Holland v. City of N.Y.

Citation197 F.Supp.3d 529
Decision Date24 June 2016
Docket Number14 Civ. 5517 (AT)
Parties Rasheem M. HOLLAND, Plaintiff, v. The CITY OF NEW YORK, Commissioner of Correctional Services, Dora B. Schriro, Deputy of Security Hazel Jennings of R.N.D.C., Warden James Perrino of R.N.D.C., Correctional Officers of R.N.D.C., Claude Luly Shield #3932, Garfield Clarke #14403, John Louden #9250, each sued individually and in his or her official capacity, Defendants.
CourtU.S. District Court — Southern District of New York

Rasheem M. Holland, Rosedale, NY, pro se.

Omar Javed Siddiqi, Theresa Jeanine D'Andrea, New York City Law Department, New York, NY, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

ANALISA TORRES, District Judge:

Plaintiff pro se , Rasheem M. Holland, a practicing Muslim, brings this action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the City of New York (the "City"), City Department of Correction officials, and individual correction officers, alleging that his constitutional rights were violated when, as a pretrial detainee at Rikers Island, he was subjected to a visual body cavity strip search by a female officer. Am. Compl., ECF No. 21; Def. Mem. 1, 3, ECF No. 34. Defendants move to dismiss the amended complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). For the reasons stated below, Defendants' motion is GRANTED.

BACKGROUND

Holland alleges that while he was a pretrial detainee on Rikers Island, sometime between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. on October 14, 2013, a "fight/cutting" occurred in his housing unit. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 34-35; Def. Mem. 1. The correction officer for Holland's housing area, identified as "Russell" (Shield #6677),1 ordered that inmates be locked in their cells until further notice. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 36, 38. Hazel Jennings, the Deputy Warden of Security,2 arrived shortly thereafter, with 20 correction officers, and ordered the inmates out of their cells for a "pat frisk." Id. ¶ 37. Led by Jennings, the officers escorted the inmates to the "intake area," where they waited in holding pens until Russell and Jennings returned with a list of names of individuals who "were not involved" in the fight, and called out eight names, including Holland's. Id. ¶¶ 37-38. Those eight inmates were taken out of the holding pens and escorted into the hallway, where they were lined up against the wall next to the strip search room. Id. ¶ 39.

Jennings then "conducted a strip search operation" along with Officers Claude Luly, Garfield Clarke, and John Louden, the correction officer defendants. Id. ¶40. Every male inmate was "subjected to a visual body cavity strip frisk search" conducted by Jennings, who is female. Id. ¶ 41. When it was Holland's turn to be searched, he "politely asked" Jennings to "please leave the strip search area due to the fact that [Holland is] a registered practicing [M]uslim and... [Muslims] don't strip down naked in front of inmates and especially in front of female officers." Id. ¶ 42. Jennings responded, "So what!!! [It's] not like you don't have anything I've never seen before." Id. ¶ 43. She ordered Holland to remove his clothing "or there [would] be some repercu[ss]ions." Id. Holland complied because he "feared for his life." Id. ¶ 44. According to Holland, Jennings "is known... for sending her male officers that work under her command," including Luly, Clarke, and Louden, "to use force" if an inmate does not comply. Id. ¶ 45.

Following Jennings' orders, Holland disrobed in front of her, while the male correction officers looked on. Id. ¶ 46. Holland "tried to cover [his] private parts the best way [he] could but was told by [ ] Jennings to remove [his] hands from [his] private area." Id. Jennings then instructed Holland to "lift his testicles, turn around[,] lift his feet and bend over and spread his buttocks." Id. ¶ 47. Holland alleges that Jennings "was not satisfied enough with [him] bending down to spread his buttocks" and requested that he "do it again while coughing" Id. ¶ 48. Holland complied. Id.

DISCUSSION
I. Motion to Dismiss Standard

To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint "must contain sufficient factual matter ... to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’ " Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) ). On a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, a district court may consider only the complaint, documents attached to the complaint or incorporated in it by reference, matters of which a court can take judicial notice, or documents that the plaintiff knew about and relied upon. See Chambers v. Time Warner, Inc., 282 F.3d 147, 153 (2d Cir.2002). A court must accept allegations contained in the complaint as true and draw all reasonable inferences in the non-movant's favor. ATSI Commc'ns, Inc. v. Shaar Fund, Ltd., 493 F.3d 87, 98 (2d Cir.2007).

A court will "liberally construe pleadings and briefs submitted by pro se litigants, reading such submissions to raise the strongest arguments they suggest." Bertin v. United States, 478 F.3d 489, 491 (2d Cir.2007) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). "The policy of liberally construing pro se submissions is driven by the understanding that [i]mplicit in the right to self-representation is an obligation on the part of the court to make reasonable allowances to protect pro se litigants from inadvertent forfeiture of important rights because of their lack of legal training.’ " Abbas v. Dixon, 480 F.3d 636, 639 (2d Cir.2007) (quoting Traguth v. Zuck , 710 F.2d 90, 95 (2d Cir.1983) ). Although courts are "obligated to draw the most favorable inferences that [a pro se plaintiff's] complaint supports, [courts] cannot invent factual allegations that he has not pled." Chavis v. Chappius , 618 F.3d 162, 170 (2d Cir.2010). Indeed, the pleadings must still contain factual allegations that raise a "right to relief above the speculative level." Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955.

II. Prison Litigation Reform Act

As a threshold matter, Defendants contend that, pursuant to the Prison Litigation Reform Act ("PLRA"), Holland's claims should be dismissed because he seeks only monetary relief and does not allege any physical harm.3 Def. Mem. 21-22. Under the PLRA, "[n]o Federal civil action may be brought by a prisoner confined in a ... correctional facility, for mental or emotional injury suffered while in custody without a prior showing of physical injury." 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(e). However, although the PLRA bars compensatory damages "for mental or emotional injury," even absent physical injury, Holland may still recover "compensatory damages for the loss of a constitutional liberty interest." Rosado v. Herard, No. 12 Civ. 8943, 2014 WL 1303513, at *13 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 25, 2014) ("[C]ompensatory damages for intangible deprivations of [the plaintiff's] liberty and personal rights—as ‘distinct from pain and suffering, mental anguish, and mental trauma’—are not barred by the PLRA." (citation omitted)); see also Malik v. City of New York, No. 11 Civ. 6062, 2012 WL 3345317, at *16 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 15, 201) ("[T]he PLRA's physical injury requirement does not bar an award of compensatory damages for First Amendment violations."), report and recommendation adopted, 2012 WL 4475156 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 28, 2012). Such damages "are separable from damages recoverable for such injuries as physical harm, embarrassment, or emotional suffering." Rosado, 2014 WL 1303513, at *13 (quoting Kerman v. City of New York, 374 F.3d 93, 125 (2d Cir.2004) ). Further, the PLRA does not bar Holland from recovering punitive or nominal damages. See Thompson v. Carter, 284 F.3d 411, 418 (2d Cir.2002) (" Section 1997e(e) does not limit the availability of nominal damages for the violation of a constitutional right or of punitive damages.").

Accordingly, the PLRA does not require dismissal of Holland's claims.4

III. Section 1983 Claims

"[W]hile persons imprisoned for crime enjoy many protections of the Constitution, it is also clear that imprisonment carries with it the circumscription or loss of many significant rights." Hudson v. Palmer, 468 U.S. 517, 524, 104 S.Ct. 3194, 82 L.Ed.2d 393 (1984). "[L]imitations on the exercise of constitutional rights arise both from the fact of incarceration and from valid penological objectives—including deterrence of crime, rehabilitation of prisoners, and institutional security." O'Lone v. Estate of Shabazz, 482 U.S. 342, 348, 107 S.Ct. 2400, 96 L.Ed.2d 282 (1987). The constitutional claims of prisoners are therefore "judged under a ‘reasonableness' test less restrictive than that ordinarily applied to alleged infringements of fundamental constitutional rights." Id. at 349, 107 S.Ct. 2400.5

Holland claims that Defendants violated his rights under the First, Fourth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments when Jennings, a female, subjected him to a visual body cavity strip search. The Court addresses each claim in turn. Because Holland's claims against the correction officer defendants—Luly, Clarke, and Louden—are based on their alleged failure to intervene to protect Holland from Jennings' unconstitutional misconduct, the Court begins by addressing Holland's claims under each amendment as against Jennings only. The Court then turns to Holland's claims against the correction officer defendants based on their failure to intervene, against Schriro and Perrino based on their supervisory liability, and against the City based on its municipal liability.

A. First Amendment

"Inmates clearly retain protections afforded by the First Amendment, including its directive that no law shall prohibit the free exercise of religion." O'Lone, 482 U.S. at 348, 107 S.Ct. 2400 (citation omitted). "A prisoner's right to practice his religion is, however, not absolute." Salahuddin v. Coughlin, 993 F.2d 306, 308 (2d Cir.1993). To assess a prisoner's free exercise claim, the Court "must determine (1) whether the practice asserted is religious in the person's scheme of beliefs, and whether the belief is...

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