Salam v. Delaney, CIVIL NO. 1:12-cv-01040
| Decision Date | 08 September 2014 |
| Docket Number | CIVIL NO. 1:12-cv-01040 |
| Parties | AL JABBAR SALAM PLAINTIFF v. JANET DELANEY; SGT. COLLIER; SGT. MEEKS; SGT. RICHARDSON; JAILER PITTS; JAILER EDWARD; JAILER TURNER; JAILER MURPHY; TINA RICHARDSON; W. ROBINSON; DOUG WOODS; and SHERIFF MIKE LOE DEFENDANTS |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Arkansas |
Plaintiff Al Jabbar Salam filed this civil rights case pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. He proceeds pro se and in forma pauperis. Pursuant to the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1) and (3)(2011), the Honorable Susan O. Hickey, United States District Judge, referred this case to the undersigned for the purpose of making a report and recommendation.
Currently before me is Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment. ECF No. 37. Defendants filed a Response to the Motion for Summary Judgment. ECF No. 40. Plaintiff replied. ECF No. 42. Also, before me is Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment. ECF No. 48. Plaintiff responded with the aide of a Court prepared questionnaire. ECF No. 75. After considering all of the briefing the undersigned issues the following Report and Recommendation.
Plaintiff is currently incarcerated in the Arkansas Department of Correction Varner Unit in Grady, Arkansas. During the time at issue in this case, Plaintiff was incarcerated in the Columbia County Detention Center ("CCDC"). Plaintiff originally filed his Complaint on April26, 2012 (ECF No. 1) and then filed an Amended Complaint on July 18, 2012 (ECF No. 10).
In his Amended Complaint, Plaintiff names Sgt. Collier, Sgt. Tina Robinson, Mr. Richardson, Mr. Pitt, Mr. W. Robinson, Officer Turner, Mr. Edwards, Deputy Sheriff Doug Woods, Mr. Murphy, and Sheriff Loe, as defendants in this matter. ECF No. 10, pp. 3-5. Plaintiff makes both official and individual capacity claims against all of the Defendants.
In his Amended Complaint Plaintiff specifically claims: (1) Defendant Delaney denied him medication on March 19, 2012 (ECF No. 10, p. 8); (2) Defendants Robinson, Richardson, Murphy, Collier, Pitts, and Turner denied him grievance forms on December 15, 2011, and between December 16 and July8, 2012 between the times of 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. and on the weekends in violation of CCDC policy (ECF No. 10, p. 8, 14); (3) each Defendant denied Plaintiff freedom of speech by failing to send his letters to his wife because they contained sexual content (ECF No. 10, p. 8); (4) Defendant Delaney retaliated against Plaintiff for complaining about his letter by enacting a postcard only policy (ECF No. 10, p. 8); (5) the postcard only policy is unconstitutional (ECF No. 10, p. 8); (6) all Defendants denied Plaintiff mail (ECF No. 10, p. 8); (7) all Defendants violated CCDC correspondence policy (ECF No. 10, p. 8); (8) on June 6, 2012, he was discriminated against, based on race, when he was locked down after a fight with a white inmate and the white inmate was not punished (ECF No. 10, p. 9); (9) he was placed in "punitive lock down" on June 6, 2012 "with a court hearing per policy," all of his property was confiscate at this same time, and he has been in "punitive isolation or segregation for 33 days" (ECF No. 10, p. 9); (10) the shift sergeant is not addressing his grievances per unit policy (ECF No. 10, p. 9); (11) on June 7, 2012, Defendant Delaney threatened Plaintiff with bodily harm (ECF No. 10, p. 10); (12) he was denied access to the law library on December 21, 2011 (ECF No. 10, p. 10); (13)Defendants Collier, Murphy, and Robinson denied Plaintiff his "Fedreal mail" between June 24, 2012 and June 30, 2012 pursuant to Defendant Delaney's orders (ECF No. 10, p. 10) (errors in original); (14) all Defendants denied Plaintiff a section 1983 form (ECF No. 10, p. 11); (15) the grievance procedure is not followed at the CCDC (ECF No. 10, p. 11); (16) on May 23, 2012, Plaintiff was informed he would not be given a pork-free meal "to uphold [his] Religious belief as a Muslim of All-Islaim pursuant to Defendant Delaney's order (ECF No. 10, p. 12); (17) his due process rights were violated when he was moved, by Defendant Delaney, on May 14, 2012 "for no reason at all" to Pod 17 (ECF No. 10, p. 11); (18) he was discriminated against, based on race, when Defendant Delaney ordered, on June 7, 2012, he could only have one book per week while the white inmates could have as many as their families mailed, and white inmates are never punished for breaking the rules (ECF No. 10, p. 12); (19) Defendants Loe and Woods "Inaction to act" against Defendant Delaney's orders caused Plaintiff mental anguish (ECF No. 10, p. 12); (20) Defendants Woods, Delaney, and Loe denied Plaintiff medication for his "mental problems" (ECF No. 10, p. 12); (21) Defendants Collier and Murphey destroyed Plaintiff's witness statements and Defendant Delaney threatened to lock one of Plaintiff's down for writing a witness statement for him (ECF No. 10, p. 14); (22) he was charged for "indigent items" given to him (ECF No. 10, p. 14); (23) he is being denied medical care for a hernia (ECF No. 10, p. 14); (24) Defendant Delaney locked Plaintiff down in Pod 5 on December 29, 2011 for telling other inmates she cannot violate their probation, and Defendant Delaney uses Pod 5 to intimidate African American inmates (ECF No. 10, p. 15); (25) he was denied mental health treatment (ECF No. 10, p. 15); (26) Defendant Delaney is violating the CCDC inmate handbook (ECF No. 10, p. 15-16); (27) he was denied due process on June 6 or 7, 2012 during a disciplinary hearing because the hearing was notrecorded, Plaintiff was not given a disciplinary form or appeal form (ECF No. 10, p. 16).
Plaintiff filed a Motion for Summary Judgment on September 30, 2013. ECF No. 37. Defendants responded on October 9, 2013. ECF No. 40. Plaintiff replied on October 16, 2013.
On November 7, 2013, Defendants filed a Motion for Summary Judgment. ECF No. 48. Plaintiff filed a Response on November 19, 2013. ECF No. 55. Plaintiff filed a second Response on April 15, 2014 using a questionnaire prepared by the Court. ECF No. 75.
The Court "shall grant summary judgment if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). "[A] genuine issue of material fact exists if: (1) there is a dispute of fact; (2) the disputed fact is material to the outcome of the case; and (3) the dispute is genuine, that is, a reasonable jury could return a verdict for either party." RSBI Aerospace, Inc. v. Affiliated FM Ins. Co., 49 F.3d 399, 401 (8th Cir. 1995). The moving party has the burden of showing the absence of a genuine issue of material fact and that they are entitled to judgment as a matter of law, but the nonmoving party may not rest upon mere denials or allegations in the pleadings and must set forth specific facts to raise a genuine issue for trial. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 256 (1986); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 324 (1986). The Court must view all evidence and inferences in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party. See McCleary v. ReliaStar Life Ins. Co., 682 F.3d 1116, 1119 (8th Cir. 2012). However, "[w]hen 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).
In Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment he only moves for summary judgment on his mail claims, therefore, Plaintiff only moved for partial summary judgment. Specifically, Plaintiff states he is moving for summary judgment "against the defendants for denying Plaintiff to Receive Letters thou The United Postal Service & Family . . . ." ECF No. 37, p. 1 (errors in original). Plaintiff explains he was wrongly denied the ability to send out mail containing "sexual content." In support of his Motion, Plaintiff cited Turner v. Safley, 482 U.S. 78 (1987) and Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S. 396 (1974) and attached two grievances from the CCDC dated February 20, 2012 and December 30, 2011 and a "First Motion for Admissions." The Motion for Admissions appears to be what Plaintiff submitted to Defendants during discovery but does not contain Defendants' responses.
Defendants responded to Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment arguing Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment should be denied because it was not properly set forth or supported pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56. Specifically, Defendants argue Plaintiff (1) failed to specifically set forth each claim or defense on which summary judgment is sought pursuant to Rule 56; (2) did not properly support the Motion pursuant to Local Rules 7.2(a) and 56.1(a); and (3) failed to file a statement of facts pursuant to Local Rule 56.1(a).
While Plaintiff may have failed to comply with procedural rules in filing his Motion, the same First Amendment claim argued in his Motion is at issue in Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment currently before me. Therefore, I considered the merits of whether there are genuine issues of material fact as to Plaintiff's First Amendment mail claims below in connection withDefendants' Motion for Summary Judgment and incorporate those findings here. Accordingly, as explained in detail below, Plaintiff's First Amendment claim regarding the letter from his wife fails as a matter of law, and Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment should be denied.
Plaintiff's Amended Complaint contains the following categories of official and individual capacity claims: (1) claims related to Plaintiff's mail; (2) First Amendment claims related to Plaintiff's religion; (3) a conditions of confinement...
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