Jones v. Tex. Dep't of Criminal Justice

• Decision Date: 29 January 2018
• Docket Number: No. 17-10302,17-10302
• Citation: 880 F.3d 756
• Parties: Carl David JONES, Plaintiff-Appellant v. TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE; Brad Livingston, Executive Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice; Brian Collier, Deputy Executive Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice; Robert Jay Eason, Deputy Executive Director, Correctional Institution Division; Lorie Davis, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division ; et al, Defendants-Appellees
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

880 F.3d 756

Carl David JONES, Plaintiff-Appellant
v.
TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE; Brad Livingston, Executive Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice; Brian Collier, Deputy Executive Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice; Robert Jay Eason, Deputy Executive Director, Correctional Institution Division; Lorie Davis, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division ; et al, Defendants-Appellees

No. 17-10302

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

FILED January 29, 2018

Carl David Jones, Pro Se.

Before WIENER, DENNIS, and SOUTHWICK, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:

Carl David Jones, Texas prisoner # 1517939, appeals the magistrate judge’s denial of his motion for a preliminary injunction.¹ In July 2016, Jones filed a pro se complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, asserting that prison officials exhibited deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs in violation of the Eighth Amendment. Among other things, Jones alleged that he was prescribed a special diet due to his diabetes and that he suffered a stroke on April 3, 2016. Jones further alleged that his prison was placed on a routine lockdown from April 3, 2016, to April 22, 2016, and that, during the lockdown, the food service manager at his prison, Captain Greg Cruise, discontinued his prescribed diet and replaced it with a "sugar based diet." Jones claimed that he sent "numerous written complaints" to Cruise and other personnel, to no avail. He alleged that, after his "blood sugar levels registered above 500," he attempted to file an official grievance with prison authorities, but his form was returned to him after it was deemed "redundant," and he was told that if he attempted to file it again, "he would not get it back." According to Jones, on April 20, 2016, he suffered a heart attack.

Pertinent to the instant appeal, on August 2, 2016, Jones also filed a motion for a preliminary injunction. In his motion, Jones provided additional allegations. He stated that on July 15, 2016, his prison was again placed on lockdown following the assault of a corrections officer and that the facility remained on lockdown at the time he filed his motion. Jones further alleged that prison officials again cancelled his prescribed diet, forcing him to consume high-sugar meals up to four times a day, contrary to the orders of Dr. Robert Martin, his unit physician. He specifically alleged that the prison staff’s interference with his prescribed dietary regimen "results in higher blood sugar levels" and "exposes [him] to another stroke or heart attack, or other diabetic complications and consequences that are life threatening." Jones additionally averred that the deprivation of his prescribed diet forced him to inject more insulin to lower his blood-sugar level, thus exposing him to a risk of serious physical injuries in the event his blood-sugar level drops too rapidly.

A magistrate judge denied Jones’s motion for a preliminary injunction, without holding an evidentiary hearing or requesting a response from the defendants.² Jones filed a timely notice of appeal. In his brief

880 F.3d 759

on appeal, Jones added that, on March 13, 2017, prison officials again placed his unit on a routine lockdown and "resumed the administrative practice that resulted in the improper cancellation of [his] medical treatment plan."

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