Muhmmaud v. Murphy

• Decision Date: 30 June 2009
• Docket Number: Prisoner Case No. 3:08-cv-01199 (VLB).
• Citation: 632 F.Supp.2d 171
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Connecticut
• Parties: Saleem MUHMMAUD, Plaintiff, v. Brian MURPHY et al., Defendants.

632 F.Supp.2d 171

Saleem MUHMMAUD, Plaintiff, v. Brian MURPHY et al., Defendants.

Prisoner Case No. 3:08-cv-01199 (VLB).

United States District Court, D. Connecticut.

June 30, 2009.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Saleem Muhmmaud, Somers, CT, pro se.

Ann E. Lynch, Attorney General's Office, Hartford, CT, for Defendants.

RULING ON DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO DISMISS [Doc. # 49]

VANESSA L. BRYANT, District Judge.

The plaintiff, Saleem Muhmmaud, commenced this action pro se against the defendants, Brian Murphy, Mary Marcial, Wayne Choinski, Fred Levesque, Ellen St. John, Major Rose, Major Light, Major Rodriguez, Dennis Oglesby, Jeffrey McGill, CTO Brown, Counselor McEwan, Yolanda Ortero, John Sieminski, Captain Travaglin, James Dzurenda, and Counselor McLeod. The plaintiff asserts federal claims pursuant to the Fourth, Fifth, Eighth, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth Amendments as well as several state constitutional claims. The defendants move to dismiss all of the plaintiff's claims. For the reasons that follow, the motion to dismiss is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.

I. Standard of Review

When considering a motion to dismiss, the court accepts as true all factual allegations in the complaint and draws inferences from these allegations in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. See Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974); Flores v Southern Peru Copper Corp., 343 F.3d 140, 143 (2d Cir.2003). The court considers not whether the plaintiff ultimately will prevail, but whether he has stated a claim upon which relief may be granted so that he should be entitled to offer evidence to support his claim. See York v. Association of Bar of City of New York, 286 F.3d 122, 125 (2d Cir.2002). In reviewing a motion to dismiss, the Second Circuit "ordinarily require[s] the district courts to give substantial leeway to pro se litigants." Gomes v. Avco Corp., 964 F.2d 1330, 1335 (2d Cir.1992).

II. Facts

The plaintiff was transferred from Northern Correctional Institution to MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution on November 28, 2006, after completing the Chronic Discipline Program. On December 14, 2006, he received a Class A disciplinary report for interfering with safety and security. He pleaded guilty to the disciplinary report and served sanctions of confinement in segregation for seven days followed by confinement to quarters. Correctional policy provides that an inmate released from the Chronic Discipline Program is on probation for ninety days. If he is found guilty of a Class A disciplinary report during the probationary period, he may be returned to the Chronic Discipline Program. On December 27, 2006, however, the plaintiff was discharged from custody at the conclusion of his sentence. At the time of his discharge, no hearing to determine whether he would return to the Chronic Discipline Program had been scheduled.

On January 10, 2007, the plaintiff was re-arrested and confined in the custody of the Connecticut Department of Correction as a pretrial detainee. He remained in this status until he was sentenced in July 2008. Upon his readmission, correctional officials prepared a Chronic Discipline reinstatement package. On February 5, 2007, the plaintiff received notice of a Chronic Discipline hearing. The hearing took place on February 7, 2007. The defendant Travaglin, the hearing officer, did not check off the box on the Restrictive Status Report of Hearing for Placement or Removal form indicating that he recommended placement in the Chronic Discipline Program. However, he completed the section requesting reasons for placement, stating "Inmate discharged prior to completion of the CD program—was approved for CD on 12/21/06 due to Step-Down failure. He was readmitted to the DOC on 1/10/07." [Compl. Ex. C, Doc. # 42-2, p. 9] The defendant Dzurenda denied the plaintiff's appeal and, on February 22, 2007, the defendant Levesque authorized the plaintiff's placement in the Chronic Discipline Program.

The plaintiff was transferred to the Chronic Discipline Program at Northern Correctional institution on March 27, 2007. He was required to attend groups as part of the program. On April 5, 2007, he progressed to Interval II. The plaintiff states that no correctional guards went into the outside recreational yards with Chronic Discipline inmates in Intervals I and II of the Chronic Discipline Program. Instead, there were electronic intercommunication speakers on the wall and stationary security cameras. There were guards present, however, during outside recreation for inmates in the Administrative Segregation Program.

On April 25, 2007, the plaintiff attended morning recreation with six other inmates. The plaintiff alleges that another inmate made disrespectful comments to him. The plaintiff twice told the inmate to shut up and moved away from him. The other inmate physically attacked the plaintiff. During the struggle, the plaintiff secured a weapon that the other inmate had brought to the recreation yard and swung the weapon at the other inmate. Correctional officers did not immediately respond to the assault. The plaintiff suffered lacerations on his upper forehead, right eye, lips, and knees, and swollen lip and eyes. As a result of the incident, the plaintiff received disciplinary reports for fighting and possession of contraband. He was found guilty of both charges.

III. Discussion

The defendants move to dismiss the complaint on the grounds that: (1) the Fifth and Eighth Amendments do not apply to pretrial detainees; (2) the plaintiff's claims under the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Article first, § 9, of the Connecticut Constitution regarding his placement in the Chronic Discipline Program are legally insufficient; (3) he fails to state a claim for involuntary servitude under the Thirteenth Amendment; (4) the claims under Article first, §§ 8 & 20 of the Connecticut Constitution are legally insufficient; and (5) the plaintiff fails to state a federal or state equal protection claim.

A. Claims under the Fifth and Eighth Amendments

The Fifth Amendment pertains to criminal charges and prohibits the federal government from violating a person's due process rights. See Public Utilities Comm'n v. Pollak, 343 U.S. 451, 461, 72 S.Ct. 813, 96 L.Ed. 1068 (1952); Birdsall v. City of Hartford, 249 F.Supp.2d 163, 170 (D.Conn.2003). The plaintiff's claims here concern conduct allegedly committed by state employees at state correctional facilities. Thus, the Fifth Amendment does not apply. The defendants' motion to dismiss is granted as to all Fifth Amendment claims.

The Eighth Amendment, which protects inmates against cruel and unusual punishment, may be invoked only after an individual has been adjudged guilty of a crime. See Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 535 n. 16, 99 S.Ct. 1861, 60 L.Ed.2d 447 (1979) (noting that a claim asserted by a pretrial detainee is reviewed under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment). The defendants argue that all Eighth Amendment claims must be dismissed because the plaintiff alleges that he was a pretrial detainee at all times relevant to his claims. In opposition, the plaintiff states that he was a sentenced inmate prior to his discharge on December 27, 2006. Although the plaintiff is correct, his claims concern the period after his reincarceration in 2007 while he was a pretrial detainee. The defendants' motion to dismiss is granted as to all Eighth Amendment claims.

The Court will consider any claims asserted pursuant to the Fifth or Eighth Amendments as brought under the Fourteenth Amendment.

B. Claim for Involuntary Servitude under the Thirteenth Amendment

The plaintiff contends that forced participation in programs in the Chronic Discipline Program constitutes involuntary servitude in violation of the Thirteenth Amendment.

The Thirteenth Amendment states in pertinent part that "[n]either slavery or involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." U.S. Const. amend. XIII, § 1. The Supreme Court has conceded that "[w]hile the general spirit of the phrase `involuntary servitude' is easily comprehended, the exact range of conditions it prohibits is harder to define." United States v. Kozminski, 487 U.S. 931 942, 108 S.Ct. 2751, 101 L.Ed.2d 788 (1988). "[T]o state a claim under the Thirteenth Amendment, a plaintiff must demonstrate that he has been subjected to compulsory labor akin to African slavery which in practical operation would tend to produce like undesirable results." Ford v. Nassau County Executive, 41 F.Supp.2d 392, 401 (E.D.N.Y.1999) (quoting Butler v. Perry, 240 U.S. 328, 332, 36 S.Ct. 258, 60 L.Ed. 672 (1916)). In Ford, the court held that requiring a pretrial detainee to choose between distributing food to other inmates without pay or being confined in segregation did not violate the Thirteenth Amendment. Id. at 397-98.

Participation in programs is not work. Thus, it does not constitute involuntary servitude. The defendants' motion to dismiss is granted as to the Thirteenth Amendment claim.

C. Federal and State Due Process Claims

The plaintiff alleges that he was denied substantive due process when, upon readmission to the Department of Correction, he was reassigned to the Chronic Discipline Program as a result of events that occurred before he was discharged. He also contends that he was not afforded procedural due process at the disciplinary hearing following the assault in the recreation yard.

1. Substantive Due Process

The plaintiff's claim regarding his transfer to the Chronic Discipline Program is based on the Supreme Court's holding that pretrial detainees have a substantive due process right not to be housed under conditions of confinement that amount to punishment. See Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. at 535-37, 99 S.Ct. 1861. Not every restriction imposed during...