Murphy v. Lane, 87-1234
| Decision Date | 06 November 1987 |
| Docket Number | No. 87-1234,87-1234 |
| Citation | 833 F.2d 106 |
| Parties | Paul MURPHY, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Michael P. LANE, Director of Department of Corrections, Richard Gramley, Warden of Dixon Correctional Center, Linda Dillon, Dr. Anteas Mesrobian and Otto Wallin, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit |
Paul Murphy, pro se.
Timothy J. Cavenagh, Asst. Atty. Gen., Chicago, Ill., for defendants-appellees.
Before WOOD, CUDAHY, and COFFEY, Circuit Judges.
Paul Murphy, a psychiatric inmate at Dixon Correctional Center, filed his fifth lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 against prison officials in October 1986. In this case, he challenges the prison officials' decision to transfer him to Logan Correctional Center, a prison allegedly unequipped to provide psychiatric care. The district court dismissed Murphy's complaint sua sponte for failure to state a claim under Sec. 1983. In doing so, the court noted that Murphy is a "serial litigator" who "files a new action every time an incident occurs in his treatment/confinement which does not meet his expectations." Murphy appeals.
Although a district court may dismiss a complaint on its own motion, see Bryan v. Johnson, 821 F.2d 455 (7th Cir.1987), such dismissals are not favored. Eades v. Thompson, 823 F.2d 1055, 1061-62 (7th Cir.1987). Dismissal "is not a decision for the district court to make lightly," Gomez v. Illinois State Board of Education, 811 F.2d 1030, 1039 (7th Cir.1987). The district court Id. The complaint should be dismissed for failure to state a claim only if it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts that would entitle him to relief. Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 101-02, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957).
Murphy's complaint sets forth the following facts. Murphy is a suicidal, psychiatric inmate at Dixon Correctional Center who had seen a psychiatrist three times in the months prior to September 1986. The last visit was on September 5, 1986, when the prison psychiatrist told him that she would start seeing him on a regular basis. On September 9, 1986, however, defendant Otto Wallin, upon instructions from defendant Linda Dillon, informed Murphy that he would be transferred to the Logan Correctional Center the following day. Murphy claims that the news so distressed him that he attempted to take his own life by swallowing the crushed glass from a pair of eyeglasses.
The prison medical director, defendant Dr. Anteas Mesrobian, was notified of Murphy's suicide attempt about two hours later and he ordered Murphy admitted to a hospital for observation and testing. Mesrobian never personally saw Murphy during his hospital stay, but he ordered Murphy's release six and one-half hours later. The release occurred in time for Murphy to make the 200-mile van trip for his scheduled transfer to Logan. Upon his arrival, Murphy was placed on "crisis care watch." He saw a psychiatrist one week later, who placed him on a tranquilizer and an anti-depressant. The doctor also recommended Murphy's transfer back to the Special Treatment Center at Dixon, and, the following day, Logan's assignment committee approved the recommendation. In the meantime, Murphy was placed in Logan's segregation unit for four days due to the officials' concern regarding his mental condition.
The gist of Murphy's complaint is that prison officials acted in deliberate indifference to his serious psychological needs, in violation of the eighth amendment, when they transferred him to a prison that could not provide him with necessary psychiatric care. He also claims that the prison violated its own rules by informing him of the pending transfer, that Dr. Mesrobian deliberately put his life in danger when he allowed him to take the 200-mile van trip so shortly after his suicide attempt, and that he never received a six-month evaluation, as required by Ill.Rev.Stat. Ch. 38 Sec. 1003-8-4(b) and Ill.Dept. of Corr. Rule 415.60, in order to determine whether he should be transferred to the general prison population. Finally, Murphy alleges that the decision to transfer him to a non-psychiatric facility was in retaliation for his filing of other lawsuits against the same prison officials and that they have conspired to deprive him of his constitutional rights and to aggravate his mental condition. Murphy therefore seeks injunctive and monetary relief to prevent further violations of his constitutional rights.
In order to successfully state a cause of action against prison officials under the eighth amendment for failure to provide inmates with a medical care system that meets minimal standards of adequacy, a plaintiff must be able to demonstrate that prison medical personnel were "deliberately indifferent to his serious medical needs." Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 104, 97 S.Ct. 285, 291, 50 L.Ed.2d 251 (1976). Mere negligence on the part of a physician in diagnosing or treating a medical condition will not, in and of itself, suffice. Id. at 106, 97 S.Ct. at 292. Similarly, excusable delay in properly treating an inmate that does not amount to deliberate indifference, does not rise to the level of a cognizable eighth amendment claim. Shockley v. Jones, 823 F.2d 1068, 1072 (7th Cir.1987).
A "deliberate indifference" can be evidenced by repeated examples of negligent acts which disclose a pattern of conduct by the prison medical staff, or it can be demonstrated by "proving there are such systematic and gross deficiencies in staffing, facilities, equipment or procedures that the inmate population is effectively denied access to adequate medical care." Wellman v. Faulkner, 715 F.2d 269, 272 (7th Cir.1983) (quoting Ramos v. Lamm, 639 F.2d 559, 575 (10th Cir.1980), cert. denied, 450 U.S. 1041, 101 S.Ct. 1759, 68 L.Ed.2d 239 (1981)).
Thus, the question on review is whether the district court erred in holding that Murphy's complaint fails to establish either a pattern of repeated negligent acts by the prison's medical staff, or such systematic and gross deficiencies in staffing, facilities, equipment or procedures to deny Murphy and the inmate...
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