Saylor v. Nebraska

• Decision Date: 29 January 2016
• Docket Number: No. 14–3889.,14–3889.
• Citation: 812 F.3d 637
• Parties: James SAYLOR, Plaintiff–Appellee v. State of NEBRASKA, Defendant Randy Kohl, M.D.; Dennis Bakewell; Robert Houston, Defendants–Appellants Nebraska Department of Correctional Services; Natalie Baker, M.D.; Mohammad Kamal, M.D., Defendants Cameron White, PhD.; Mark Weilage, PhD.; Fred Britten; Kari Perez, PhD., Defendants–Appellants Correct Care Solutions, LLC., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

812 F.3d 637

James SAYLOR, Plaintiff–Appellee

v. State of NEBRASKA, DefendantRandy Kohl, M.D.; Dennis Bakewell; Robert Houston, Defendants–AppellantsNebraska Department of Correctional Services; Natalie Baker, M.D.; Mohammad Kamal, M.D., DefendantsCameron White, PhD.; Mark Weilage, PhD.; Fred Britten; Kari Perez, PhD., Defendants–AppellantsCorrect Care Solutions, LLC., Defendant.

No. 14–3889.

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

Submitted: Nov. 17, 2015.

Filed: Jan. 29, 2016.

As Amended March 4, 2016.

Joshua D. Barber, Terry K. Barber, on the brief, Lincoln, NE, for appellee.

David A. Lopez, AAG, argued, Ryan Post, AAG, on the brief, Lincoln, NE, for appellants.

Before RILEY, Chief Judge, BEAM and KELLY, Circuit Judges.

BEAM, Circuit Judge.

James Saylor sued the State of Nebraska, the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services (NDCS), Dr. Randy Kohl, Dennis Bakewell, Robert Houston, Dr. Natalie Baker, Dr. Mohammad Kamal, Dr. Cameron White, Dr. Mark Weilage, Fred Britten, Dr. Kari Perez, and Correct Care Solutions, LLC, (collectively "Defendants") under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging violations of his rights under the First, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution. Defendants filed a motion to dismiss, and the district court dismissed Saylor's claims against the State of Nebraska and NDCS, as well as claims for monetary relief against individual defendants in their official capacities. The remaining defendants then moved for summary judgment on the basis of qualified immunity. The district court denied the motion. We reverse.

I. BACKGROUND

Saylor is a Nebraska inmate convicted of second-degree murder. Dr. Kohl is the Medical Services Director for NDCS. Other medical defendants include Dr. White, Dr. Weilage, and Dr. Perez.¹ The nonmedical defendants include Houston, Warden Britten, and Warden Bakewell.² In 2002, while a prisoner at the Nebraska State Penitentiary (NSP), Saylor was allegedly attacked, beaten, and raped by other inmates. In 2005 Saylor was diagnosed with Post–Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a result of the 2002 attack, and he began seeing Dr. Glen Christensen, a psychiatrist who contracted with NDCS. Saylor saw Dr. Christensen monthly for treatment. In April 2005, Saylor filed a complaint in state court alleging that the State of Nebraska and NDCS failed to protect him from the assault and failed to properly treat him after the assault. The trial was held in 2009, and in 2010 the state court entered an order in favor of Saylor, finding that the staff was negligent in failing to provide him with reasonably adequate protection from the 2002 assault. The court also found that Saylor received inadequate medical treatment from Dr. Kamal from 2002 to 2005. Saylor was awarded $250,000 in damages.

In April 2010, Saylor had his last meeting with Dr. Christensen because his contract with the prison was ending in May 2010. In addition, Saylor had monthly Mental Status Reviews with Cathy Moss, a Licensed Mental Health Practitioner. She informed Saylor that Dr. Kamal was the only psychiatrist available to work with him at NSP. In May 2010, Saylor stated that he would not work with Dr. Kamal because Dr. Kohl had removed Dr. Kamal as Saylor's psychiatrist five years ago. Thus, Saylor agreed to forgo psychiatric care but wanted to continue taking his medications. A multidisciplinary hearing was held in 2010 to discuss the next step for Saylor because Dr. Christensen's contract ended and Saylor refused to work with Dr. Kamal. Defendants Dr. Weilage, Dr. Perez, and Dr. Kamal participated in the meeting, along with others not named in the lawsuit. The group suggested that Saylor could be transferred to Tecumseh State Correctional Institution (TSCI) because Dr. Baker, a psychiatrist providing care at TSCI, could work with Saylor. It is normal procedure for a correctional facility to transfer inmates who need mental health care beyond the resources available in their facility to a facility where such care is available. Warden Bakewell made the final decision, and Saylor was transferred to TSCI in September 2010. Saylor claims that the transfer was unnecessary, retaliatory, and caused his PTSD to worsen.

Saylor was initially classified as an inmate in Protective Custody³ but was placed in the TSCI hospital upon arrival because he attempted to hang himself before he was transferred. While in the hospital he met with Dr. Baker. Dr. Baker wanted to gradually take Saylor off Seroquel, one of his medicines. He agreed and decided to continue taking Xanax. Throughout his time at TSCI, Saylor saw Dr. Baker every couple of months and was subjected to monthly Mental Status Reviews, but he often refused to participate. After a week in the hospital, Saylor was placed in the Special Management Unit (SMU) for refusing to move to Protective Custody. SMU is the only facility with single cells, and Saylor specifically asked for his own cell because of his PTSD and fear of roommates. In early October 2010, he was moved to Protective Custody, which houses two inmates per cell. In late October 2010, he was placed on immediate segregation again and housed in SMU because he feared for his safety. Thereafter, in the normal course, Saylor's classification was reviewed every four months per policy and procedure, and he was allowed to attend each hearing. As a result of these reviews, TSCI concluded that Saylor could be released into Protective Custody, but he rejected that proposal each time due to his fear of roommates. Therefore, Saylor remained in SMU for the duration of his time at TSCI.

Saylor brought suit against Dr. Kohl and the other named Defendants under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. He claims that Defendants retaliated against him in violation of the First Amendment by transferring him to TSCI and reclassifying him, that the transfer and classification review process violated his due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment, and that Defendants were deliberately indifferent to his PTSD in violation of the Eighth Amendment. Defendants filed a motion to dismiss, and the district court dismissed the State of Nebraska and NDCS from the case, and denied monetary relief against individual defendants in their official capacities. The remaining defendants then moved for summary judgment based on qualified immunity. The district court stated that "[t]he constitutional right at issue arises under the Eighth Amendment," and thus, did not directly discuss Saylor's First or Fourteenth Amendment claims. On the Eighth Amendment claim, however, the court held, "[T]here are genuine issues of material fact on whether the defendants were deliberately indifferent to his serious medical needs so as to violate the Eighth Amendment." Thus, the court held that summary judgment was inappropriate and denied qualified immunity. In this interlocutory appeal Defendants challenge the district court's denial of summary judgment based on qualified immunity.

II. DISCUSSION

"Faced with an interlocutory appeal from the denial of qualified immunity, we accept as true the district court's findings of fact to the extent they are not ‘blatantly contradicted by the record,’ and review the district court's conclusions of law de novo." Walton v. Dawson, 752 F.3d 1109, 1116 (8th Cir.2014) (quoting Scott v. Harris, 550 U.S. 372, 380, 127 S.Ct. 1769, 167 L.Ed.2d 686 (2007) ). Summary judgment is only proper when there is no genuine issue of material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Turney v. Waterbury, 375 F.3d 756, 759 (8th Cir.2004). Generally, summary judgment based on qualified immunity is a legal question. Id. at 760. However, "[i]f the district court fails to make a factual finding on an issue relevant to our purely legal review, we ‘determine what facts the district court, in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, likely assumed.’ " Walton, 752 F.3d at 1116 (quoting Johnson v. Jones, 515 U.S. 304, 319, 115 S.Ct. 2151, 132 L.Ed.2d 238 (1995) ). If this is impossible, summary judgment is improper, and the case must be remanded. Id. at 1117.

"Government officials performing discretionary functions are entitled to qualified immunity unless they violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known." Whisman v. Rinehart, 119 F.3d 1303, 1309 (8th Cir.1997). As in this case, qualified immunity is usually raised in a motion for summary judgment as an affirmative defense to the claims. Id. "To overcome the defense of qualified immunity, a plaintiff must show: (1) the facts, viewed in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, demonstrate the deprivation of a constitutional or statutory right; and (2) the right was clearly established at the time of the deprivation." Howard v. Kan. City Police Dep't, 570 F.3d 984, 988 (8th Cir.2009).

Whether there has been a deprivation of a constitutional right is a fact-intensive analysis. The meaning of "clearly established," however, has been litigated extensively and given a more definite meaning. The Eighth Circuit and the Supreme Court have held that a right is clearly established if "the ‘contours of the right [are] sufficiently clear that a reasonable official would understand that what he is doing violates that right.’ " Buckley v. Rogerson, 133 F.3d 1125, 1128 (8th Cir.1998) (quoting Anderson v. Creighton, 483 U.S. 635, 640, 107 S.Ct. 3034, 97 L.Ed.2d 523 (1987) ). This is so that an "official is not required to guess the direction of future legal decisions." Id. Essentially, the law must be certain enough to give a "fair and clear warning." United States v. Lanier, 520 U.S. 259, 271, 117 S.Ct. 1219, 137 L.Ed.2d 432 (1997). If a plaintiff can show relevant case law in the jurisdiction at the time of the incident that should have put the government employee on notice, qualified immunity is improper. See Ashcroft v. al-Kidd, 563 U.S. 731, 131 S.Ct. 2074, 2086, 179 L.Ed.2d 1149 (2011) (Kennedy, J., concurring).

A. Eighth...