Shaheed-Muhammad v. Dipaolo
| Decision Date | 26 September 2005 |
| Docket Number | No. 99-11842-NG.,99-11842-NG. |
| Citation | 393 F.Supp.2d 80 |
| Parties | Azuzallah SHAHEED-MUHAMMAD, Plaintiff, v. Paul DIPAOLO, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Massachusetts |
Elizabeth K. Hayes, Department of Correction, Legal Division, Boston, for Officer Leabman Anthony Mendonsa, David Hughes, John H. Marshall, Jr., Omar Rassma, Paul DiPaolo, William Cabino, Defendants.
Joan T. Kennedy, Department of Correction, Boston, for Officer Leabman, Anthony Mendonsa, David Hughes, John H. Marshall, Jr., Omar Rassma, Paul DiPaolo, William Cabino, All Defendants, Defendants.
Richard C. McFarland, Department of Correction, Boston, for Officer Leabman, Anthony Mendonsa, David Hughes, John H. Marshall, Jr., Omar Rassma, Paul DiPaolo, William Cabino, Defendants.
Alana A. Prills, for Azuzallah Shaheed-Muhammad, Petitioner.
Laurence H. Reece, III, Reece & Associates, P.C., Boston, for Azuzallah Shaheed-Muhammad, Petitioner.
Douglas W. Salvesen, Yurko & Salvesen, P.C., Boston, for Azuzallah Shaheed-Muhammad, Petitioner.
Azuzallah Shaheed-Muhammad, Arizona State Prison Comples, Florence, AZ, for Azuzallah Shaheed-Muhammad, Petitioner.
Matthew C. Welnicki, Yurko & Salvesen, PC, Boston, for Azuzallah Shaheed-Muhammad, Petitioner.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER RE: DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
Azuzallah Shaheed-Muhammad brings this action against eight defendants, employees of the Massachusetts Department of Correction ("DOC"). Plaintiff alleges a deprivation of his rights under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and under Massachusetts constitutional and statutory provisions relating to his incarceration at Massachusetts Correctional Institution, Cedar Junction ("MCI-CJ")1 and Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center ("SBCC").2 Pending before the Court is defendants' motion for summary judgment [docket entry # 127].
For the reasons stated below, I hereby GRANT in part and DENY in part the motion for summary judgment.
Plaintiff's claims focus on alleged violations of his right to practice his religion as a member of the Nation of Islam. Specifically, plaintiff alleges that between April 29, 1999, and June 23, 1999, defendants at SBCC failed to provide him with vegetarian meals in accordance with his religious practices; denied him access to The Five Percenter, a newspaper published by followers of the Nation of Islam; and transferred him to Southeastern Correctional Center ("SECC") in retaliation for asserting his religious freedoms. He also alleges that defendants at MCI-CJ confiscated his religious medallion in 1998.
Plaintiff asserts the following claims in his third amended complaint: violations of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against all defendants (Count I); violations of Article 46, § 1 of the Massachusetts Constitution against all defendants (Count II); violations of M.G.L. c. 127, § 88 against all defendants (Count III); and violations of M.G.L. c. 12, § 11H-I against Cabino (Count IV).
Plaintiff asserts that he became a member of the Nation of Islam in August 1994. Adherents to the Nation of Islam share many of the beliefs and practices of traditional Islam, such as the acceptance of the Qur'an, the acceptance of Allah as the only God, the acceptance of Muhammad as Allah's supreme prophet, and the acceptance of the Five Pillars of Islam: declaration of faith, prayer, charity, fasting, and pilgrimage to Mecca. Followers of Elijah Muhammad, however, differ from traditional Muslims in that they believe that Allah came to the United States in 1930 in the person of Wali Fard Muhammad to delegate Elijah Muhammad as his messenger. Plaintiff claims to follow closely the teachings of Elijah Muhammad. In particular, plaintiff states that he adheres to a strict vegetarian diet. Plaintiff alleges that defendants interfered with his ability to practice his Nation of Islam religion in four distinct ways.
Plaintiff states that on April 18, 1998, he was exiting the dining hall at MCI-CJ when Correctional Officer William Cabino confronted plaintiff and told him to hand over a religious medallion he wore around his neck. The medallion was a plastic crescent moon depicting the Sun, Moon, and Star of Islam. Despite plaintiff's attempt to explain its religious significance, plaintiff was told to turn over the medallion or he would be handcuffed and sent to "the hole," or solitary confinement. Pursuant to Cabino's instructions, plaintiff states that he turned over the medallion.
On April 29, 1999, while incarcerated at SBCC, plaintiff sent a letter to Omar Bassma, the Muslim chaplain at the prison, requesting a vegetarian diet consistent with his religious beliefs. At the time, plaintiff was being served a pork-free diet that included other meats. On May 6, 1999, Bassma acknowledged receipt of the letter but stated that he could not approve the request. Instead, Bassma told plaintiff that he would refer the matter to Anthony Mendosa, the Director of Treatment at SBCC. Bassma also told plaintiff that Mendosa was unlikely to accommodate him, as a Buddhist prisoner had recently been denied a special diet request.
Plaintiff pursued the matter by writing three additional letters, each of which reiterated his request. The first was sent on May 6, 1999, to Mendosa. The second was sent on May 24, 1999, to Paul DiPaolo, Superintendent of SBCC. The third was sent on June 17, 1999, to David Hughes, SBCC Director of Food Services. Despite his repeated efforts, SBCC officials had not granted his request by the time of his transfer to SECC on June 24, 1999.
On May 4, 1999, plaintiff placed an order for two newspaper issues published by the Allah Youth Center in Mecca ("AYCIM") in New York City, an organization funded by the Nation of Islam. Upon approval by the SBCC Unit Manager on May 5, 1999, costs were withdrawn from plaintiff's prison account to pay for the publications.
On May 25, 1999, Deborah Leabman, the SBCC mailroom officer, received one of the newspapers requested by plaintiff and determined that it should be reviewed by Inner Perimeter Security ("IPS"). Randy Fisher, the lieutenant in charge of the IPS team at SBCC, informed Leabman that the newspaper was contraband. That same day, plaintiff received a "Notice of Non-Delivery of Mail" form, signed by Deborah Leabman. The notice stated that IPS had determined that the newspaper was contraband and designated it for return to the AYCIM on May 26, 1999.
On May 25, 1999, plaintiff sent a letter to DiPaolo appealing the decision not to deliver the newspaper to him. Plaintiff was never informed of the appeal's outcome, nor did he receive the newspaper. Plaintiff also notes that he never received the second newspaper he ordered.
On June 24, 1999, plaintiff was transferred from SBCC (a level six facility) to SECC (a level four facility). Plaintiff alleges that the transfer was in retaliation for his attempts to exercise his religious rights. After being transferred to SECC, plaintiff was transferred to a state prison in Arizona. Plaintiff's transfer out of state is not part of the instant complaint.
In a previous Memorandum and Order issued on March 19, 2001, this Court granted defendants' motion for judgment on the pleadings as to plaintiff's claims for injunctive relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 because plaintiff's transfer to a correctional facility outside the jurisdiction of Massachusetts rendered his claim for injunctive relief moot [docket entry # 23]. See Shaheed-Muhammad v. Dipaolo, 138 F.Supp.2d 99 (D.Mass.2001). At the same time, defendants' motion to dismiss in its entirety was denied in a Memorandum and Order dated March 20, 2002 [docket entry # 37].
Defendants argue that they are entitled to summary judgment on all of plaintiff's claims. They begin by arguing that plaintiff's religious beliefs are insincere and thus not entitled to protection under the First Amendment; accordingly, they argue that none of his claims should proceed to trial. Next, they address each of plaintiff's claims individually. Defendants argue for summary judgment on plaintiff's claims regarding the alleged confiscation of his religious medallion at MCI-CJ on the grounds that plaintiff failed to exhaust his administrative remedies as to his federal claim, as required by the Prison Litigation Reform Act ("PLRA"); that plaintiff has failed to state a claim under the Massachusetts Civil Rights Act; and that Cabino is entitled to qualified immunity. As to plaintiff's claims regarding the denial of his requests for a vegetarian diet at SBCC, defendants argue that plaintiff failed to exhaust his federal claim; that the denial was reasonably related to legitimate penological concerns under both federal and state law; and that all defendants are entitled to qualified immunity. As to plaintiff's claims regarding the confiscation of The Five Percenter at SBCC, defendants argue that plaintiff failed to exhaust his federal claim under the PLRA; that the confiscation was reasonably related to legitimate penological concerns under federal and state law; that no facts alleged by plaintiff link Bassma, Mendosa, and Hughes to the confiscation; and that all defendants are entitled to qualified immunity. As to plaintiff's claims regarding his transfer from SBCC, defendants assert that plaintiff has not alleged facts sufficient to meet the legal standard for retaliatory transfer. Finally, defendants argue that the PLRA prevents plaintiff from seeking compensatory damages on his federal claims.
Plaintiff contests all of defendants' arguments, save his concession that he failed to exhaust his...
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