Judah v. Ovsak
| Decision Date | 26 July 2021 |
| Docket Number | File No. 21-cv-618 (ECT/LIB) |
| Citation | 550 F.Supp.3d 687 |
| Parties | Willim JUDAH, Plaintiff, v. Keri A. OVSAK, RN; David Paulson, M.D.; John Barry, M.D.; Laurel Sturlaugson, RN; Michelle Breamer, RN, CNP; Susan L. Johnson; Brittany K. Crock, R.N.; Heather Blaschko, LPN; Christopher Schiffer; Brenda Todd-Bense; John Gemlo, RN, CNP; Steven T. Sturlaugson; Sharon Autio, RN; Krista L. Gilpin, RN; Jensina Rosen; Julie Rose; Deborah K. Barron; Nicole W. Hawkins; Michael Zimmerman; Terrance Kneisel; Charles E. Johnson; Jennifer Jones ; Breanna Guthmiller, Psy.D.; Scott Sutton; David Rose; Michael Hettig ; Gary Ankarlo, Psy.D.; Elizabeth K. Peterson, Psy.D.; Nicole Boder; Samuel A. Clark; Sara L. Kulas; Ann Marie Linkert-Korhonen; Marie R. Hartman; Nicole Oachs; Joseph Witz; Brianna Hraban; Kimberly Ann Storm; Andrew Bustos; John Doe (whose true name is unknown); and State of Minnesota Department of Human Services, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Minnesota |
Jordan S. Kushner, Law Office of Jordan S. Kushner, Minneapolis, MN, for Plaintiff.
Janine Wetzel Kimble, Minnesota Attorney General's Office, St. Paul, MN, for Defendants.
Willim Judah is civilly committed in the Minnesota Sex Offender Program ("MSOP"). In a ten-count Second Amended Complaint, he claims that the Minnesota Department of Human Services and thirty-nine individual state officials have violated his rights in numerous ways during his confinement. Defendants have moved to dismiss nine of the ten counts. Defendants’ motion will be granted in part and denied in part.
Judah has been civilly committed for years. Second Am. Compl. ("Compl.") ¶¶ 1, 4 [ECF No. 28]. From May 2014 until late 2017, he was confined in MSOP's St. Peter facility. Id. ¶ 46. Otherwise, MSOP has held him in its Moose Lake facility. Id. He alleges that, while in MSOP's custody, he has suffered "repeated and long-term deliberate indifference to [his] serious medical needs and intentional abuse[.]" Id. ¶ 1. He believes that all or most of this abuse was in retaliation for his complaints about his treatment and for filing a prior lawsuit against MSOP officials. Id. ¶ 143. The alleged misconduct falls into several categories. Given the issues raised in this motion, only a basic factual summary of each category is necessary.
Bowel Issue . In late 2014, Judah began experiencing severe pain during and after bowel movements. Id. ¶ 47. He alleges that, for more than a year, MSOP staff failed to adequately treat this pain and conducted unnecessarily painful and humiliating examinations. Id. ¶¶ 47–59. He did not receive a colonoscopy from an "outside physician" until March 2016, and that procedure revealed a rectal tear that was "more than two inches long and a quarter inch deep[.]" Id. ¶ 60. At the outside physician's recommendation, Judah underwent surgery to address the problem. Id.
After the surgery, MSOP allegedly ignored Judah's recovery instructions and further exacerbated his medical issues. Id. ¶¶ 60–69, 71–75. Over the next several years, he underwent four more related surgeries. Id. ¶¶ 78, 91, 92, 105. Throughout this time, MSOP staff disregarded Judah's medical needs and subjected him to unnecessarily harsh conditions. For example, after one surgery, they transported him for 90 minutes "in full restraints" that included "a black box and heavy chains right on top of his surgical wound and protruding intestine[.]" Id. ¶ 78. After another, they forced him to move himself and his belongings multiple times to a different floor while he was still recovering, and he was not allowed to take meals in his room. Id. ¶¶ 93–104. Judah's abdominal problems persist to this day. Id. ¶¶ 110–12.
Other Medical Issues . Judah has a number of other medical problems that receive less attention in the Complaint. They include sleep apnea, id. ¶¶ 110, 113–14; "chronic, severe back pain," id. ¶ 115; "severe skin allergies" and "rashes," id. ¶¶ 116–17; and gall stones, id. ¶ 111. Defendants allegedly disregarded these problems, too, by withholding or delaying necessary treatment, failing to provide reasonable accommodations, and subjecting Judah to harsh living conditions.
Interference with Property . On a number of occasions, Defendants have allegedly denied Judah access to property he purchased. Some of this property, like a wedge pillow, was directly related to Judah's medical needs. Id. ¶¶ 105–06. Other property, like a weighted 88-key keyboard, "religious materials," CDs and DVDs, mail, and "other basic non-harmful items," does not seem related to medical treatment. Id. ¶¶ 87, 131–36, 140–41. Judah alleges that these restrictions "lack any security justification." Id. ¶ 139.
Living Placements . In addition to forcing Judah to move living units multiple times while he recovered from a major surgery, Defendants allegedly placed Judah in "a living unit with far worse living conditions" and "in rooms that did not accommodate his medical conditions." Id. ¶ 153. For example, although he could have been assigned to a first floor room, he was placed on the second floor, forcing him "to go up and down stairs repeatedly during each day in order to get pain medications and to eat meals." Id. ¶ 93. On one occasion, Judah was required "to move out of a single room and into a room with another client who had recently admitted to raping his roommate." Id. ¶ 89.
False Treatment Reports . Judah alleges that MSOP staff have "continually interfered with, hindered[,] and sabotaged his progress through the MSOP treatment program[.]" Id. ¶ 118. They have done so by including false statements in his treatment reports, labeling him with unsupported mental-health diagnoses, and omitting information about his "treatment accomplishments." Id. ¶¶ 118–29. Judah believes this conduct is designed "to help keep [him] indefinitely confined." Id. ¶ 128.
Interference with Free Exercise of Religion . Defendants have also allegedly disrupted Judah's exercise of religion. In addition to restricting his access to religious materials, including "four Bibles," Defendants have kept Judah from "conducting Bible study sessions" because he "is not allowed to be in a position of teaching or leadership." Id. ¶ 138. According to Judah, this restriction lacks "any legitimate justification." Id.
Interference with Legal Communications . Finally, Judah alleges Defendants have "refuse[d] to allow [him] or other prisoners necessary privacy when making legal phone calls." Id. ¶ 137. Specifically, the only phone available for such calls "is in an open area in the dining room" where other prisoners (and staff) can overhear the conversation. Id. On one occasion, a Defendant "placed a legal phone call for [Judah], sat next to [him] as he spoke with his Attorney, listened to [the] call[,] and then wrote an incident report about the content of the call." Id. Defendants have "specifically denied [Judah's] request for legal phone calls in a private area[.]" Id.
Judah filed the original Complaint in this case on March 3, 2021. ECF No. 1. The next day, he filed a "corrected" version of the Complaint. ECF No. 7. Defendants moved to dismiss that Complaint in part. ECF No. 20. After Judah responded by filing a First Amended Complaint, Defendants’ initial motion to dismiss was denied as moot. ECF Nos. 25, 27. A few days later, with Defendants’ consent, Judah filed a Second Amended Complaint, which is now his operative pleading. ECF Nos. 28, 28-1. In the Second Amended Complaint, which from now on will simply be referred to as "the Complaint," Judah asserts the following ten claims.
Count 1: Deliberate Indifference to Medical Needs and Safety . Judah alleges that Defendants Keri Ovsak, David Paulson, John Barry, Laurel Sturlaugson, Jensina Rosen, Michelle Breamer, Brittany Crock, Heather Blaschko, Susan Johnson, Charles Johnson, John Gemlo, Sharon Autio, Krista Gilpin, Julie Rose, Michael Zimmerman, David Rose, Michael Hettig, Terrance Kneisel, Scott Sutton, Nicole Boder, and Nicole Oachs violated his rights under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Compl. ¶¶ 146–48; see 42 U.S.C. § 1983. They did so by showing "deliberate disregard for [his] serious medical needs" in a way that amounts to "cruel and unusual punishment." Compl. ¶ 147.
Count 2: Violations of Due Process – Unlawful Punishment . Judah alleges that "[a]ll of the above-named individual Defendants" violated his rights under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by "subjecting [him] to conditions of civil confinement that constitute punishment." Id. ¶ 150; see 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
Count 3: First Amendment Retaliation . Judah alleges that "[a]ll of the above-named individual Defendants" violated his rights under the First Amendment by "retaliating against [him] for expressing grievances or objections to his mistreatment at MSOP, both verbally and through written correspondence, and for his previous lawsuit against MSOP and DHS officials." Compl. ¶ 153; see 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The alleged retaliatory conduct included placing Judah in a "living unit with far worse living conditions," withholding medically necessary treatment and accommodations from him, forcing him to move himself and his belongings "while he was in severe medical distress," and depriving him of "property and basic living amenities." Compl. ¶ 153.
Count 4: First Amendment Free Exercise of Religion . Judah claims that Defendants Steve Sturlaugson, Susan Johnson, Julie Rose, Samuel Clark, Sara Kulas, and Ann Marie Linkert-Korhonen violated his First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion by "prohibiting him from having access to religious materials and discussing his religious beliefs and interests with others." Id. ¶ 156; see 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
Count 5: Right to Counsel and Access to Courts . Judah claims that Defendants Michael Zimmerman, Terrance Kneisel, Susan Johnson, and Brianna Hraban violated his rights under the...
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