Santiago v. Meinsen
| Decision Date | 25 February 2000 |
| Docket Number | No. 99 Civ. 3958(SAS).,99 Civ. 3958(SAS). |
| Citation | 89 F.Supp.2d 435 |
| Parties | Angel SANTIAGO, Plaintiff, v. Deputy Superintendent MEINSEN, Captain Maly, Lieutenant Glass, Sergeant Whitney, Sergeant B. Rivera, Department of Correctional Services of New York, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York |
Angel Santiago, Orleans Correctional Facility, Albion, NY, pro se.
David Camuzo, Assistant Attorney General, New York City, for Defendants.
Pro se plaintiff Angel Santiago brings suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that defendants Deputy Superintendent William Meinsen, Captain John Maly, Lieutenant Glass, Sergeant James Whitney and Sergeant B. Rivera were deliberately indifferent to his safety needs in violation of the Eighth Amendment.1 Defendants are all employees of the Downstate Correctional Facility ("Downstate") in Fishkill, New York, where plaintiff contends the alleged constitutional violation occurred.
Defendants now move, pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6), to dismiss plaintiff's Complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. Specifically, defendants contend that: (1) plaintiff failed to exhaust his administrative remedies; (2) plaintiff fails to adequately state a claim under the Eighth Amendment; and (3) even assuming plaintiff has adequately set forth an Eighth Amendment claim, plaintiff fails to plead that defendants Meinsen, Whitney and Maly were personally involved in the alleged constitutional violation. For the following reasons, plaintiff's Complaint is dismissed without prejudice with respect to defendant Rivera. The Complaint is dismissed with prejudice with respect to defendants Meinsen, Maly and Whitney.2
The facts set forth below are taken from the Complaint and are presumed true for purposes of this motion.
Plaintiff is an inmate currently incarcerated at the Auburn Correctional Facility in Auburn, New York. The incident in dispute allegedly occurred at Downstate while plaintiff was incarcerated there.
On April 6, 1998, defendant Rivera escorted plaintiff to the "tier hearing room" to provide a urine sample for drug testing. See Complaint § IV. When plaintiff realized he was about to undergo drug testing, he informed Rivera that the test results would be positive for drug use. See id. Rivera told plaintiff that if plaintiff "were in fact positive for drugs," he would be placed in Downstate's Special Housing Unit (the "SHU").3 See id. Plaintiff claims he immediately told Rivera that he "could not be placed [in the SHU] because [he] had known enemies, listed with corrections in that housing unit." Id. Rivera ignored plaintiff's concerns, stating "so what." See id. Plaintiff then asked to speak with Whitney, Meinsen or Glass. See id. Rivera refused plaintiff's request stating that Whitney, Meinsen and Glass "didn't have time" to speak with him. See id.
Following plaintiff's conversation with Rivera, a different Sergeant, whom plaintiff is unable to identify, escorted plaintiff to the SHU. See id. Plaintiff reiterated his concerns regarding the SHU to this unidentified Sergeant. See id. Specifically, plaintiff told the unidentified Sergeant that he "was being put where [he] had known enemies." Id. The Sergeant told plaintiff that he "need not worry", because plaintiff would be locked in his cell for twenty-three hours. See id. Plaintiff claims that approximately four hours after he was placed in the SHU, he was cut "severely" on his left hand. See id. Plaintiff does not identify who cut him, nor does plaintiff provide any details surrounding the cutting incident, such as whether it took place inside his cell or in a common area.
According to plaintiff, the cut required thirty-two stitches. See id. §§ IV, IV-A. Santiago alleges that, as a result of the cut, he has suffered "permanent nerve damage [and] ... extreme pain at times, numbness at other times," and that he no longer has full use of his left arm. See id. §§ IV-A, V.
On April 30, 1998, approximately three weeks after the incident, the Department of Corrections transferred plaintiff from Downstate to Attica Correctional Facility ("Attica"). On February 26, 1999, when plaintiff filed his Complaint, he was housed at the Orleans Correctional Facility ("Orleans"). Although plaintiff acknowledged that Orleans has prisoner grievance procedures in place, he admitted that he did not avail himself of these procedures as the "incident did not occur at [Orleans]." See id. § II. Plaintiff seeks unspecified compensatory damages for his injury. See id. § V.
Dismissal of a complaint pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) is proper "only where it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of the claim that would entitle him to relief." Scotto v. Almenas, 143 F.3d 105, 109-10 (2d Cir.1998) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). "The task of the court in ruling on a Rule 12(b)(6) motion is merely to assess the legal feasibility of the complaint, not to assay the weight of the evidence which might be offered in support thereof." Cooper v. Parsky, 140 F.3d 433, 440 (2d Cir.1998) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). Thus, in deciding such a motion, the court must accept as true all material facts alleged in the complaint and draw all reasonable inferences in the nonmovant's favor. See Thomas v. City of New York, 143 F.3d 31, 37 (2d Cir.1998). Nevertheless, "[a] complaint which consists of conclusory allegations unsupported by factual assertions fails even the liberal standard of Rule 12(b)(6)." De Jesus v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 87 F.3d 65, 70 (2d Cir.1996) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted).
However, pro se complaints are held to "less stringent standards than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers," and are to be construed liberally on a motion to dismiss. Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 520, 92 S.Ct. 594, 30 L.Ed.2d 652 (1972). Thus, a pro se complaint "should not be dismissed for failure to state a claim unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief." Hughes v. Rowe, 449 U.S. 5, 10, 101 S.Ct. 173, 66 L.Ed.2d 163 (1980).
Defendants assert that plaintiff's claims should be dismissed for failure to exhaust administrative remedies. See Defendants' Memorandum of Law in Support of their Motion to Dismiss the Complaint ("Def.Mem.") at 3-6. A prisoner must exhaust all available remedies before bringing an action regarding prison conditions. See Wright v. Dee, 54 F.Supp.2d 199, 204 (S.D.N.Y.1999). The Prison Litigation Reform Act ("PLRA") provides that
no action shall be brought with respect to prison conditions under section 1983 of this title, or any other federal law, by a prisoner confined in any jail, prison or other correctional facility until such administrative remedies as are available are exhausted.
42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a).
New York State has procedures for filing grievances in each of its correctional facilities.4 See N.Y. Correct. Law § 139 (McKinney Supp.1998); 7 New York Codes, Rules and Regulations ("N.Y.C.R.R.") § 701, et seq. In his Complaint, plaintiff concedes that he did not pursue his claim with the appropriate grievance committee. See Complaint §§ IIA, IIB. Plaintiff failed to respond to the motion to dismiss, and he has offered no reasons for his failure to exhaust administrative remedies, except that (i) the incident did not occur at Orleans Correctional Facility, and (ii) because it involved a cutting, plaintiff filed "a notice of intent upon the Attorney General." Id. § IID.
Pursuant to the Inmate Grievance Program ("IGP"), Santiago was required to submit a complaint to the Grievance Clerk within fourteen days of the alleged incident. See 7 N.Y.C.R.R. § 701.7(a)(1). Exceptions to this time limit may be approved by the IGP supervisor based on mitigating circumstances. See id. If there is no informal resolution of the inmate's grievance, a hearing must take place within seven working days after receipt of the grievance. See 7 N.Y.C.R.R. § 701.7(a)(4). A written decision, including reasons for the decision, must be communicated to the grievant within two working days of the hearing. See id. § 701.7(a)(4)(v).
If the inmate is not satisfied with the decision and is then transferred to another facility, he may continue his appeal of the grievance. See 7 N.Y.C.R.R. § 701.3(k)(1). An institutional grievance brought by an inmate who was transferred must be investigated and brought to an Inmate Grievance Review Committee ("IGRC") hearing at complainant's original facility. See id. § 701.3(k)(2). If a majority of the IGRC determines that the grievance is moot because it affects only the specific grievant, rather than a class of inmates, the IGRC will dismiss and close the grievance. See id. § 701(k)(2)(i).
Whether Santiago was required to bring a grievance and exhaust his administrative remedies turns on three issues. The first is whether failure to protect a prisoner from inmate violence is a "prison condition" covered under the PLRA's exhaustion requirement. If so, the second issue is whether a prisoner must exhaust administrative procedures where his claim is for money damages which the IGP cannot provide. The third issue, in a similar vein, is whether exhaustion is required if the grievance procedures would be futile. These issues will be discussed in turn.
The phrase "prison conditions" is nowhere defined in 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a). However, 18 U.S.C. § 3626, also enacted as part of the PLRA to address suits by prisoners for injunctions and other forms of prospective relief states, in pertinent part, that
the term "civil action with respect to prison conditions" means any civil proceeding...
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