Mounts v. Raemisch, Civil Action No. 16-cv-02732-RBJ-KLM
| Decision Date | 10 July 2019 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 16-cv-02732-RBJ-KLM |
| Parties | MATTHEW K. MOUNTS, Plaintiff, v. RICK RAEMISCH, Executive Director of CDOC, ANGELA MEDINA, Warden of Canon Minimum Centers, and RANDY OLGUIN, Lt., Volunteer Services Coordinator, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Colorado |
RECOMMENDATION OF UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
ENTERED BY MAGISTRATE JUDGE KRISTEN L. MIX
This matter is before the Court on Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment [#60]1 (the "Motion"). Plaintiff, who is proceeding pro se,2 filed a Response [#63] in opposition to the Motion, and Defendants filed a Reply [#70]. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636 (b)(1)(A) and D.C.COLO.LCivR 72.1(c), the Motion [#60] has been referred to the undersigned for a recommendation regarding disposition. See [#61]. The Court has reviewed the pleadings, the entire case file, and the applicable law, and is sufficientlyadvised in the premises. For the reasons set forth below, the Court respectfully RECOMMENDS that the Motion [#60] be GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.
Plaintiff is an inmate incarcerated by the Colorado Department of Corrections ("CDOC") at Arrowhead Correctional Center ("Arrowhead" or "ACC"). Motion [#60] at 2. On January 12, 2017, Plaintiff filed an Amended Complaint [#12] pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, asserting that Defendants violated his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act ("RLUIPA")4 by refusing to accommodate certain requests associated with his Jewish faith. In the section of the Amended Complaint titled "Request for Relief," Plaintiff states that he wants:
All religious services to be allowed at the correct times (except during security emergencies, etc . . .), all religious practices to be allowed, all religious items to be allowed (books, clothing, ritual items, etc . . .), all religious items to be allowed to be worn at all times in all places within CDOC, on transports, etc . . . , all religious items to be ordered as needed, not when it is too late, $10,000 per incident/claim plus punitive damages: $10,000,000.00.
Am. Compl. [#12] at 9. Specifically, Plaintiff requests accommodation from Arrowhead relating to the lighting of candles for specific religious ceremonies on Friday and Saturdaynights. Motion [#60] at 3; Response [#63] at 2. Additionally, Plaintiff requests (1) a gartel belt; (2) a dreidel; (3) access to challah bread; (4) a black hat or fedora; and (5) access to Tefillin in his cell.5 Motion [#60] at 4-5; Am. Compl. [#12] at 6. Finally, the Court construes Plaintiff's Amended Complaint as asserting First and Fourteenth Amendment claims based on the denial of religious services for two months starting in May 2016. Am. Compl. [#12] at 7. The Court discusses the evidence underlying these requests in detail in the Analysis section below. In the present Motion [#60], Defendants seek summary judgment in their favor on all claims.
The purpose of a motion for summary judgment pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 56 is to assess whether trial is necessary. See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323 (1986). Under Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c), summary judgment shall be granted if "the pleadings, the discovery and disclosure materials on file, and any affidavits show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." An issue is genuine if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could resolve the issue in favor of the nonmoving party. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 277 U.S. 242, 248 (1986). A fact is material if it might affect the outcome of the case under the governing substantive law. Id.
The burden is on the movant to show the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. Adler v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 144 F.3d 664, 670-71 (10th Cir. 1998) (citing Celotex,477 U.S. at 323). When the movant does not bear the ultimate burden of persuasion at trial, the "movant may make its prima facie demonstration [of the absence of a genuine issue of material fact] simply by pointing out to the court a lack of evidence for the nonmovant on an essential element of the nonmovant's claim." Id. at 671. If the movant carries the initial burden of making a prima facie showing of a lack of evidence, the burden shifts to the nonmovant to put forth sufficient evidence for each essential element of his claim such that a reasonable jury could find in his favor. See Anderson, 277 U.S. at 248; Simms v. Okla. ex rel. Dep't of Mental Health & Substance Abuse Servs., 165 F.3d 1321, 1326 (10th Cir. 1999). The nonmovant must go beyond the allegations and denials of his pleadings and provide admissible evidence, which the Court views in the light most favorable to him. Adickes v. S.H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144, 157 (1970); Panis v. Mission Hills Bank, N.A., 60 F.3d 1486, 1490 (10th Cir. 1995) (citing Celotex, 477 U.S. at 324). Conclusory statements based merely on conjecture, speculation, or subjective belief are not competent summary judgment evidence. Bones v. Honeywell Int'l, Inc., 366 F.3d 869, 875 (10th Cir. 2004). The nonmoving party's evidence must be more than "mere reargument of [his] case or a denial of an opponent's allegation" or it will be disregarded. See 10B Charles Alan Wright et al., Federal Practice and Procedure § 2738 (4th ed. 2017).
When ruling on a motion for summary judgement, a court may consider only admissible evidence. See Johnson v. Weld Cty., Colo., 594 F.3d 1202, 1209-10 (10th Cir. 2010). The factual record and reasonable inferences therefrom are viewed in the light most favorable to the party opposing summary judgment. Concrete Works, Inc., v. City & Cty. of Denver, 36 F.3d 1513, 1517 (10th Cir. 1994). At the summary judgment stage of litigation, a plaintiff's version of the facts must find support in the record. Thomson v. SaltLake Cty., 584 F.3d 1304, 1312 (10th Cir. 2009). "When opposing parties tell two different stories, one of which is blatantly contradicted by the record, so that no reasonable jury could believe it, a court should not adopt that version of the facts for purposes of ruling on a motion for summary judgment." Scott v. Harris, 550 U.S. 372, 380 (2007); Thomson, 584 F.3d at 1312.
Only documents that meet the evidentiary requirements of Fed. R. Civ. P. 56 may be considered for purposes of summary judgment. Rule 56(c) provides that:
Plaintiff notes in his Response (1) that he has not received all of the discovery he requested, (2) that he was forced to mail out the CD of evidence that Defendants sent him, so he is unable to provide all evidence he wanted to present in opposition to the present Motion [#60], and (3) that he has not received a ruling on his objection to the format of the discovery he did receive. See [#63] at 6. The discovery deadline was July 31, 2018. See[#43]. The present Response [#63] was filed on November 5, 2018. While Plaintiff does not directly ask for relief on any of these bases in the Response [#63], the Court briefly addresses these statements.
At the outset, the Court notes that none of these issues have properly been brought to the Court's attention. The Court has informed Plaintiff three times: See [#41-2] (in writing as an attachment to Minute Order setting the Scheduling Conference); [#43] (orally at the Scheduling Conference); [#43-1] (in writing as an attachment to the Minutes from the Scheduling Conference). Regardless, Plaintiff has failed to file motions on any of these issues.
Regarding Plaintiff's statement that he has not received all of the discovery he requested, on July 12, 2018, Plaintiff filed a Response to the Defendants' Objections [#51], which seems to be connected to a first set of written discovery requests from Plaintiff. Nothing in the title or on the first page provides any indication that Plaintiff sought any relief from the Court. It is not until the last page that Plaintiff states that he would like the Court to "review the objections and realize there is no confidentiality in 'work place emails, phone calls or conversations' and instruct" Defendants "to comply with the [d]ocument requests." Even if Plaintiff had appropriately brought this issue to the Court's attention through, for example, a motion to compel, neither the discovery requests nor Defendant's response/objections to the discovery requests have been entered on the electronic docket in this case, and therefore the Court would have been, and continues to be, unable to adjudicate any issue Plaintiff may have had with Defendants' discovery responses.
Regarding Plaintiff's statement that he has not received a ruling on his objection to the format of the discovery he did receive, on August 6, 2018, he filed an Objection to Usability of Discovery Documents [#54], which seems to have been directed at Defendants' responses to Plaintiff's Second Request for...
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