PRISONERS'LEGAL ASS'N v. Roberson

• Decision Date: 26 May 1993
• Docket Number: Civ. No. 91-4460 (HLS).
• Citation: 822 F. Supp. 185
• Parties: PRISONERS' LEGAL ASSOCIATION, et al., Plaintiffs, v. James L. ROBERSON, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of New Jersey

822 F. Supp. 185

PRISONERS' LEGAL ASSOCIATION, et al., Plaintiffs, v. James L. ROBERSON, Defendant.

Civ. No. 91-4460 (HLS).

United States District Court, D. New Jersey.

May 26, 1993.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Howard J. McCoach, Deputy Atty. Gen., Richard J. Hughes Justice Complex, Trenton, NJ.

Lawrence L. Lustberg, Crummy, Del Deo, Dolan, Griffinger & Vecchione, Newark, NJ, Pro bono for plaintiffs.

OPINION

SAROKIN, District Judge.

Before the court is defendant's motion for summary judgment.

Introduction

What distinguishes our society from most others is the continued right of access to the judicial process afforded even to those who have been charged, tried and convicted of a crime. In order to make such access meaningful, prisoners need not only the physical tools to create and submit their complaints and petitions for relief, but frequently due to their own deficiencies in education or language skills, they also need the intellectual tools possessed by others.

This right of access to the courts must be genuine, and prisoners must be free to exercise it without fear of retaliation for doing so. Because so many persons confined to our prisons are lacking in education, knowledge of the law, and language skills, other prisoners have undertaken the preparation of their fellow inmates' complaints, appeals and petitions—the so-called "jail-house lawyers." So prevalent and necessary has this practice become that groups have been formed, such as the group to which the plaintiffs in this case belong, with the approval of prison authorities.

These plaintiffs charge that they are the victims of harassment and retaliation because of their prison sanctioned efforts on behalf of other prisoners. If their allegations as to defendant's conduct are true, this conduct is to be condemned and enjoined. To seek to deny or discourage this assistance to inmates is no less a denial of their rights than to take from them the pen and paper necessary for the preparation of their petitions. For those who lack the knowledge, education or language skills to speak for themselves, their fellow inmates are often their only voice to our judicial system. This voice must not be stilled by interference, threats or retaliation.

Background

On October 10, 1991, the Prisoners' Legal Association (the "PLA") and seven inmates at East Jersey State Prison (the "prison"),¹ all staff members of the PLA,² filed a complaint against Officer James L. Roberson ("Officer Roberson"), a senior corrections officer at the prison, alleging that the defendant harassed members of the PLA because of their positions as paralegals at the prison. On June 1, 1992, plaintiffs filed a supplemental complaint, alleging additional incidents of harassment by defendant against three members of the PLA. Plaintiffs seek a declaratory judgment, injunctive relief and damages.

According to the allegations of the complaint and supplemental complaint, Officer Roberson has harassed each of the plaintiffs in retaliation for their role in the filing of lawsuits against the defendant and other prison authorities. More specifically, plaintiffs allege that defendant has harassed them by verbally abusing them,³ searching their legal materials,⁴ and denying them meals.⁵

Discussion

Defendant moves for summary judgment pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(b), asserting first that the PLA lacks standing to bring this lawsuit and second that the undisputed facts in this case do not give rise to a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiffs oppose defendant's motion, arguing that they have standing to sue and that they have alleged violations of rights secured by the United States Constitution.⁶

This court can only grant summary judgment if there are no issues of material fact and if, viewing the facts in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Wisniewski v. Johns-Manville Corp., 812 F.2d 81, 84 (3d Cir.1987). To avoid summary judgment, the non-moving party must produce evidence "`such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for him.'" Zilich v. Lucht, 981 F.2d 694, 696 (3d Cir.1992) (citing Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986)).

I. The Sufficiency of the Claims

Ordinarily, the court would consider the question of standing before turning to the sufficiency of plaintiffs' claims. However, for reasons that will become apparent, the court deems it appropriate in this case to consider first defendant's argument that the plaintiffs' allegations do not state a claim under § 1983, thereby entitling the defendant to summary judgment.⁷

As the court has discussed, each individual plaintiff alleges that he was subjected to some form of harassment by the defendant because he is a prison paralegal. Defendant essentially argues that: 1) these alleged incidents of harassment do not give rise to a constitutional claim; and/or 2) the alleged connection between the alleged harassment and the individuals' status as prison paralegals is too tenuous for a reasonable jury to conclude that the alleged harassment was related to the inmate's status as a paralegal. Because the court concludes that plaintiffs have sufficiently alleged that the harassment was related to the fact that the plaintiffs provide legal assistance to inmates at the prison,⁸ the court will only consider whether plaintiffs have asserted constitutionally cognizable claims.

A. The Eighth Amendment

Defendant correctly points out that verbal harassment does not give rise to a constitutional violation enforceable under § 1983. See Murray v. Woodburn, 809 F.Supp. 383 (E.D.Pa.1993) ("Mean verbal harassment of the sort alleged by plaintiff is insufficient to state a constitutional deprivation."); Oltarzewski v. Ruggiero, 830 F.2d 136, 139 (9th Cir.1987) (holding that the defendant's use of vulgar language does not give rise to a claim under § 1983). However, searches of a prisoner's person, cell or personal belongings, which are permissible in most circumstances,⁹ can give "rise to an Eighth Amendment violation if they are conducted for `calculated harassment.'" Proudfoot v. Williams, 803 F.Supp. 1048, 1051 (E.D.Pa.1992) (citing Hudson v. Palmer, 468 U.S. 517, 530, 104 S.Ct. 3194, 3202, 82 L.Ed.2d 393 (1984)). Similarly, a correctional institution must furnish prisoners with adequate food to satisfy its obligations under the Eighth Amendment. Young v. Quinlan, 960 F.2d 351, 364 (3d Cir.1992) (citing Hassine v. Jeffes, 846 F.2d 169, 174 (3d Cir. 1988)).

Nevertheless, as the Supreme Court has stated, the conditions of imprisonment do not reach the threshold of constitutional concern until a showing is made of "genuine privations of hardship over an extended period of time." Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 542, 99 S.Ct. 1861, 1876, 60 L.Ed.2d 447 (1979). Applying this standard, one court found that the searching of a prisoner's cell 10 times in 19 days constituted an Eighth Amendment violation, Scher v. Engelke, 943 F.2d 921, 924-25 (8th Cir.1991), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 112 S.Ct. 1516, 117 L.Ed.2d 652 (1992) (noting that "previously no other court has held that cell searches constitute an eighth amendment violation"), whereas another court has held that the alleged denial of a few meals does not rise to the level of an Eighth Amendment violation, Bellamy v. Bradley, 729 F.2d 416, 419 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 845, 105 S.Ct. 156, 83 L.Ed.2d 93 (1984) ("The testimony ... fails to establish that appellees intentionally or negligently deprived Bellamy of his meals to the degree that a jury could find an Eighth Amendment violation.").

In this case, no plaintiff alleges that the defendant repeatedly searched his possessions. Rather, plaintiffs allege three instances when the defendant searched the possessions of one of the paralegals. Similarly, one plaintiff alleges that the defendant denied him a meal on two separate occasions. Thus, the court concludes that a jury could not reasonably find that either the alleged searches or the alleged deprivation of meals gives rise to a claim of cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment.

B. The Fourteenth Amendment

Although plaintiff's allegations as to defendant's conduct do not give rise to constitutional violations under the Eighth Amendment, they may give rise to constitutional violations under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Plaintiffs have alleged that the defendant harassed them because they assist other inmates in the preparation of litigation. It is, of course, well-established that "an action that would otherwise be permissible is unconstitutional if it is taken in retaliation for the exercise of the right of access to the courts." Bradley v. Pittsburgh Board of Education, 910 F.2d 1172, 1177 (3d Cir.1990) (noting that "most cases concerning retaliation in violation of the right of access to the court have arisen in the prison context"); Madewell v. Roberts, 909 F.2d 1203, 1206 (8th Cir.1990) (collecting cases). Thus, the court must determine whether defendant's alleged harassment implicates the constitutional right of access to the courts.

In Bounds v. Smith, the Supreme Court held that the right of access to the courts is fundamental and as such it is both guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment and actionable under § 1983. 430 U.S. 817, 828, 97 S.Ct. 1491, 1498, 52 L.Ed.2d 72 (1977). Subsequently, courts have held that this "right of access to the courts must be `adequate, effective and meaningful' and must be freely exercisable without hinderance or fear of retaliation." Milhouse v. Carlson, 652 F.2d 371, 374 (3d Cir.1981); DeTomaso v. McGinnis, 970 F.2d 211 (7th Cir.1992) (holding that prison officials may not retaliate against inmates who seek or obtain access to the courts). Courts have further held...