELSON, Plaintiff,

v.DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, Defendant.

Civil Action No. 12–0715 (BAH).

United States District Court, District of Columbia.

March 8, 2013.

Ronnie Nelson, Butner, NC, pro se.

Shermineh C. Jones, Office of Attorney General, Washington, DC, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

BERYL A. HOWELL, District Judge.

The Plaintiff Ronnie Nelson, proceeding pro se, sues the District of Columbia and the District of Columbia Jail under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for alleged violations of the First, Fifth, and Eighth Amendments to the Constitution.¹ Second Amended Complaint (“Am. Compl.”), ECF No. 17. The Plaintiff also asserts a common law claim of negligence. See id. ¶ 18. The complaint arises out of the Plaintiff's detention at the D.C. Jail from November 3, 2011, to November 15, 2011.

The District of Columbia moves to dismiss the amended complaint under Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure on the grounds that (1) the Plaintiff failed to comply with the claim notice requirements of D.C.Code § 12–309, with regard to the negligence claim,² and (2) the complaint fails to state constitutional claims and a claim for which the District may be held liable under § 1983. Def.'s Mot. to Dismiss Am. Compl., ECF No. 18. Upon consideration of the Second Amended Complaint, the Defendant's motion papers, and the Plaintiff's opposition papers, the Court finds that the complaint fails to state a municipal liability claim and, therefore, will grant the Defendant's motion to dismiss the § 1983 claim. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1367, the Court will decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the negligence claim and, thus, will dismiss the case.

BACKGROUND

The Plaintiff alleges that he was arrested in the District of Columbia in July 2011 and was “transported to D.C. Jail as a detainee pended [sic] court proceedings.” Am. Compl. ¶ 6. On November 3, 2011, the Plaintiff injured his lower back and right hand when the double bunk bed he attempted to climb separated from the wall and collapsed. Id. ¶ 9. The Plaintiff was treated in the Jail's infirmary from November 3 to November 10, 2011, and each time was returned to his “Unit.” Id. ¶¶ 10–11.

After falling twice on November 10, the Plaintiff, at a nurse's insistence, was placed in a “Safe Cell” located in the infirmary that allegedly reeked of urine and spoiled food. Id. ¶¶ 12–14. The Plaintiff alleges that he was held in the Safe Cell for five days “and only given one shower despite numerous requests.” Id. ¶ 15. The Plaintiff also alleges that while in the Safe Cell, he was refused “a phone call and envelopes to contact [his] lawyer and family,” and was refused a clean cell because the “duty officer ... told [ ] Plaintiff [that he] would not be in that cell long.” Id. The Plaintiff alleges that when his property was returned to him “two or three days later,” items were missing. When he complained about the missing items, the duty officer told him “that it will be logged in the log book.” Id. ¶ 16. On the morning of November 15, 2011, the Plaintiff was transferred to “C.C.A. Medical Unit for treatment.” Id. ¶ 17.

The Plaintiff filed this action on May 3, 2012, from the Federal Correctional Institution in Butner, North Carolina. He claims that the District breached its duty of “reasonable care and safekeeping owed to Plaintiff,” id. ¶ 18, “knowingly, intentionally ... ex-communicated” him from his family and attorney, in violation of the First Amendment, id. ¶ 20, and placed him “in a filthy, urine infested cell with reckless disregard for his health and safety ....” and maintained a “defective bunk bed,” in violation of the Eighth Amendment. Id. ¶¶ 19, 22. The Plaintiff seeks a total of $360,000 in damages. Id. at 4.

LEGAL STANDARD

To survive a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, a plaintiff need only plead “enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face” and to “nudge[ ][his] claims across the line from conceivable to plausible.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). “[A] complaint [does not] suffice if it tenders ‘naked assertion[s]’ devoid of ‘further factual enhancement.’ ” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 557, 127 S.Ct. 1955). Instead, the complaint must plead facts that are more than “ ‘merely consistent with’ a defendant's liability,” id. (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 557, 127 S.Ct. 1955), and “that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Id.; accord Rudder v. Williams, 666 F.3d 790, 794 (D.C.Cir.2012).

In considering a motion to dismiss, the Court “must assume all the allegations in the complaint are true (even if doubtful in fact) ... [and] must give the plaintiff the benefit of all reasonable inferences derived from the facts alleged.” Aktieselskabet AF 21. November 2001 v. Fame Jeans Inc., 525 F.3d 8, 17 (D.C.Cir.2008) (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). However, the court need not accept as true “a legal conclusion couched as a factual allegation,” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (internal quotation marks omitted), and “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice” to overcome a motion to dismiss. Id.

DISCUSSION

Under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, it is unlawful for a person acting under color of law to deprive any other person of any federal constitutional or statutory right. The Supreme Court has held that the term “person” in § 1983 includes municipalities and other local government units, such as the District of Columbia. See Monell v. Dep't of Soc. Servs., 436 U.S. 658, 690, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978). A municipality, however, “cannot be held liable solely because it employs a tortfeasor—or, in other words, a municipality cannot be held liable under § 1983 on a respondeat superior theory.” Id. at 691, 98 S.Ct. 2018;see also Connick v. Thompson, ––– U.S. ––––, 131 S.Ct. 1350, 1359, 179 L.Ed.2d 417 (2011) (“under § 1983, local governments are responsible only for their own illegal acts.... They are not vicariously liable under § 1983 for their employees' actions.”); accord Jones v. Horne, 634 F.3d 588, 600 (D.C.Cir.2011).

In order to plead a § 1983 claim against a municipality, a plaintiff must not only allege a predicate violation of some right, privilege, or immunity secured by the Constitution and laws of the United States, see42 U.S.C. § 1983, but must also allege “that the municipality's custom or policy caused the violation,” Warren v. District of Columbia, 353 F.3d 36, 38 (D.C.Cir.2004) (citing Collins v. City of Harker Heights, 503 U.S. 115, 123–24, 112 S.Ct. 1061, 117 L.Ed.2d 261 (1992)), as evidenced by an official policy or “practices so persistent and widespread as to practically have the force of law.” Connick, 131 S.Ct. at 1359;see Jones, 634 F.3d at 600–01 (“Causation can be shown in several ways,” including the adoption of an unconstitutional policy by “the municipality or one of its policymakers [,]” a policymaker's knowing disregard of “a practice that was consistent enough to constitute custom,” or the municipality's deliberate indifference, i.e., its failure to act on a known risk of a constitutional violation.) (citations, internal quotation marks, and internal alterations omitted). “Where a plaintiff fails to allege the existence of any policy or custom that could have arguably violated his rights, dismissal is proper.” Gabriel v. CCA, 211 F.Supp.2d 132, 139 (D.D.C.2002) (citing Polk County v. Dodson, 454 U.S. 312, 326–27, 102 S.Ct. 445, 70 L.Ed.2d 509 (1981)). If a predicate constitutional violation is not adequately pled, however, the Court “do[es] not reach the second part of the inquiry, applying the standards for a claim of municipal liability.” Hannon v. Transcor, 161 Fed.Appx. 20 (D.C.Cir.2005) (per curiam).

A. The First Amendment Claim

The Plaintiff claims that he was “ex-communicated” from his family and attorney, Am. Compl. ¶ 20, while in the Safe Cell because he was denied “a phone call and envelopes....” Id. ¶ 15. He adds in his opposition that the First Amendment “guarantees Freedom of speech, mail, and telephone use,” and that his requests to speak with his lawyer about “a sentencing hearing coming up in a couple of days” and with his family “about medical condition and injury” were “either denied or ignored.” Pl.'s Opp'n Mot. to Def.'s Mot. to Dismiss Am. Compl. (“Pl.'s Opp'n”) at 5 ¶ 2, ECF No. 20. ³

The fact that the Plaintiff was denied one telephone call and stationery for the brief time that he was in the Safe Cell fails to implicate the First Amendment's right of free speech or right to redress grievances. See Ali v. District of Columbia, 278 F.3d 1, 8 (D.C.Cir.2002) (“To maintain a court access claim, an inmate must demonstrate actual injury, that is, the inmate must show “that an actionable claim ... which he desired to bring has been lost or rejected, or that the presentation of such a claim is currently being prevented ....” ”) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted) (ellipses in original); accord Akers v. Watts, 740 F.Supp.2d 83, 96 (D.D.C.2010) (An inmate stating a First Amendment right of access to the courts must “allege that he suffered actual prejudice or injury” as a result of the government's deprivation.) (citations omitted); Delaney v. District of Columbia, 659 F.Supp.2d 185, 196 (D.D.C.2009) (“A claim for denial of access may be brought where (1) systemic official action frustrates a plaintiff in preparing and filing suits, such as denial of access to a law library or (2) official action precludes a claim resulting in the loss or inadequate settlement of a meritorious case or the loss of the opportunity to bring suit.”) (citing Christopher v. Harbury, 536 U.S. 403, 412–14, 122 S.Ct. 2179,...