Key v. Grayson, Civil Action No. 96-40166.
| Decision Date | 19 March 1998 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 96-40166. |
| Citation | 998 F.Supp. 793 |
| Parties | David G. KEY, Plaintiff, v. Henry GRAYSON, Warden, Trusty Division, Jackson Prison; Gary Gabry, Chairperson, Michigan Parole Board; and Kenneth McGinnis, Director, Michigan Department of Correction, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Michigan |
Daniel E. Manville, Ann Arbor, MI, for Plaintiff.
John L. Thurber, Office of the Attorney General, Lansing, MI, for Defendant.
Before the court is a November 10, 1997 report and recommendation in which the magistrate judge recommended that this court grant defendants' August 29, 1997 motion for summary judgment, and deny defendants' September 3, 1997 motion to dismiss. This court, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B), Fed.R.Civ.P. 72(b), and L.R. 72.1(d)(2) (E.D.Mich. Jan. 1, 1992), has reviewed the November 10, 1997 report and recommendation and the objections timely filed to that report. After conducting a de novo review, this court will reject in part and accept in part the magistrate judge's report and recommendation for the reasons set forth below.
Plaintiff, David Key, is a prisoner in the custody of the Michigan Department of Corrections ("MDOC"). At all times relevant to this action, plaintiff was incarcerated at the State Prison of Southern Michigan in Jackson, Michigan. Plaintiff alleges that defendants have engaged in discrimination against him on the basis of his hearing disability. Accordingly, plaintiff filed a complaint in this court on April 10, 1996, seeking injunctive relief under the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), 42 U.S.C. § 12131, et seq., and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 ("Rehabilitation Act"), 29 U.S.C. § 794.
On August 22, 1997,1 plaintiff amended his complaint to include a claim for money damages under the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act, as well as a state law claim under the Michigan Handicappers Civil Rights Act ("MHCRA"), Mich. Comp. Laws § 37.1101, et seq. On August 29, 1997, defendants filed a motion for summary judgment on the claim for money damages. On September 3, 1997, defendants filed a motion to dismiss, urging this court not to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over plaintiff's state law claim.
On November 10, 1997, Magistrate Judge Scheer issued a report and recommendation in which he advised this court to grant defendants' August 29, 1997 motion for summary judgment on the plaintiff's claim for monetary damages because the defendants are entitled to claim qualified immunity. The report also recommended that this court deny defendants' September 3, 1997 motion to dismiss and exercise supplemental jurisdiction over plaintiff's state law claim under the MHCRA.
Rule 56(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides that summary judgment "shall be rendered forthwith 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 judgment as a matter of law." Summary judgment is appropriate where the moving party demonstrates that there is no genuine issue of material fact as to the existence of an essential element of the non-moving party's case on which the non-moving party would bear the burden of proof at trial. Martin v. Ohio Turnpike Commission, 968 F.2d 606, 608 (6th Cir.1992); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). In considering a motion for summary judgment, the court must view the facts and draw all reasonable inferences therefrom in a light most favorable to the non-moving party. 60 Ivy Street Corporation v. Alexander, 822 F.2d 1432, 1435 (6th Cir.1987). The court is not required or permitted, however, to judge the evidence or make findings of fact. Id. at 1435-36. The moving party has the burden of showing conclusively that no genuine issue of material fact exists. Id. at 1435.
A fact is "material" for purposes of summary judgment where proof of that fact would have the effect of establishing or refuting an essential element of the cause of action or a defense advanced by the parties. Kendall v. Hoover Co., 751 F.2d 171, 174 (6th Cir.1984). In other words, the disputed fact must be one which might affect outcome of the suit under the substantive law controlling the issue. Henson v. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 14 F.3d 1143, 1148 (6th Cir.1994). A dispute over a material fact is genuine "if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the non-moving party." Id. Accordingly, where a reasonable jury could not find that the non-moving party is entitled to a verdict, there is no genuine issue for trial and summary judgment is appropriate. Feliciano v. City of Cleveland, 988 F.2d 649 (6th Cir. 1993).
Once the moving party carries its initial burden of demonstrating that no genuine issues of material fact are in dispute, the burden shifts to the non-moving party to present specific facts to prove that there is a genuine issue for trial. To create a genuine issue of material fact, the non-moving party must present more than just some evidence of a disputed issue. As the United States Supreme Court stated in Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 249-50, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986):
There is no issue for trial unless there is sufficient evidence favoring the non-moving party for a jury to return a verdict for that party. If the [non-moving party's] evidence is merely colorable, or is not significantly probative, summary judgment may be granted.
(Citations omitted); see also Celotex, 477 U.S. at 322-23; Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586-87, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). Consequently, the non-moving party must do more than raise some doubt as to the existence of a fact; the non-moving party must produce evidence that would be sufficient to require submission of the issue to the jury. Lucas v. Leaseway Multi Transp. Serv., Inc., 738 F.Supp. 214, 217 (E.D.Mich.1990), aff'd, 929 F.2d 701 (6th Cir.1991).
Government officials who perform discretionary functions are entitled to qualified immunity from civil suits for damages arising out of the performance of their official duties as long as their actions could reasonably have been thought consistent with the rights they are alleged to have violated. See Anderson v. Creighton, 483 U.S. 635, 638, 107 S.Ct. 3034, 97 L.Ed.2d 523 (1987). A claim of qualified immunity depends on whether the defendant's conduct violated a clearly established statutory or constitutional right of which a reasonable person would have known. Id. 483 U.S. at 638-40; Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982).
To defeat a motion for summary judgment based on a claim of qualified immunity in the Sixth Circuit, a plaintiff must establish two things. First, the allegations must state a claim of the violation of clearly established law. In determining whether a statutory or constitutional right is clearly established at the time of the actions in question, this court must first look to the decisions of the Supreme Court, then to the decisions of the Sixth Circuit and other courts of this circuit, and finally to the decisions of other circuits. See Dickerson v. McClellan, 101 F.3d 1151, 1158 (6th Cir. 1996); Buckner v. Kilgore, 36 F.3d 536, 539 (6th Cir.1994). A law is clearly established if "the contours of the right are sufficiently clear such that a reasonable official would understand that what he is doing violates that right." Russo v. City of Cincinnati, 953 F.2d 1036, 1042 (6th Cir.1992). As held by the Sixth Circuit, "[a]lthough it need not be the case that `the very action in question has previously been held unlawful, ... in the light of pre-existing law the unlawfulness must be apparent.'" Id. (quoting Anderson, 483 U.S. at 640).
Second, the plaintiff must present evidence sufficient to create a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the defendant in fact committed the acts that violated the law. See Adams v. Metiva, 31 F.3d 375, 386 (6th Cir.1994). Summary judgment is inappropriate "if there is a genuine factual dispute relating to whether the defendants committed the acts that allegedly violated clearly established rights." Dickerson, 101 F.3d at 1158 (citing Buckner, 36 F.3d at 540).
On April 4, 1997, this court adopted the February 24, 1997 recommendation of the magistrate judge and held that the ADA and Rehabilitation Act apply to state prisons. This court also agrees with the magistrate judge that plaintiff has stated a claim under both the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act. The more difficult question is whether plaintiff's rights under the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act were "clearly established" at the time the alleged violations took place.2 The magistrate judge found that those rights were not clearly established, and thus recommended that this court grant defendants' motion for summary judgment with respect to the claims for money damages on the basis of qualified immunity.
At the outset, this court notes that the plain language of both the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act indicate strongly that the statutes apply to prisons. As the magistrate judge noted in his February 24, 1997 report and recommendation, the Rehabilitation Act applies to "any program receiving Federal financial assistance" (29 U.S.C. § 794 (emphasis added)), and the ADA applies to "any [public] entity" (42 U.S.C. § 12131(1)(B)(emphasis added)). As the court found in Niece v. Fitzner, 941 F.Supp. 1497, 1506 (E.D.Mich. 1...
To continue reading
Request your trial