Thomas v. Ashcroft, Docket No. 04-4001-pr.
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
| Writing for the Court | B. Parker, Jr. |
| Citation | 470 F.3d 491 |
| Docket Number | Docket No. 04-4001-pr. |
| Decision Date | 28 November 2006 |
| Parties | Rodney THOMAS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. John ASHCROFT, Kathleen Hawk Sawyer, Asa Hutchinson, Mark Glover, Jane/John Does, Gregory Parks, Ulises Vargas, Scott Seeley-Hacker, John Sieder, John Ryan, Brad Clemmer, Greg Conners, Tom Cielecy, Richard Jones, Steven Woodland, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Metropolitan Correctional Center, and Metropolitan Detention Center, Defendants-Appellees. |
v.
John ASHCROFT, Kathleen Hawk Sawyer, Asa Hutchinson, Mark Glover, Jane/John Does, Gregory Parks, Ulises Vargas, Scott Seeley-Hacker, John Sieder, John Ryan, Brad Clemmer, Greg Conners, Tom Cielecy, Richard Jones, Steven Woodland, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Metropolitan Correctional Center, and Metropolitan Detention Center, Defendants-Appellees.
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Jon Romberg, Kathryn Diehm, Adam Wells, Seton Hall University School of Law, Center for Social Justice; Newark, NJ, for Plaintiff-Appellant Rodney Thomas.
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Richard E. Rosberger, Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York; New York, NY, for Appellees Mark Glover, Gregory Parks, Ulises Vargas, Scott Seeley-Hacker, John Sieder, John Ryan, Brad Clemmer, Greg Conners, Tom Cielecy, Richard Jones, and Steven Woodland.
Before JACOBS, Chief Judge, B.D. PARKER, Circuit Judge, and PRESKA, District Judge.*
B.D. PARKER, JR., Circuit Judge.
Rodney Thomas appeals from a judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Motley, J.) dismissing, pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. Pro. 12(b)(1), (b)(2), and (b)(6), his complaint alleging that certain named and unnamed defendants violated his constitutional rights by depriving him of medical treatment for his pre-existing glaucoma condition. See Bivens v. Six Unknown Agents of the Fed. Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388, 91 S.Ct. 1999, 29 L.Ed.2d 619 (1971). Specifically, Thomas seeks review of the district court's dismissal of his claims against certain DEA agents for lack of personal jurisdiction and dismissal of his claims against certain prison officials for failure to allege their personal involvement in the denial of treatment.1 We conclude that the district court properly dismissed the claims against the DEA agents, but erred in dismissing Thomas's claims against the prison officials.
Except as noted, the facts are taken from the complaint. In September 2001, Thomas was arrested on drug charges by DEA agents in California. Thomas contends that at the time of his arrest, he told the DEA agents that he suffered from glaucoma, which, if untreated, would lead to blindness, and he therefore kept with him at all times eye drop prescriptions that he was required to self-administer daily. Thomas alleges that the DEA agents confiscated and discarded his medications and he was not provided with replacements for several weeks.
Thomas was transferred to the New York Metropolitan Correctional Center ("MCC") in October 2001. He alleges that during the two-week trip from California to New York, his eye medication was rarely provided and improperly administered. At Thomas's initial court appearance in New York, in the presence of defendants Gregory Parks, the MCC Warden, and Dr. Mark Glover, the MCC Clinical Director, Thomas's attorney reported that Thomas was not receiving his glaucoma medication, and the presiding Magistrate Judge issued an order directing that Thomas receive the required medical attention.
Two weeks later, Thomas visited the New York Eye and Ear Clinic ("Eye Clinic"). Doctors at the Eye Clinic allegedly sent notes to the MCC, directing that Thomas's glaucoma medication be administered daily, in compliance with the prescribed regimen. In January 2002, after discovering that Thomas was still not receiving his medication, Dr. Daniel Will of the Eye Clinic wrote to the MCC that Thomas "did not receive meds at facility today" and is "high risk for blindness w/no
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meds."2 (Compl. ¶ 39.) At this point, although his vision had been severely compromised, Thomas claims he could still perceive some items in his visual field.
Despite complaints to his doctors and the MCC's staff, Thomas's eye medication continued to be administered erratically. During a subsequent appointment at the Eye Clinic, Thomas contends that a corrections officer confirmed to a physician that Thomas had not been provided with his medications at MCC, and Thomas's doctors again notified the MCC that his medications must be properly administered.
In May 2002, Thomas was transferred from the MCC to the Metropolitan Detention Center ("MDC") in Brooklyn. Upon arrival, Thomas was placed in the MDC's psychiatric facility for no apparent reason. Thomas further contends that he was not administered his glaucoma medication while at the MDC. Thomas alleges that while at the MDC, he did not receive his glaucoma medication and "was handed by staff for self-administration, empty eye drop bottles." (Compl.¶ 48.) Thomas alleges that his request for medical attention was denied even after he experienced "a popping sensation in his right eye," followed by constant watering and pain of increasing severity. (Compl. ¶ 49.)
After two weeks at MDC, Thomas was returned to MCC. Despite numerous complaints from his attorney and family, a court order, and warnings from medical specialists, Thomas continued to be denied access to his glaucoma medication. While incarcerated, Thomas became permanently blind.
In July 2002, Thomas commenced the present action against a number of governmental officials and employees, including the DEA agents who had arrested him in California and those responsible for his medical care at the MCC and the MDC. Thomas asserted a number of federal and state claims essentially alleging that his blindness was caused by the defendants' deliberate indifference to his medical needs while in federal custody, in violation of his "due process rights under the Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments." (Compl.59-61.)
The defendants moved to dismiss Thomas's complaint for lack of personal and subject matter jurisdiction and for failure to state a claim, or, in the alternative, for summary judgment. The district court dismissed the complaint as to the DEA agents for lack of personal jurisdiction on the grounds that (1) none of the DEA agents were residents of New York, and, (2) even if the court interpreted the complaint as seeking to base jurisdiction on the "transacting business" prong of New York's long arm statute, C.P.L.R. § 302(a)(1), the "claims against these defendants arise from acts alleged to have occurred at the time of [Thomas]'s arrest, which took place in California," not New York.3 The court also dismissed the Bivens
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claims against Gregory Parks (former Warden of the MCC), Mark Glover (former Clinical Director of the MCC), and Ulises Vargas (former Health Services Administrator of the MDC), because Thomas's claims against them were "unsupported by factual allegation of personal involvement in wrongdoing" and were "conclusory."4 This appeal followed.
We review de novo the grant of a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b), accepting as true the factual allegations in...
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Worldcare Ltd. Corp.. v. World Ins. Co., No. 3:10–CV–1499(CSH).
...factual allegations contained in plaintiffs complaint as true and resolve all factual disputes in plaintiff's favor. Thomas v. Ashcroft, 470 F.3d 491, 495 (2d Cir.2006). Specifically, all allegations are to be construed in a light most favorable to the plaintiff and all factual disputes res......
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Arar v. Ashcroft, Docket No. 06-4216-cv.
...jurisdiction [pursuant to Rule 12(b)(2)], a plaintiff must make a prima facie showing that jurisdiction exists." Thomas v. Ashcroft, 470 F.3d 491, 495 (2d Cir.2006). A federal court's jurisdiction over non-resident defendants is governed by the law of the state in which the court sits—inclu......
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Roseboro v. Gillespie, 10 Civ. 3269 (AJP)
...each Government-official defendant, through the official's own individual actions, has violated the Constitution."); Thomas v. Ashcroft, 470 F.3d 491, 496 (2d Cir. 2006) ("[I]n Bivens actions, a plaintiff must allege that the individual defendant was personally involved in the constitutiona......
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Turkmen v. Hasty, Docket Nos. 13–981
...relief for federal prisoners housed in federal facilities bringing claims against individual federal officers. In Thomas v. Ashcroft, 470 F.3d 491, 497 (2d Cir.2006), this Court reversed the district court's dismissal of the prisoner plaintiff's Bivens claim for violation of his due process......
-
Worldcare Ltd. Corp.. v. World Ins. Co., No. 3:10–CV–1499(CSH).
...factual allegations contained in plaintiffs complaint as true and resolve all factual disputes in plaintiff's favor. Thomas v. Ashcroft, 470 F.3d 491, 495 (2d Cir.2006). Specifically, all allegations are to be construed in a light most favorable to the plaintiff and all factual disputes res......
-
Arar v. Ashcroft, Docket No. 06-4216-cv.
...jurisdiction [pursuant to Rule 12(b)(2)], a plaintiff must make a prima facie showing that jurisdiction exists." Thomas v. Ashcroft, 470 F.3d 491, 495 (2d Cir.2006). A federal court's jurisdiction over non-resident defendants is governed by the law of the state in which the court sits—inclu......
-
Roseboro v. Gillespie, 10 Civ. 3269 (AJP)
...each Government-official defendant, through the official's own individual actions, has violated the Constitution."); Thomas v. Ashcroft, 470 F.3d 491, 496 (2d Cir. 2006) ("[I]n Bivens actions, a plaintiff must allege that the individual defendant was personally involved in the constitutiona......
-
Turkmen v. Hasty, Docket Nos. 13–981
...relief for federal prisoners housed in federal facilities bringing claims against individual federal officers. In Thomas v. Ashcroft, 470 F.3d 491, 497 (2d Cir.2006), this Court reversed the district court's dismissal of the prisoner plaintiff's Bivens claim for violation of his due process......