Smith v. Michigan, 02-70121.

• Decision Date: 07 February 2003
• Docket Number: No. 02-70121.,02-70121.
• Citation: 256 F.Supp.2d 704
• Parties: Estate of Charles SMITH, (MDOC# : 122755) Plaintiff, v. State of MICHIGAN, et al, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Michigan

Page 704

256 F.Supp.2d 704

Estate of Charles SMITH, (MDOC# : 122755) Plaintiff, v. State of MICHIGAN, et al, Defendants.

No. 02-70121.

United States District Court, E.D. Michigan, Southern Division.

February 7, 2003.

OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING IN PART, AND DENYING IN PART, DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO DISMISS THE FOURTH AND FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT CLAIMS, STATE CONSTITUTIONAL CLAIM, JOINT AND SEVERAL LIABILITY CLAIM, AND FOR QUALIFIED IMMUNITY

ROBERTS, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

The Complaint in this case was brought by the estate of a prisoner who died allegedly as a result of a lack of medical attention from prison guards, despite notice to them of a serious medical condition. Defendants' have filed a Motion to Dismiss the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment Claims, State Constitutional Claim, and any Joint and Several Liability Claim. Defendants also move for dismissal on the ground that they are entitled to qualified immunity. No discovery has been conducted. For the reasons stated below, the Court GRANTS in part and DENIES in part, Defendants' Motion.

II. FACTS

On November 26, 1999, decedent was an inmate at the Mound Correctional Facility in the City of Detroit. Plaintiff alleges that throughout his detainment, decedent notified the officers and supervisors at the facility that he was in need of medical attention, specifically that he needed his medication and follow-up treatment from a recent hospital visit. Compl. ¶ 13. Plaintiff notes further that despite decedent's notice to Defendants of his condition, it is believed he was placed in the "hole" prior to his death. Compl. ¶ 15.

Plaintiff claims that decedent's requests for help were ignored until he was overcome by pneumonia. Id. Plaintiff was transported to a local hospital where he died on November 26, 1999.

III. APPLICABLE LAW

A motion for judgment on the pleadings by a defendant pursuant to Rule 12(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure is equivalent to a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Games Galore of Ohio, Inc. v. Masminster, 154 F.Supp.2d 1292, 1297 (S.D.Ohio 2001). Rule 12(c) provides, "[a]fter the pleadings are closed but within such time as not to delay the trial, any party may move for judgment on the pleadings." Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(c). Like a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, a Rule 12(c) motion tests the legal sufficiency of plaintiff's complaint. Scheid v. Fanny Farmer Candy Shops Inc., 859 F.2d 434, 436 n. 1 (6th Cir.1988). To survive a motion to dismiss under 12(b)(6), the plaintiff must allege facts that if proved would result in the requested relief. Helfrich v. PNC Bank, Kentucky, Inc., 267 F.3d 477, 480 (6th Cir.2001). The court's inquiry is limited to whether the challenged pleadings set forth sufficient allegations to make out the elements of a right to relief. Scheid, 859 F.2d at 436. The complaint "must contain either direct or inferential allegations respecting all the material elements to sustain a recovery under some viable legal theory." Id. at 436. Where the plaintiff offers multiple factual scenarios for a particular claim, only one need be sufficient. Briggs v. Ohio Elections Comm'n, 61 F.3d 487, 494 (6th Cir.1995).

When considering a motion under Rule 12(b)(6), the district court must construe the plaintiffs well-pleaded allegations in the light most favorable to the plaintiff and accept the allegations as true. Ruffin-Steinback v. dePasse, 267 F.3d 457, 461 (6th Cir.2001). "The complaint should not be dismissed unless it appears without doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief." Computer Leasco Inc. v. Volvo White Truck Corp., 820 F.Supp. 326, 332 (E.D.Mich.1993) (citing Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957)). Motions under Rule 12 raising matters outside the pleadings are to be decided under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56. Fed. R. Civ. Proc. 12(c).

IV. ANALYSIS

A. State Constitutional Claim(s)

Plaintiff brings its state constitutional claim(s) against Defendants in their individual capacities.¹ Compl. ¶¶ 1, 2, 20, 24, and 26. The Court notes that Plaintiff's Complaint does not identify what state constitutional provisions were allegedly violated by Defendants. Regardless of the constitutional provision, these claims must be dismissed; no inferred damages remedy exists against individual government employees for violation of a state constitutional right. Jones v. Powell, 462 Mich. 329, 612 N.W.2d 423 (2000). See also Britton v. Mills, 248 Mic.App. 244, 250, 639 N.W.2d 261 (2001). No general statute provides for a damage remedy for violations of the Michigan Constitution. Under certain narrow circumstances such a remedy may be inferred, as the Supreme Court did in Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388, 91 S.Ct. 1999, 29 L.Ed.2d 619 (1971), where it authorized a suit for damages against federal officials whose actions violated an individual's constitutional rights, even though Congress had not expressly authorized such suits. The Court, in Bivens and its progeny, has expressly cautioned, however, that such a remedy will not be available when "special factors counseling hesitation" are present. Id., at 396, 91 S.Ct. 1999. See also Carlson v. Green, 446 U.S. 14, 18, 100 S.Ct. 1468, 64 L.Ed.2d 15 (1980). Before a Bivens remedy may be fashioned, therefore, a court must take into account any "special factors counseling hesitation." See Bush v. Lucas, 462 U.S. 367, 103 S.Ct. 2404, 2411, 76 L.Ed.2d 648 (1983).

In its opinion in Smith v. Dep't of Public Health, 428 Mich. 540, 410 N.W.2d 749 (1987), the Michigan Supreme Court "recognize[d] the propriety of an inferred damage remedy arising directly from violations of the Michigan Constitution in certain cases." However, the court later noted in its Jones decision that the Smith ruling "only recognized a narrow remedy against the state on the basis of the unavailability of any other remedy.²" Jones, 462 Mich. at 336, 612 N.W.2d at 426. The court reasoned that these concerns are inapplicable in actions against an individual defendant where a plaintiff may find relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983³ and common-law tort theories. Id. Hence, with regard to the alleged state constitutional violations by Defendants in their individual capacities, Plaintiff has failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Accordingly, the state constitutional claims are dismissed pursuant to Fed R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6).

B. Fourteenth Amendment Claim

Defendant argues that any substantive due process claim under the Fourteenth Amendment is subsumed by the Eighth Amendment and should be dismissed pursuant to 12(b)(6). The Court agrees.

"Where a particular Amendment `provides an explicit textual source of constitutional protection' against a particular sort of government behavior, `that Amendment, not the more generalized notion of substantive due process, must be the guide for analyzing these claims.'" Albright v. Oliver, 510 U.S. 266, 273, 114 S.Ct. 807, 127 L.Ed.2d 114 (1994) (quoting Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 395, 109 S.Ct. 1865, 104 L.Ed.2d 443 (1989)). While analyzing a prisoner's Fourth Amendment claim in the context of an incident of police brutality, the Supreme Court noted that:

[a]fter [a defendant's] conviction, the Eighth Amendment `serves as the primary source of substantive protection ... in cases ... where the deliberate use of force is challenged as excessive and unjustified.' (Whitley v. Albers, 475 U.S. at 327, 106 S.Ct. 1078). Any protection that "substantive due process" affords convicted prisoners against excessive force is, we have held, at best redundant of that provided by the Eighth Amendment.

Graham, 490 U.S. at 395, 109 S.Ct. 1865. See also Thaddeus-X v. Blatter, 175 F.3d 378, 387-88 (6th Cir.1999) (holding that the First Amendment was the proper analytical framework with which to guide a retaliation claim, not substantive due process standards).

Likewise, in this case, the Eighth Amendment is the proper avenue for relief. The Supreme Court determined that the Eighth Amendment encompasses not only "physically barbarous punishments," but also the infliction of "unnecessary suffering [that] is inconsistent with contemporary standards of decency." Estelle, 429 U.S. at 103, 97 S.Ct. 285. The Court concluded that "deliberate indifference to serious medical needs of prisoners constitutes the `unnecessary and wanton infliction of pain'" required to state a cause of action under the Eighth Amendment. Id. at 104-05, 97 S.Ct. 285. Accordingly, Plaintiffs Fourteenth Amendment claim is properly dismissed under 12(b)(6) as the Eighth Amendment properly addresses Plaintiff's claim.

Plaintiff does not specifically mention the Eighth Amendment in its complaint. Nonetheless, the Court will review the complaint to determine if Plaintiff has sufficiently set forth an Eighth Amendment violation. The Supreme Court has described two general categories of Eighth Amendment claims in the prison setting: those involving "conditions of confinement," e.g., Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 97 S.Ct. 285, 50 L.Ed.2d 251 (1976), and those involving "excessive use of government force," e.g., Hudson v. McMillian, 503 U.S. 1, 112 S.Ct. 995, 117 L.Ed.2d 156 (1992), Whitley v. Albers, 475 U.S. 312, 106 S.Ct. 1078, 89 L.Ed.2d 251 (1986). Here, Plaintiffs allegations that prison officials denied Smith access to medical care fall into the "conditions of confinement" category of Eighth Amendment claims. "To succeed on a conditions of confinement claim, a plaintiff must show: (1) the deprivation alleged is, objectively, `sufficiently serious,' and (2) the prison official had a sufficiently culpable state of mind." Flint ex rel. Flint v. Kentucky Dept. of Corrections, 270 F.3d 340 (6th Cir.2001) (citing Farmer, 511 U.S. at 834, 114 S.Ct. 1970). A sufficiently culpable state of mind is one of ...