Lowrance v. Achtyl
| Decision Date | 29 March 1994 |
| Docket Number | No. 526,D,526 |
| Citation | 20 F.3d 529 |
| Parties | Jory LOWRANCE, also known as Ya'Qub Shamsid-Deen, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. C.O. S. ACHTYL, Sgt. G. Skrocki, Sgt. Lay, Lt. Inserra, Lt. Mutz, C.O. Sroka, R.J. Cunningham, Acting Deputy Superintendent; all employed at Shawangunk Correctional Facility, Defendants-Appellees. ocket 93-2391. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
Ya'Qub Shamsid-Deen, appellant pro se.
Robert Abrams, Atty. Gen. of the State of NY, Peter H. Schiff, Deputy Sol. Gen., Nancy A. Spiegel, Lew A. Millenbach, Asst. Attys. Gen., State of NY, Albany, NY, for appellees.
Before: MESKILL, KEARSE and LEVAL, Circuit Judges.
The principal issue in this pro se appeal is whether state prison officials satisfied due process requirements when they held an inmate in administrative confinement for two days. The pro se plaintiff, Jory Lowrance a/k/a Ya'Qub Shamsid-Deen, appeals from a judgment of the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York, DiBianco, M.J., granting summary judgment in favor of the defendants and dismissing Shamsid-Deen's complaint alleging that the defendants violated 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983. 1 All of the defendants, Correction Officer Achtyl, Sergeant Skrocki, Sergeant Lay, Lieutenant Inserra, Lieutenant Mutz, Correction Officer Sroka, and Acting Deputy Superintendent for Security Cunningham, worked at Shawangunk Correctional Facility (Shawangunk) at the time of the incidents giving rise to Shamsid-Deen's claims. We find Shamsid-Deen's contentions to be unpersuasive and we affirm the judgment of the magistrate judge.
During an evening meal on August 11, 1991, Shamsid-Deen, an inmate on a low cholesterol diet at Shawangunk, brought hot sauce into the mess hall, exchanged food with another inmate, and used the hot sauce on his food. This conduct violated a rule that had been issued in February 1989 by the Deputy Superintendent for Administrative Services at Shawangunk (Rule). The Rule was supposed to have been posted in all housing units and mess halls.
Correction Officer Achtyl observed Shamsid-Deen's behavior in the mess hall and, as Shamsid-Deen left the mess hall, ordered the inmate to give him the hot sauce. Shamsid-Deen refused and stated that the sauce belonged to him. Achtyl subsequently issued a misbehavior report, charging Shamsid-Deen with three rule violations: disobeying a direct order, bringing food items into the mess hall, and failing to comply with seating and serving policies. As a result of these alleged violations, Shamsid-Deen was placed in administrative confinement, or "keeplock," some time in the evening of August 11 pending his disciplinary hearing.
During the period of keeplock, Shamsid-Deen sought to speak to several correction officials regarding the propriety of his administrative confinement. By his own admission At about noon on August 12, 1991, Shamsid-Deen was served with Achtyl's misbehavior report. In the afternoon of August 13, 1991, a Shawangunk official held a disciplinary hearing on Achtyl's charges against Shamsid-Deen. Shamsid-Deen was present and participated in the hearing. The presiding official ultimately dismissed the charges on the ground that the Rule that Shamsid-Deen had allegedly violated had not been distributed and that, therefore, Shamsid-Deen had not known that his actions were prohibited.
Shamsid-Deen complained orally to Sergeant Lay and Correction Officer Sroka about his confinement. Shamsid-Deen also concedes that he was advised that he could complain in writing to Cunningham, the Acting Deputy Superintendent for Security, and that he did so. Shamsid-Deen asserts, however, that he never received a reply from Cunningham. Lieutenant Inserra was the Review Officer responsible for reviewing the propriety of Shamsid-Deen's keeplock status.
Shamsid-Deen filed this section 1983 action against the defendants and asserted that (1) Achtyl had filed the misbehavior report in retaliation for Shamsid-Deen's previous filing of grievances regarding the special diet program, and (2) the defendants had violated Shamsid-Deen's due process rights by placing him in administrative segregation awaiting the disciplinary hearing. The defendants subsequently moved for summary judgment on three grounds: (1) Shamsid-Deen's retaliation claim is conclusory and wholly unsupported, (2) Shamsid-Deen's prehearing administrative confinement comported with due process requirements, and (3) the defendants are entitled to qualified immunity.
The magistrate judge granted the defendants' summary judgment motion on the grounds that (1) there was no evidence supporting the claim that the misbehavior report had been filed in retaliation for Shamsid-Deen's grievances, and (2) the prehearing keeplock had been validly imposed and had satisfied due process requirements. Accordingly, on March 10, 1993, the magistrate judge dismissed Shamsid-Deen's complaint and entered judgment in favor of the defendants.
Shamsid-Deen filed a motion for reconsideration of the retaliation claim. With his motion, Shamsid-Deen submitted the affidavit of Reginald Troy, an inmate at Shawangunk who had been in the mess hall with Shamsid-Deen on August 11. The affidavit stated that, before issuing the misbehavior report against Shamsid-Deen on August 11, Achtyl had told Shamsid-Deen that Achtyl could write better misbehavior tickets than Shamsid-Deen could write grievances. The magistrate judge accepted Shamsid-Deen's explanation for his delay in producing the Troy affidavit, but refused to disturb its previous judgment on the ground that, even with the new affidavit, Shamsid-Deen had shown no more than that Achtyl may have had a mixed motive for filing the misbehavior report and that, when one of several motives is proper, the state action must be sustained. See Sher v. Coughlin, 739 F.2d 77, 82 (2d Cir.1984) (). 2
Shamsid-Deen challenges the grant of summary judgment against him and from the denial of relief after reconsideration. He contends that the magistrate judge improperly determined that the defendants were entitled to judgment as a matter of law on the retaliation claim and that the defendants had not violated his due process rights during his administrative confinement. The defendants contend, on the other hand, that Shamsid-Deen did not properly perfect his appeal from the magistrate judge's March 10 judgment and, therefore, that only Shamsid-Deen's appeal from the magistrate judge's
denial of relief after reconsideration of the retaliation issue is properly before us.
We first address the defendants' contention that Shamsid-Deen's appeal from the March 10 judgment is not properly before us. Following the entry of judgment against him, Shamsid-Deen filed a timely notice of appeal on March 25, 1993. The appeal proceeded in this Court and was ultimately dismissed on June 7, 1993, on the ground that Shamsid-Deen had defaulted. On March 22, 1993, however, Shamsid-Deen had filed a timely motion for reconsideration of the March 10 judgment pursuant to Local Rule 10(m) of the Northern District of New York. On May 27, 1993, after reconsideration, the magistrate judge denied relief and Shamsid-Deen filed a timely notice of appeal on June 14, 1993.
Our determination of whether Shamsid-Deen's appeal from the March 10 judgment is properly before us turns on the validity of the March 25 notice of appeal. Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(a)(4) provides, in pertinent part:
If a timely motion under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure is filed in the district court by any party: ... (iii) under Rule 59 to alter or amend the judgment; ... the time for appeal for all parties shall run from the entry of the order denying ... any other such motion. A notice of appeal filed before the disposition of any of the above motions shall have no effect. A new notice of appeal must be filed within the prescribed time measured from the entry of the order disposing of the motion as provided above. 3
By operation of this rule, the March 25 notice of appeal became a nullity on the filing of the motion for reconsideration if that motion was a motion to alter or amend the judgment pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59(e).
Although Shamsid-Deen's motion for reconsideration was not labeled a motion "under Rule 59 to alter or amend the judgment," several factors persuade us to treat the motion as a Rule 59(e) motion for purposes of Rule 4(a)(4). First, Shamsid-Deen's motion for reconsideration was filed within ten days after the entry of the judgment of dismissal, in accordance with Local Rule 10(m) of the Northern District of New York, which provides in pertinent part that "[m]otions for reconsideration ... shall be filed and served not later than ten (10) days after the entry of judgment." We have recognized that "most substantive motions brought within ten days of the entry of judgment are functionally motions under Rule 59(e)." McCowan v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 908 F.2d 1099, 1103 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 897, 111 S.Ct. 250, 112 L.Ed.2d 209 (1990); see also Osterneck v. Ernst & Whinney, 489 U.S. 169, 174, 109 S.Ct. 987, 990, 103 L.Ed.2d 146 (1989); United States v. Clark, 984 F.2d 31, 34 (2d Cir.1993); Northwestern Nat'l Ins. Co. v. Alberts, 937 F.2d 77, 81 (2d Cir.1991). Second, the relief that Shamsid-Deen sought was akin to the relief afforded under Rule 59(e). See Clark, 984 F.2d at 34; Northwestern Nat'l Ins. Co., 937 F.2d at 81. Finally, that Shamsid-Deen also might have sought relief under Rule 60(b), on the ground that he had obtained new evidence to support his retaliation claim, does not weaken our conclusion. See McCowan, 908 F.2d...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Bimber's Delwood, Inc. v. James, 20-CV-1043S
...is simply "incorrect or ill-advised" does not fall within the protection of the substantive due process clause. See Lowrance v. Achtyl, 20 F.3d 529, 537 (2d Cir. 1994).Here, Plaintiffs are unlikely to demonstrate that the challenged Executive Orders are arbitrary, irrational, or conscience ......
-
Singh v. Whitaker
...is arbitrary, conscience-shocking, or oppressive, but not against government action that is incorrect or ill-advised. Lowrance v. Achtyl , 20 F.3d 529, 537 (2d Cir. 1994). As relevant here, the Second Circuit has explained that "[b]ecause the Zadvydas Court set forth [the] ‘reasonable fores......
-
Doe v. Zucker
..."conscience-shocking," or "oppressive in the constitutional sense," not merely "incorrect or ill-advised." Lowrance v. C.O. S. Achtyl , 20 F.3d 529, 537 (2d Cir. 1994). Finally, the Second Circuit has instructed that "[i]n situations in which time for deliberation is available to the offici......
-
Gierlinger v. Gleason
...Healthy, 429 U.S. at 287, 97 S.Ct. 568), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 865, 114 S.Ct. 186, 126 L.Ed.2d 145 (1993); see, e.g., Lowrance v. Achtyl, 20 F.3d 529, 535 (2d Cir.1994) (plaintiff must show that a retaliatory motive "played a substantial part in the state action at issue" (internal quotati......