Jackson v. Mowery

• Decision Date: 24 July 1990
• Docket Number: Civ. No. F 87-251.
• Parties: Charles J. JACKSON, Plaintiff, v. Ron MOWERY, Grant County Sheriff, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Indiana

743 F. Supp. 600

Charles J. JACKSON, Plaintiff, v. Ron MOWERY, Grant County Sheriff, Defendant.

Civ. No. F 87-251.

United States District Court, N.D. Indiana, Fort Wayne Division.

July 24, 1990.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Charles L. Jackson, pro se.

Michael Morow, James S. Stephenson, Stephenson & Kurnik, Indianapolis, Ind., for defendant.

ORDER

WILLIAM C. LEE, District Judge.

This matter is before the court on defendant's motion for judgment on the pleadings or, in the alternative, summary judgment, pursuant to Rules 12 and 56 respectively of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Defendant, Grant County Sheriff Ron Mowery, filed the motion on December 30, 1988. Plaintiff, Charles Jackson, filed his response pro se on May 9, 1990. Defendant submitted a reply on May 14, 1990. For the reasons set forth below, defendant's motion for judgment on the pleadings will be denied, and his motion for summary judgment will be granted.

Petitioner is proceeding pro se. Pro se pleadings are to be liberally construed. Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 92 S.Ct. 594, 30 L.Ed.2d 652 (1972). The district court's role is to ensure that the claims of pro se litigants are given "fair and meaningful consideration." Matzker v. Herr, 748 F.2d 1142, 1146 (7th Cir.1984); Caruth v. Pinkney, 683 F.2d 1044, 1050 (7th Cir.1982). This court also recognizes that federal courts have historically exercised great tolerance to ensure that an impartial forum remains available to plaintiffs invoking the jurisdiction of the court without the guidance of trained counsel. Pro se motions and complaints such as the petitioner's are held to less stringent pleading requirements; rigor in the examination of such motions, complaints and pleadings is inappropriate.

Judgment on the Pleadings

In deciding a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, this court must take the well pleaded factual allegations of the plaintiff's complaint as true. Ashbrook v. Hoffman, 617 F.2d 474 (7th Cir.1980). The complaint must be considered in the light most favorable to the plaintiff and every doubt must be resolved in the plaintiff's favor. Henry C. Beck Co. v. Fort Wayne Structural Steel, 701 F.2d 1221 (7th Cir. 1983). Dismissal is improper "unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief." Strauss v. City of Chicago, 760 F.2d 765, 767 (7th Cir.1985) (quoting Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957)). Nonetheless, a complaint "must state either direct or inferential allegations concerning all of the material elements necessary for recovery under the relevant legal theory." Papapetropoulous v. Milwaukee Transport Services, Inc., 795 F.2d 591, 594 (7th Cir.1986). "The heavy costs of modern federal litigation ... counsel against launching the parties into pre-trial discovery if there is no reasonable prospect that the plaintiff can make out a cause of action from the events narrated in the complaint." Sutliff, Inc. v. Donovan Companies, Inc., 727 F.2d 648, 654 (7th Cir.1984). "A complaint may be dismissed for failure to state a claim only if the plaintiff can prove no set of facts upon which relief may be granted." First Interstate Bank of Nevada v. Chapman & Cutler, 837 F.2d 775, 776 (7th Cir.1988).

Defendant Mowery contends that judgment on the pleadings is appropriate because the complaint fails to state any cause of action for damages. According to defendant, plaintiff Jackson is merely requesting injunctive relief, in which case the issues presented before the court in this action would be moot since Jackson is no longer incarcerated at the Grant County Jail. Kincaid v. Duckworth, 689 F.2d 702 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 461 U.S. 946, 103 S.Ct. 2126, 77 L.Ed.2d 1305 (1982).

However, the complaint clearly makes a request for damages in addition to a request for injunctive relief, particularly under the liberal pro se standards set forth in Haines v. Kerner, supra, where plaintiff asserts that he is entitled to "reimbursement compensation" and "punitive damages." As such, plaintiff's § 1983 claims are not moot. Id. Although plaintiff does not specify an amount of damages other than in his response to this motion, no specific amount is required in the complaint to make it sufficient. On the foregoing grounds, defendant's motion for judgment on the pleadings is denied.

Summary Judgment

Summary judgment is proper "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R. Civ.P. 56(c). Rule 56(c) mandates the entry of summary judgment, after adequate time for discovery, against a party "who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party's case, and in which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552-53, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). The standard for granting summary judgment mirrors the directed verdict standard under Rule 50(a), which requires the court to grant a directed verdict where there can be but one reasonable conclusion. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2511, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). A scintilla of evidence in support of the non-moving party's position is not sufficient to successfully oppose summary judgment; "there must be evidence on which the jury could reasonably find for the plaintiff." Id. 106 S.Ct. at 2512; Valentine v. Joliet Tp. High School Dist. No. 204, 802 F.2d 981, 986 (7th Cir.1986).

Initially, Rule 56 requires the moving party to inform the court of the basis for the motion, and to identify those portions of the "pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any," which demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact, Celotex, 106 S.Ct. at 2553. The non-moving party may oppose the motion with any of the evidentiary materials listed in Rule 56(c), but reliance on the pleadings alone is not sufficient to withstand summary judgment. Posey v. Skyline Corp., 702 F.2d 102, 105 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 960, 104 S.Ct. 392, 78 L.Ed.2d 336 (1983). In ruling on a summary judgment motion the court accepts as true the non-moving party's evidence, draws all legitimate inferences in favor of the non-moving party, and does not weigh the evidence or the credibility of witnesses. Anderson, 106 S.Ct. at 2511.

Substantive law determines which facts are material; that is, which facts might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law. Id. at 2510. Irrelevant or unnecessary facts do not preclude summary judgment even when they are in dispute. Id. The issue of fact must be genuine. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c), (e). To establish a genuine issue of fact, the non-moving party "must do more than simply show that there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts." Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio, 475 U.S. 574, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 1356, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). The non-moving party must come forward with specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial. Id. A summary judgment determination is essentially an inquiry as to "whether the evidence presents a sufficient disagreement to require submission to a jury or whether it is so one-sided that one party must prevail as a matter of law." Anderson, 106 S.Ct. at 2512.

Discussion

In its Order of September 4, 1987, this Court found two issues remaining from the many allegations made in plaintiff's complaint. Both were claims brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff Jackson first alleges that Sheriff Mowery denied him his right to marry as an inmate. In his second claim plaintiff alleges that the sheriff was responsible for opening, reading, and generally interfering with his mail.

A. Denial of Inmate's Right to Marry

In response to plaintiff's allegation of denial of his request to marry, defendant Mowery pleads the affirmative defense of qualified immunity. Mowery contends that he received no request to marry from Jackson but that, even if Jackson had made such a formal request, his right to marry as an inmate was not yet clearly established enough to give Sheriff Mowery sufficient notice that a denial of such a request was in violation of the law. Although there is a factual dispute between the parties regarding whether Jackson ever made a request to marry to the sheriff, there is no dispute that any such requests would have been made prior to date of the Supreme Court decision in Turner v. Safley, 482 U.S. 78, 107 S.Ct. 2254, 96 L.Ed.2d 64 (1987), establishing for the first time a right to marry for inmates. Thus, defendant is entitled to qualified immunity.

The Supreme Court has recognized that state officials are entitled to qualified immunity if their conduct "does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known." Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 2738, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982). "The test for immunity should be whether the law was clear in relation to the specific facts confronting the public official when he acted." Colaizzi v. Walker, 812 F.2d 304, 308 (7th Cir.1987). "Once the defendant's actions are defined or characterized according to the specific facts of the case this characterization is compared to the body of law existing at the time of the alleged violation to determine if constitutional, statutory, or case law shows that the now specifically defined actions violated the clearly established law." Rakovich v. Wade, 850 F.2d 1180, 1209 (7th Cir.1988). There is no qualified immunity if the defendant violated a clearly established and well litigated general proposition in which the case at hand merely presents a new wrinkle. LeClair v. Hart, 800 F.2d...