Jackson v. Beard

• Decision Date: 11 September 2013
• Docket Number: CIVIL NO. 3:CV-11-1431
• Parties: RHONSHAWN JACKSON, Plaintiff v. JEFFREY A. BEARD, et al., Defendants
• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of Pennsylvania

RHONSHAWN JACKSON, Plaintiff
v.
JEFFREY A. BEARD, et al., Defendants

CIVIL NO. 3:CV-11-1431

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA

FILED: September 11, 2013

(Judge Kosik)
MEMORANDUM

Rhonshawn Jackson ("Jackson"), an inmate currently confined at the State Correctional Institution at Albion, Pennsylvania, filed this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The matter proceeds on an amended complaint served upon the Defendants on July 30, 2012. (Doc. 19.) Named as Defendants are the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections ("DOC"), DOC officials, and employees at the State Correctional Institutions at Camp Hill and Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. In the complaint, Jackson sets forth allegations claiming that Defendants engaged in a campaign of retaliation and harassment against him for "starting a riot." His allegations include the destruction of personal and legal property, verbal abuse, physical assaults, the denial of medical treatment and cruel and unusual living conditions. Plaintiff further alleges that he was placed in punitive confinement for

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filing grievances and litigating claims, and that he was denied due process with respect to the processing of his grievances. Presently before the court for consideration is a motion to dismiss, for more definite statement and for summary judgment filed by the Corrections Defendants (Doc. 40), and a motion to dismiss or in the alternative for judgment on the pleadings filed by Defendants Reis and Lane (Doc. 48).

I. Allegations in the Complaint

Jackson's amended complaint is twenty-seven (27) pages in length and contains over ninety-six (96) paragraphs. He names a total of twenty-seven (27) defendants including DOC officials and employees of SCI-Huntingdon and SCI-Camp Hill. The allegations are divided into the following three categories: SCI-Huntingdon violations; SCI-Camp Hill violations; and Supervisory Defendants. (Doc. 19, Am. Compl.) For the sake of clarity, the court will summarize the allegations in the same fashion.

A. SCI-Huntingdon violations

On March 19, 2009, Plaintiff was involved in an assault on several guards at SCI-Houtzdale that incited a riot in the cafeteria. This incident resulted in negative attention to Plaintiff in the media and from DOC employees. As a result, Plaintiff contends that SCI-Houtzdale employees conspired to engage in a campaign of retaliatory acts against him. From March 20, 2009 through September 29, 2010,

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Defendants Cate, Semple, Williams, Pyle, Spellman, Long, McCloskey, McCoy, Donaldson, Clark and Shroyer orchestrated and issued false disciplinary charges in furtherance of the retaliation scheme. They also denied Plaintiff showers, meals and one (1) hour of recreation each day.

Defendant Green assigned a grievance filed by Plaintiff against Defendant McCoy to McCoy for review in an effort to foster the retaliation. According to Plaintiff, this act resulted in more retaliation including his placement in solitary confinement. Defendants Cates, Stevens, Lawler, Eckard, Spellman and Donaldson also defamed Plaintiff's character by writing "snitch," "die nigger" and other remarks on his legal materials, and then promoting these falsities to dangerous inmates who, in turn, threatened and assaulted Plaintiff as a result thereof.

On an unspecified date, Defendants Shroyer and Clark made homosexual advances to Plaintiff and told him he would get his dinner tray if he complied. Plaintiff grieved this issue and was retaliated against for doing so. It is also alleged that Defendant Clark denied Plaintiff meals and necessities, and made verbal threats. Defendants Wakefield, Lawler and Eckard failed to provide any relief in response to Plaintiff's complaints. It is further alleged that Defendants Cates, Semple, Williams, Pyle, Spellman, Long, Clark, McCloskey and McCoy knew that Plaintiff was taking psychotropic medication and needed to eat, yet denied him meals.

Plaintiff claims that Defendant Lane was part of the conspiracy to retaliate

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against him because Lane knew that the medications prescribed by Defendant Reis were on the FDA "Black Box List" due to their increased risk of causing suicidal thoughts and propensity to worsen depression. It is also alleged that Lane neglected Plaintiff's deteriorated state of health including weight loss, upset stomach, sweating and other conditions.

The amended complaint further alleges that Defendants McCoy, Spellman, Clark, Long, Donaldson, Stroyer, Semple and Cates obstructed the filing of grievances by Plaintiff by ripping them up and throwing them away. Plaintiff also contends that he was denied breakfast and yard because he would not tell his family and the Human Rights Coalition ("HRC") to stop calling the prison with respect to Plaintiff's complaints.

The foregoing abuse continued from June 16, 2009 through June 27, 2010. Plaintiff does not provide the name of any specific Defendants with respect to this allegation other than to claim that he was beaten and tasered on June 26, 2010 because he spoke out against Defendant Pyle. He contends that Defendant Clark and other members of the extraction team informed him that the assault was "compliments of the Superintendent." Following the beating, Plaintiff was placed in a dirty cell with no socks, shoes, underwear, clothes or toiletries. He was also verbally taunted by Clark.

Plaintiff claims that from the date of the assault until the time of his transfer to

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SCI-Camp Hill, Defendants Williams, Long, McCoy and Spellman retaliated against him through assaults, as well as the deprivation of food, yard and showers.

On September 29, 2010, Plaintiff states that he and other inmates were doused with O.C. spray, beaten and denied medical treatment following a peaceful protest in the yard. He does not specify if any of the named Defendants were involved in this incident. He further claims that prior to this incident, he was denied a religious meal during the 3 day feast of Ramadan, and that he was subjected to verbal abuse. Grievances he attempted to file with regard to these matters were obstructed.

On October 24, 2010, Defendants Williams, Semple and Spellman left a noose in Plaintiff's cell following a security check. Plaintiff states he discovered the noose when he re-entered the cell. On November 2, 2010, he was denied breakfast and lunch for the fourth day in a row. On December 1, 2010, Defendants Long, Donaldson, Pyle and McCoy took Plaintiff to an observation cell where there were no cameras. McCoy confiscated all of Plaintiff's legal and personal items without justification for doing so. On December 6, 2010, the legal materials were returned, but were defaced with racial slurs.

Plaintiff claims that Defendant Dunkle extracted him from the recreation yard in October of 2010 using "loads of O.C. spray" and made him strip down in the freezing temperature. This conduct occurred because Plaintiff asked to speak with prison officials about the abuse taking place. A grievance filed with respect to this

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matter was allegedly obstructed and denied.

Plaintiff generally alleges that when false disciplinary reports were issued against him for the purpose of prolonging his solitary confinement and exacerbating his mental illness, Defendants denied him due process by not allowing his appeals to go forward, not allowing witnesses, and destroying his grievances. He claims these tactics were all part of the retaliation campaign against him. He contends that Defendants Lawler, Eckard, Wakefield, McCoy and Dunkle did nothing to intervene.

It is also alleged that Defendants Lane and Reis were deliberately indifferent (1) every time they denied him adequate medical/mental health care in order to minimize costs and (2) kept him on Celexa and Remerom, the two drugs on the FDA Black Box List. He claims that Reis, Lane, Wakefield and Lawler all had firsthand knowledge of his mental health condition and suicidal risk, yet failed to place him in a rehabilitation unit.

Plaintiff claims that as a result of the news attention he received from reporting the foregoing abuses, Defendants McCoy, McCloskey, Cates, Long and Donaldson conspired to fabricate documents to show that Plaintiff refused showers and recreational time. He claims he was left naked for seven (7) days without personal property, mail and a mattress. This action was taken pursuant to the orders of Defendants Lawler and Eckard. Requests submitted by Plaintiff to be separated from Defendants were denied by Defendants Green, Lawler and Eckard.

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B. SCI-Camp Hill violations

On January 25, 2011, Plaintiff states he was illegally transferred to the Special Management Unit at SCI-Camp Hill. He claims that the transfer occurred without a mental health evaluation or any opportunity to challenge the transfer. The following month, Plaintiff told unidentified block officers that he needed his legal materials due to pending litigation against SCI-Huntingdon. His request was denied.

On May 18, 2011, Plaintiff received a letter from this court that was ripped open outside of his presence. He appears to blame Defendant Heist, the Mailroom Supervisor at SCI-Camp Hill, for this conduct. A grievance was filed regarding this issue and Plaintiff maintains that...