Ashann-Ra v. Com. of Va.

• Decision Date: 22 August 2000
• Docket Number: No. Civ. A. 7:99cv00915.,Civ. A. 7:99cv00915.
• Citation: 112 F.Supp.2d 559
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Virginia
• Parties: ASHANN-RA, Plaintiff, v. COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA <I>et al.,</I> Defendants.

112 F.Supp.2d 559

ASHANN-RA, Plaintiff, v. COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA et al., Defendants.

No. Civ. A. 7:99cv00915.

United States District Court, W.D. Virginia, Roanoke Division.

August 22, 2000.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Ashann-Ra, Red Onion State Prison, Pound, VA, pro se.

Pamela Anne Sargent, Office of the Attorney General, Richmond, VA, for defendants.

TURK, District Judge.

Plaintiff Ashann-Ra, a Virginia inmate proceeding pro se, brings this action under the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, with jurisdiction vested under 28 U.S.C. § 1343. In his complaint, Ashann-Ra (hereinafter "Ra") alleges that the defendant correctional officers at Red Onion State Prison (ROSP) failed to provide him with well-fitting shoes, in violation of the Eighth Amendment and state tort laws violated his constitutional and state law rights to privacy while showering; and implemented and enforced a grooming policy that violates equal protection, due process and various state law rights. The defendants have filed a motion for summary judgment to which plaintiff has responded with a motion for partial summary judgment. Although several motions to amend and a discovery matter are also pending, these motions can be addressed in conjunction with the summary judgment motions. Accordingly, the court finds the motions ripe for disposition.

Upon motion for summary judgment, the court must view the facts, and the inferences to be drawn from those facts, in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion. Ross v. Communications Satellite Corp., 759 F.2d 355 (4th Cir.1985). Summary judgment is proper where there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(c). When a motion for summary judgment is made and properly supported by affidavits, depositions, or answers to interrogatories, the non-moving party may not rest on the mere allegations or denials of the pleadings. Instead, the non-moving party must respond by affidavits or otherwise and present specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue of disputed fact for trial. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e). If the non-moving party fails to show a genuine issue of fact, summary judgment, if appropriate, may be entered against the non-moving party.

Claim 1: Denial of Well-fitting Shoes

In his first claim, Ra alleges that defendants Stiltner, Turner and Fleming unreasonably deprived him of shoes that fit his feet. In support of this claim, Ra alleges the following sequence of facts. When Ra arrived at ROSP in December 1998, officials issued him a pair of black canvas, slip-on shoes, size 11. Ra asserts that his proper shoe size is 12 or 13 and that the size 11 shoes did not fit. Although Ra repeatedly asked for replacement boots in a larger size, Defendant Fleming told Ra that no size 12 or 13 shoes were available, but that these larger sizes had been ordered.¹ For 24 days, Ra had to wear shoes that left his feet sticking out by 2-3 inches, in subfreezing weather, rain, and snow 2-3 inches deep. Ra's own state boots were kept in the laundry during this period, but Fleming would not allow him to wear those boots even temporarily until his larger, canvas shoes arrived. The Regional Administrator ruled that Ra's appeal from the warden's denial of his grievances about the shoes was founded. Ra alleges that wearing the wrong-sized shoes caused him pain and suffering, numbness and discomfort, and that the stress of these discomforts aggravated his known mental health problems.

The Eighth Amendment protects prisoners from cruel and unusual living conditions. Rhodes v. Chapman, 452 U.S. 337, 101 S.Ct. 2392, 69 L.Ed.2d 59 (1981). In order to state a claim of constitutional significance regarding prison conditions, a plaintiff must allege facts demonstrating that the challenged conditions resulted in a deprivation of a basic human need that was objectively "sufficiently serious" and (2) that, subjectively, the defendant prison officials acted with a sufficiently "culpable state of mind" with regard to the conditions. Wilson v. Seiter, 501 U.S. 294, 298, 111 S.Ct. 2321, 115 L.Ed.2d 271 (1991). To satisfy the objective element of a conditions claim, the plaintiff must show that he has sustained a serious or significant mental or physical injury as a result of the challenged conditions, see Strickler v. Waters, 989 F.2d 1375, 1380-1381 (4th Cir. 1993).

To satisfy the subjective element of a conditions claim, plaintiff must show that the defendant officials acted with deliberate indifference toward the risk of harm. Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 835, 114 S.Ct. 1970, 128 L.Ed.2d 811 (1994). To prove deliberate indifference by an official, plaintiff must show that the official was aware of facts from which he could draw an inference that a substantial risk of harm existed and that he actually drew that inference. Id. at 837, 114 S.Ct. 1970. Then, plaintiff must show that the official disregarded the risk by failing to take "reasonable measures" to alleviate the risk. Id. at 832, 114 S.Ct. 1970.

The court finds that Ra has not alleged facts indicating that he suffered any serious physical injury to his feet or any other part of his body as a result of defendants' failure to provide him with well-fitting shoes for 24 days. He does not allege that exposure of his feet to subfreezing temperatures, rain or snow during the brief walks between buildings caused severe pain, disfigurement or life-threatening risks. Strickler, 989 F.2d at 1380-1381. Moreover, Ra has not alleged facts indicating that the defendants exhibited deliberate indifference in failing to provide him with properly fitting shoes more quickly. Ra does not document any requests he made to the defendants for properly sized canvas shoes. Moreover, Ra does not dispute defendants' evidence that as soon as larger sized shoes arrived on reorder, Ra received a pair. Ra complains that defendants could have allowed Ra to wear his own state boots for 24 days until canvas shoes arrived to fit him and that their failure to do so aggravated his mental health problems. However, Ra alleges no facts supporting his bald assertion that stress from wearing the small shoes made his mental health problems worse. Even if he could show such a connection, the court finds absolutely no allegation or evidence indicating that the defendants had any reason to believe that a few weeks without properly fitting shoes presented a serious risk of physical or mental health injury to Ra.² Farmer, 511 U.S. at 837, 114 S.Ct. 1970. As to Claim 1, the court concludes that defendants are entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law and, therefore, denies plaintiff's motion for summary judgment as to this claim.

Ra also raises a state law claim of negligent infliction of emotional distress arising from defendants' delay in providing properly fitting boots. Inasmuch as the court grants summary judgment as to the federal law claim arising from these allegations, the court declines to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Ra's state law claim and dismisses it without prejudice. See 28 U.S.C. § 1367(c).

Claim 2: Denial of Privacy

Ra alleges that for 10½ weeks of his incarceration in the general population at ROSP, the shower stalls had no shower curtains and female correctional officers working daily in the control booth and on the floor had an unobstructed view of his genitals while he showered. Ra alleges that during the period when his unit had no shower curtains, several female officers viewed his genitals and encouraged him to masturbate while he was showering. He alleges that this practice put him at risk of contracting diseases such as hepatitis from exposure to semen discharged on the floor of the showers. He further alleges that the female officers, to cover up their own wrongdoing, regularly charged masturbating inmates with indecent exposure. Ra also alleges that the lack of shower curtains allowed inmates known to be predatory homosexuals to stalk other inmates in the showers and led to at least one other inmate's being assaulted. Ra alleges that his mental distress over all these problems caused him to become sexually dysfunctional.

Ra asserts that the lack of shower curtains in 1998 and 1999 violated his right to privacy under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. In support of these claims, he cites Lee v. Downs, 641 F.2d 1117 (4th Cir.1981). He also raises state law claims of negligent invasion of privacy and intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress. In his original complaint, Ra sues former Warden Deeds, J. Armentrout and R. Rowlette in their official and personal capacities as the policymakers allegedly responsible for the decisions to open the prison without shower curtains and to schedule female officers to work in areas where they could view the genitals of showering male inmates.

Defendants offer the following evidence. For undisclosed security reasons, ROSP general population units were not designed for shower curtains or doors when the prison opened in August 1998 and had no curtains or doors at the time Ra arrived at ROSP, on December 1, 1998. The segregation unit showers were designed with metal mesh doors providing privacy for the inmate while allowing officers generally to observe the inmate in the shower. Defendants do not dispute Ra's allegations that administrators scheduled female officers to work in the control booth and on floor patrol in the general population units and that these officers could view the genitals of showering male inmates. After several inmates complained about the lack of privacy in the showers, the administration ordered curtains for the shower stalls. Officials obtained a shower curtain design from Keen Mountain Correctional Center and ordered material for curtains in April 1999. They began installing the curtains in Ra's general population housing unit during the last week of October 1999. It is...