Lolley v. Louisiana Corr. Servs.
| Decision Date | 09 September 2011 |
| Docket Number | CIVIL ACTION 09-00555-CG-B |
| Parties | DANIEL KEITH LOLLEY, Plaintiff, v. LOUISIANA CORRECTIONAL SERVICES, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Alabama |
Plaintiff, an Alabama prison inmate proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis, filed a Complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. This action was referred to the undersigned pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B) and Local Rule 72.2(c)(4), and is now before the undersigned on Defendant Louisiana Correctional Services ("LCS")'s Motion for Summary Judgment and supporting materials (Docs. 20, 21, 31), and Plaintiff's response and materials in opposition. (Docs. 28, 29). Upon consideration of the briefs and supporting materials, and for the reasons set forth below, it is recommended that Defendant's motion be granted on all claims except Plaintiff's claim regarding lack of ceremonial grounds at the Perry County Correctional Center.
From its review of the record, the Court summarizes the parties' allegations which are material to the issues addressed in this Report and Recommendation.
At all times relevant to this action, LCS, a private corporation, operated the Perry County Correctional Center ("PCCC" or "Correctional Center") through a contract with the Alabama Department of Corrections ("ADOC"). On August 6, 2009, a routine shakedown was conducted at the Correctional Center. (Doc. 20 at 1). Plaintiff, who was incarcerated at the facility at the time, alleges that during the shakedown, his Native American religious items were mishandled. (Doc. 1 at 3).
Specifically, Plaintiff alleges that he is a "federally recognized sub-chief for the Brothers-in-Tears Warrior Society Of Logan, AL, Principal Chief Melody Little Deer", and that on the night of August 6th, "two unidentified [PCCC] Officers, woke inmate Lolley up at approximately 10:08 p.m., for routine shakedown." (Doc. 4 at 4-6). According to Plaintiff, he asked the officers if they were trained to handle religious objects according to the Alabama Department of Corrections ("ADOC"), Admin. Reg. #3331 , and explained that if they were notappropriately trained they could not handle the objects. (Doc. 4 at 4). Allegedly, one of the officers remarked to his partner "not to worry about that shit, and move on" at which point his partner "reached in [the] locker box, and took [the] Native American sacred item box, . . . tossed the Sacred Item box on the bed above ..., laughed at [Plaintiff], and then moved some of [the] sacred items around in the box" before leaving. (Doc. 4 at 5)2 . According to Lolley, his medicine bag was inside his sacred item box. (Doc. 4 at 5).
Following the incident, Lolley filed an offender request form wherein he asserted that "Officer mishandled Native American Sacred item box and thinking it was a joke". (Doc. 29-1 at 7, Ex. C). Lolley met with prison officials to discuss the incident and during the meeting, Lolley informed Warden Mullins that he needed to order herbs in order to purify his sacred item box which had been desecrated. According to Lolley, Warden Mullins directed him to submit a request form for the herbs, andindicated that he would review the cameras. (Doc. 28 at 2-3). A week later, Warden Mullins provided Lolley a letter to show guards in order to protect his property. (Doc. 21-2 at 1; Doc. 4 at 5).
On September 29, 2009, Lolley was transferred from PCCC to Staton Correctional facility. (Doc. 7 at 1). According to Lolley, he was transferred for the purpose of "Sweat Lodge Ceremonies"; however, he missed out on the Fall Equinox ceremonies. (Doc. 9 at 1). On March 17, 2010, Lolley was transferred back to PCCC approximately one week before the "Spring Equinox ceremonies." (Id.). During a discussion with Warden Mullins following his return to PCCC, Lolley requested to be transferred from the PCCC facility. At Mullins' request, Lolley submitted his transfer request on the offender request form on May 4, 2010. Mullins in turn forwarded the request to the Assistant Commissioner of ADOC, and Lolley was transferred from PCCC on May 7, 2010. (Doc. 31-2, Doc. 11)).
Lolley filed his initial Section 1983 Complaint on August 27, 2009, and named LSC, Perry County Correctional Center, and Officer "John Doe" as Defendants. (Doc. 1). Because neither Lolley's Complaint nor his accompanying Motion to Proceed Without Prepayment of Costs were on this Court's required forms, he was directed to re-file his Complaint and motion on theCourt's current forms. Lolley was instructed that the amended complaint would supersede his original Complaint. (Doc. 3). In response to the Court's Order, Lolley subsequently filed, on September 16, 2009 an Amended Complaint (Doc. 4), and named Louisiana Correctional Services and "John Doe" as Defendants. In his Amended Complaint, Plaintiff details the events of August 6, 2009 involving the alleged inappropriate handling of his sacred items. Plaintiff also alleges:
I am not allowed to have herbs sent into purify my Items, nor is there a Native American Ceremonial Grounds at Perry Co. Corr. Fac., nor have we been given an area to worship without disturbance from other inmates.
(Doc. 4 at 5). Lolley requests $50,000 in punitive damages, and to be returned to Staton Correctional facility. (Doc. 4 at 9).
On April 7, 2010, Lolley filed a document entitled "Supplement to Case Number 09-00555-CG-B", and made additional allegations as follows:
(Doc. 9 at 1). Lolley also asserts that Regulation No. 333 requires that any institution that houses Native American inmates have a 20' x 20' ceremonial ground and that such inmates be transferred to one of the four institutions having sweat lodges in order to participate in sweat ceremonies. (Id. at 2) In addition, Plaintiff asserts that officer Carter, the third shift officer at the Staton Correctional Facility, advised him that if he packed up all his Native American items, they were going to go into Lolley's property and remove all such items. According to Lolley, this violated ADOC Administrative Regulation #333 section dealing with "Retention of Religious items". (Id. at 1-2). Lolley also asserts that his transfer in July 2010 deprived him of his right to take part in ceremonies that are intrinsic to his religious beliefs, constituted a violation of the first and fourteenth amendments to the U.S.Constitution, and deprived him of his religious freedom.3 (Id. at 2).
Lolley filed a second Addendum and Supplement on April 16, 2010, and therein advises of his desire to add Alabama DOC Prison Commissioner Richard Allen, Alabama DOC Director of Central Records Caroline Golson, and Staton Correctional Facility Third Shift Officer Carter as Defendants. Lolley also regurgitates the allegations contained in his April 7th filing. (Doc. 10).
During the screening process conducted pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915 (e)(2)(B), the Court determined that Lolley failed to provide sufficient identifying information with respect to either John Doe I or John Doe II; thus, the claims against those defendants were dismissed without prejudice as frivolous. (Doc. 13 at 5). The Court also found that because Lolley merely mentioned the names of Commissioner Allen and Director Golson, but did not describe what either was alleged to have done to violate his constitutional rights, those claims were subject to dismissal for failure to state a claim; thus, the proposed amendment was denied as futile. (Doc. 13 at 8-9). Additionally, because Lolley's proposed claim against Officer Carter involved an incident that allegedly took place at a different facility in Elmore County, which is not in this judicial district, and involved facts separate and apart from the nucleus of facts alleged to have occurred at PCCC, Lolley's claim in this regard was subject to dismissal; thus, was denied as futile. (Doc. 13 at 9-10).
Defendant filed its Answer and Special Report on July 19, 2010. (Docs. 20, 21). Defendant denied all allegations of wrongdoing, and pleads immunity under any and all state and federal laws. (Doc. 20). In an Order dated November 29, 2010 (Doc. 24), Defendant's' Special Report and Answer were converted into a Motion for Summary Judgment, and the parties wereprovided notice and an opportunity to submit briefs and other materials in support or in opposition to the motion. (Doc. 24). In response to the Court's Order, Defendant filed a Brief in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 25), and Plaintiff filed a "Response to Defendant's Answer" (Doc. 28) and "Follow Up" (Doc. 29), which contained additional exhibits including five sworn affidavits in support of Plaintiff's claims4 . Afterreviewing the pleadings, the Court ordered additional briefing from Defendant addressing 1) the circumstances under which LCS operates PCCC, and 2) the circumstances surrounding Lolley's March 2010 transfer to PCCC. (Doc. 30). All issues relating to the Summary Judgment...
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