Staples v. Virginia Dept. of Corrections

• Decision Date: 19 July 1995
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 3:94CV469.
• Citation: 904 F. Supp. 487
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Virginia
• Parties: William A. STAPLES, Plaintiff, v. VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, et al., Defendants.

904 F. Supp. 487

William A. STAPLES, Plaintiff, v. VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, et al., Defendants.

Civ. A. No. 3:94CV469.

United States District Court, E.D. Virginia, Richmond Division.

July 19, 1995.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

William A. Staples, Jarratt, VA, pro se.

Jill Theresa Bowers, Office of the Attorney General, Commonwealth of Virginia, Richmond, VA, for Virginia Department of Corrections.

Jeff Wayne Rosen, David Ian Tenzer, Adler, Rosen & Peters, P.C., Virginia Beach, VA, for Correctional Medical Services.

MEMORANDUM

LOWE, United States Magistrate Judge.

Plaintiff, William A. Staples, a Virginia state prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis, brings this § 1983/ADA/VDA action alleging defendants are not properly addressing his medical needs. The defendants have filed motions for summary judgment. Although given an opportunity, plaintiff has not responded. Jurisdiction is appropriate pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1343(a)(3) and 636(c).

Plaintiff alleges:

1. Due to the fact that he is quadriplegic and thus handicapped, defendant has isolated him in the infirmary at Greensville Correctional Center.

2. The showers lack call-bells or similar methods of summoning help in the event of a fall.

3. There is not a proper shower-chair that he can use to take a shower.

4. He is unable to get into the whirlpool, which would be therapeutic, due to the fact that it lacks handicap access.

5. The bathrooms are not handicap accessible.

6. His vital signs are not checked regularly.

7. On October 19, 1993, he fell and injured himself and was not treated until eight hours later.

8. The physical therapy he receives is grossly inadequate.

9. The nurses do not check on him during the night which is essential, because he cannot summon help.

10. He is left in inhumane conditions at night for prolonged periods; i.e. when he seeks assistance in cleaning himself following a bowel movement. When he seeks assistance, it takes up to a half hour for a response.

First, defendant, Virginia Department of Corrections (VDOC), has raised the defense of qualified immunity. The Fourth Circuit, in Torcasio v. Murray, 57 F.3d 1340 (4th Cir.1995), held that "Congress must speak unequivocally before the court will conclude that it has `clearly' subjected state prisons to its enactments." Id. at 1346. Congress did not clearly state that state prisons would be subject to the ADA, and thus, defendants in Torcasio were entitled to qualified immunity "`as long as their actions could reasonably have been thought consistent with the rights they were alleged to have violated.'" Id. at 1343-48 (citation omitted).

Likewise, in the case at bar, defendant, VDOC, is entitled to qualified immunity. At no time prior to or subsequent to filing of this suit has the Supreme Court, Congress, or the Fourth Circuit held that the ADA applies to state prison facilities.¹ Thus, defendant, VDOC's, alleged failure to comply with the ADA is reasonable and consistent with the legal duties and rights imposed upon it in regards to plaintiff's care.

Defendant, Correctional Management Systems (CMS), has not raised the defense of qualified immunity, but, nevertheless cannot be sued by plaintiff under the ADA. As stated, infra, the Fourth Circuit has all but held that the ADA, per se, does not apply in the state prison context. This court is persuaded by the reasoning and dicta of the Fourth Circuit which states absent clear intent on the part of Congress, its enactments do not apply to integral state functions. Id. at 1344. Plaintiff has not pointed to, and the Fourth Circuit was unable to locate, any portion of the ADA which expressly made it applicable in the state prison context.

Coupling the lack of congressional intent to make the ADA applicable in the state prison context with the great interference and impact this federal court would have on integral state functions if this Court were to hold any other way, this Court finds the ADA inapplicable in the state prison context. Accordingly, defendants' motions for summary judgment on claims 1-10, to the extent the claims were brought under the ADA, will be DISMISSED.

As to plaintiff's claims 1-10 brought pursuant to § 1983, in order to be amenable to suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the named defendants must be persons within the meaning of the statute. Neither "states nor governmental entities that are considered arms of the State for 11th amendment purposes are persons under Section 1983." Will v. Michigan Dept. of State Police, 491 U.S. 58, 70, 109 S.Ct. 2304, 2312, 105 L.Ed.2d 45 (1989). Accordingly, VDOC is not a person amenable to suit under § 1983. Plaintiff was given an opportunity to particularize and name the specific VDOC employees who allegedly violated his constitutional rights. Plaintiff failed to name any VDOC employee specifically. Thus, defendant VDOC's motion for summary judgment on claims 1-10 brought pursuant to § 1983 will be GRANTED.

CMS, however, is amenable to suit under § 1983. Corporations are considered "persons" for purposes of § 1983. Croy v. Skinner, 410 F.Supp. 117 (N.D.Ga.1976). Since a corporation is amenable to suit under § 1983 and since CMS stands in place of individual physicians, it may be liable under § 1983. Conner v. Donnelly, 42 F.3d 220 (4th Cir.1994).

Plaintiff's claims fall into two categories: (1) denial of adequate living conditions (claims 1-5); and (2) denial of adequate medical care (claims 6-10). To prevail on claims 1-5 under the Eighth Amendment, a plaintiff must allege and establish that he was subjected to an unnecessary and wanton infliction of pain. Wilson v. Seiter, 501 U.S. 294, 298, 111 S.Ct. 2321, 2323-24, 115 L.Ed.2d 271 (1991), "contrary to contemporary standards of decency." Helling v. McKinney, ___ U.S. ___, ___, 113 S.Ct. 2475, 2480, 125 L.Ed.2d 22 (1993). The pain inflicted must amount to more than mere discomfort, because discomfort is "part of the penalty that criminal offenders pay for their offenses against society." Rhodes v. Chapman, 452 U.S. 337, 347, 101 S.Ct. 2392, 2399, 69 L.Ed.2d 59 (1981).

The Eighth Amendment imposes a duty on prison officials to provide inmates with humane conditions of confinement. Farmer v. Brennan, ___ U.S. ___, ___, 114 S.Ct. 1970, 1976, 128 L.Ed.2d 811 (1994). There can be situations in which conditions of confinement, when coupled with others, may establish an Eighth Amendment violation, even though each standing alone would be insufficient. Wilson, 501 U.S. at 304, 111 S.Ct. at 2327. However, the deprivation visited upon the prisoner must be so great so as to deprive him of the "minimal civilized measure of life's necessities" before the Eighth Amendment is implicated. Id. There is a two-part test to determine if the deprivation complained of states a constitutional violation.

First there is an objective component that requires the court to determine if the alleged deprivation is sufficiently serious. Farmer, ___ U.S. at ___, 114 S.Ct. at 1976. This factor "requires a court to assess whether society considers the risk of which the prisoner complains to be so grave that it violates contemporary standards of decency to expose anyone unwillingly to such a risk." Helling, ___ U.S. at ___, 113 S.Ct. at 2482. Secondly, there is a subjective factor that examines the state of mind of the prison official. Because the Eighth Amendment is offended only if there is an unnecessary and wanton infliction of pain, there must be a determination of whether the prison officials had a sufficiently culpable state of mind. Farmer, ___ U.S. at ___, 114 S.Ct. at 1977. "In prison-conditions cases that state of mind is one of `deliberate indifference' to inmate health or safety." Id.²

Because the Supreme Court of the United States recognized in Sandin v. Conner, ___ U.S. ___, 115 S.Ct. 2293, 132 L.Ed.2d 418 (1995), that segregated living conditions are within the range of confinement expected to result from conviction and imprisonment, plaintiff's claim 1 fails to satisfy the objective component of the test. Id. Plaintiff was placed in the infirmary with other inmates who needed special full time care. He was placed there to alleviate the possibility of harm which might result from his immobility or handicap. The risk of harm of being placed in the infirmary does not offend contemporary standards of decency: the risk, in fact, is non-existent. Therefore, plaintiff's claim 1 will be dismissed.

In claims 2-5, plaintiff asserts that defendant has not provided him with accommodations to enable plaintiff easier access to the shower, bathroom, and whirlpool. Plaintiff alleges that the lack of accommodations could result in harm in the future.

First, plaintiff has not provided the Court with any authority, nor has the court located any support for plaintiff's claim that he has a constitutional right to have defendants accommodate him to the extent he seeks to be accommodated. Second, plaintiff's allegations are made in the form of an unsworn complaint, and plaintiff made no attempt to counter the sworn affidavits of defendant.

Defendant indicates that (1) the shower stalls located in plaintiff's area all have call-bells; (2) there are call-buttons next to plaintiff's bed; (3) plaintiff has a wheelchair other than his personal one for showering; (4) whirlpool exposure is contraindicated for someone with plaintiff's medical condition; and (5) the bathrooms are sufficiently accessible by wheelchair. Weighing defendant's sworn affidavits against plaintiff's unsworn complaint, the court finds no merit in plaintiff's claims 1-5.

Finally, even assuming plaintiff's allegations as to claims 1-5 are accurate, he has failed to show any serious harm as a result of the alleged violations by defendant. The most plaintiff has shown is that some future harm might occur. That, alone, is insufficient to state a claim. See Strickler v. Waters, 989 F.2d 1375, 1381 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 114 S.Ct. 393, 126 L.Ed.2d 341 (199...