Atomanczyk v. Texas Department of Criminal Justice

Decision Date12 July 2021
Docket NumberCivil Action 4:17-cv-00719
PartiesAHARON L. ATOMANCZYK, Plaintiff, v. TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE and BRYAN COLLIER, Defendants.
CourtUnited States District Courts. 5th Circuit. United States District Courts. 5th Circuit. Southern District of Texas

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MEMORANDUM AND OPINION GRANTING SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN PART

Hon Charles Eskridge, United States District Judge.

Plaintiff Aharon L. Atomanczyk has been incarcerated in several Texas prisons since 1996. He complains of an inability to practice his Jewish religious beliefs, asserting that he has been unlawfully denied kosher food, participation in communal prayer services, and access to rabbinic visits and chaplaincy services. He brings claims against Defendants Texas Department of Criminal Justice and its executive director Bryan Collier, under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act, and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.

The motion for summary judgment by Atomanczyk is granted on his RLUIPA claim as to the sincerity of his religious beliefs. It is denied in all other respects. Dkt 109.

The motion for summary judgment by Defendants is granted on the RLUIPA claim as to prison security being a compelling governmental interest in relation to participation in communal prayer services. It is denied in all other respects. Dkt 107.

1. Background

Atomanczyk was given a life sentence upon conviction of capital murder in 1996. Dkt 109-2 at ¶ 4 (Atomanczyk declaration). He describes himself as an “Ultra-Orthodox” Jewish inmate. Dkt 109-2 at ¶ 3. This dispute concerns his accommodations and access to religious services since 2015 while incarcerated in several jails administered by the TDCJ.

The Stringfellow Unit (in Brazoria County) provides the TDCJ's so-called Enhanced Jewish Services Program. Id. at ¶¶ 7-8. This program provides inmates with free kosher food prepared on the premises weekly visits by a rabbi, and rabbi-led congregational services. See Dkt 110-1 at 3 (TDCJ chaplaincy manual); Dkt 110-3 (TDCJ memo on Jewish religious programming). Stringfellow is one of four units that provide Jewish services and is the only one that provides the Enhanced Jewish Services Program. The other three units are Jester III (in Fort Bend County), Stiles (in Jefferson County), and Wynne (in Walker County), which provide the so-called Basic Jewish Services Program. Dkt 110-1 at 3. That program provides inmates with kosher products for purchase, monthly visits by a rabbi, and rabbi-led congregational services. Id. at 3-4. Other units don't provide a specific program for the practice of Jewish beliefs.

Atomanczyk was assigned to Stringfellow from 2013 to 2015. The TDCJ transferred him in December 2015 to Jester III based on an assessment of medical need. Dkt 107-2 at 4 (affidavit of Wayne Brewer, then-Warden of Stringfellow Unit). The TDCJ assigns inmates to its several units based on (among other criteria) an assessment by the University of Texas, Medical Branch as to which locations can accommodate an inmate's medical restrictions. UTMB determined that Atomanczyk had “permanent significant overall physical capacity limitations” due in part to cardiovascular disease, which meant that Atomanczyk would be limited on his ability to walk, climb, and perform certain physical work. Id. at 5-7. UTMB also determined that he required confinement in a facility able to provide twenty-four-hour medical care. Id. at 8.

Although Jester III participates in the Basic Jewish Services Program, Atomanczyk didn't initially seek or receive kosher food while incarcerated there. That's because in June 2015, six months before his transfer, he changed his religious preference from Jewish to Messiiinic Jewish. Dkt 107-1 at 8-9 (Atomanczyk deposition). The TDCJ characterizes the latter preference as a Christian sect. Dkt 107-3 at 3 (affidavit of Dr Michael Rutledge, TDCJ deputy director of evidence-based operations). Atomanczyk disagrees with this, saying it is a Jewish denomination. Dkt 107-1 at 7-8. Regardless, the change in religious preference rendered Atomanczyk ineligible to participate in either the Basic or Enhanced Jewish Services Programs under TDCJ policy. Dkt 107-3 at 3.

Atomanczyk continued that religious preference until September 2016. He then changed his religious preference from Messianic Jewish to Satu Mare Hassidic Jewish. Ibid; Dkt 107-1 at 3 (Atomanczyk deposition); see also Dkt 107 at 18. The TDCJ characterizes such preference as Jewish, meaning Atomanczyk was then eligible to participate in Jester III's Basic Jewish Services Program. Dkt 107-1 at 3; Dkt 107-3 at 3.

Shortly after that change in religious preference, Atomanczyk filed an administrative grievance, seeking various religious accommodations, including free kosher food. See Dkt 107-5 (grievance). The TDCJ denied the grievance. See Id. at 4 (initial TDCJ response); Dkt 109-2 at ¶ 17; see also Dkt 107 at 18 (noting denial of grievance in TDCJ brief).

The TDCJ then transferred Atomanczyk to the Stiles Unit in April 2016. It did so because he received two disciplinary violations that resulted in the demotion of his security level. Dkt 107-2 at 8 (Brewer affidavit). Stiles is able to provide twenty-four-hour medical care to inmates who pose security concerns, while also providing the Basic Jewish Services Program. Id. at 9; see also Dkt 110-1 (TDCJ chaplaincy manual).

The TDCJ began to provide Atomanczyk with free kosher food from KO Kosher Service at Stiles in May 2017. Dkt 107-6 at 2-3 (affidavit of Jonathon Logan, TDCJ kitchen captain). Neither side addresses why this change was implemented. In any event, the parties dispute the quality of this food. The hechsher is a rabbinical endorsement or certification, especially of food products that conform with traditional Jewish dietary laws. See Dkt 109-3 at 5-6 (report of Plaintiff s expert Rabbi Marinovsky). Atomanczyk claims that the hechsher on the entrees he receives isn't adequate to satisfy his religious obligations. On that basis, he refused to eat the entrees for the months spanning June to October 2017 and December 2017 to some point in mid-2018. Dkt 109-2 at ¶¶ 23-27 (Atomanczyk declaration). After losing thirty-five pounds and experiencing “equilibrium and balance problems, ” he then began to eat the KO Kosher Service entrees and continues to do so at present. Id. at ¶¶ 27-31.

The TDCJ next transferred Atomanczyk to the Hughes unit in June 2017 following his involvement in a fight with two other inmates. It then transferred him back to Jester III in December 2017 for a brief time after promoting his security level. Atomanczyk was then involved in a more serious fight with another inmate in February 2018. TDCJ again demoted his security level to require housing in administrative segregation and transferred him to the Polunsky Unit (in Polk County), where he remains at present. Dkt 107-2 at 8-9 (Brewer affidavit).

Polunsky is capable of housing inmates in administrative segregation. It doesn't participate in the Jewish Services Program. See Dkt 110-1 at 3. Even so, the TDCJ continues to provide Atomanczyk free kosher food. Dkt 109-2 at ¶¶ 23-31 (Atomanczyk declaration). But he isn't permitted to participate in communal prayer services because of the administrative segregation. And the TDCJ doesn't pay a rabbi to visit Polunsky, as it does for Stringfellow, Jester III, Stiles, and Wynne. See Dkt 110-1 at 3-5 (TDCJ chaplaincy manual). Beyond this, the parties don't offer evidence to specify the unit's capabilities with respect to religion and health accommodations and security level.

Atomanczyk filed his initial complaint pro se in March 2017, following denial of his grievance by the TDCJ. After retaining counsel and obtaining leave, he filed an amended complaint. See Dkts 17 and 20. He asserts that Defendants discriminated against him on the basis of his disability when they transferred him from Stringfellow to Jester III, in violation of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 USC § 12131 et seq, and the Rehabilitation Act, 29 USC § 794 et seq. He also alleges under those Acts that Defendants have failed to provide reasonable accommodations for his alleged disability. He further asserts that Defendants have imposed a substantial burden on the practice of his religion in violation of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, 42 USC § 2000cc et seq. See Dkt 21.

Atomanczyk seeks compensatory damages for the past violations of the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act. He also seeks a permanent injunction under the ADA, Rehabilitation Act, and RLUIPA that would order Defendants to provide him with the services he seeks. Specifically, he seeks an order that Defendants be required to provide him “with access to the benefits of the Enhanced Jewish Services Program-including access to a nutritionally sufficient kosher diet, weekly communal Shabbat prayer services at the direction of an ordained Orthodox rabbi, daily communal prayer services, weekly rabbinic visits, and onsite chaplaincy services.” Dkt 21 at ¶ 11-12.

During this litigation, Atomanczyk retained the expert services of Dr Joseph S. Kass, a professor of neurology and psychiatry at the Baylor College of Medicine. He diagnosed Atomanczyk in October 2018 with small fiber neuropathy. The associated symptoms are dizzy spells, balance problems, parathesia (that is, burning, prickling, or numbness), and seizures. Dkt 109-2 at ¶¶ 14-16 (Atomanczyk declaration); Dkt 109-4 (Kass expert report). Atomanczyk characterizes this condition as a disability and asserts that it was the cause of his transfer to Jester III. Dkt 116 at 17-20. The TDCJ doesn't dispute that Atomanczyk was transferred to Jester III “for 24-hour medical care.” Dkt 107 at 15. It further assumes that Atomanczyk's small fiber neuropathy and...

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