Tyler v. Ray
| Decision Date | 26 July 2018 |
| Docket Number | CIVIL ACTION NO. 9:17-1471-MGL-BM |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of South Carolina |
| Parties | Larry James Tyler, Plaintiff, v. Patricia Ray, Toney Chavis, C.O. Hicks and C.O. Benjamin, Defendants. |
This is a civil action filed by the Plaintiff, Larry James Tyler, pro se. Plaintiff, a frequent filer of litigation in this Court,1 is currently detained at the Darlington County Detention Center (DCDC), where he is awaiting civil commitment proceedings pursuant to the South Carolina Sexually Violent Predator Act (SVPA), S.C. Code Ann. §§ 44-48-10 through 44-48-170. See Complaint, ECF No. 1, at 2, 4; see also Tyler v. Byrd, No. 16-0400, 2016 WL 4414834, at * 1 (D.S.C. Jul. 27, 2016), adopted by 2016 WL 4374982 (D.S.C. Aug. 16, 2016).2
Plaintiff has filed this lawsuit alleging that he is a Jehovah's Witness, and that his rights under the First Amendment and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) are being violated because he is not being allowed to engage in certain religious activities at the jail. Plaintiff seeks both prospective injunctive relief and monetary damages. On September 13, 2017, Plaintiff amended his Complaint to add a new Defendant (Hicks) and some additional allegations that the Defendants are restricting his access to reading materials; see Court Docket Nos. 29, 35; and on October 6, 2017 Plaintiff again amended his Complaint to add another new Defendant (Benjamin) and related claims. See Court Docket Nos. 41, 47.3
The Defendants filed a motion for summary judgment pursuant to Rule 56, Fed.R.Civ.P., on May 16, 2018. As the Plaintiff is proceeding pro se, a Roseboro order was entered by the Court on May 17, 2018, advising Plaintiff of the importance of a dispositive motion and of the need for him to file an adequate response. Plaintiff was specifically advised that if he failed to adequately respond, the Defendants' motion may be granted, thereby ending his case. Plaintiff thereafter filed a response in opposition to the Defendants' motion on June 18, 2018, following which the Defendants filed a reply memorandum on June 25, 2018. Plaintiff filed a sur reply on July 9, 2018.
The Defendants' motion is now before the Court for disposition.4
Plaintiff alleges in his verified Complaint5 that he is a civilly committed detainee at the Glenn Campbell (Darlington County) Detention Center. Plaintiff alleges that he is an ordained minister with Jehovah's Witnesses, and that he has informed the Defendant Ray (the Detention Center Director) that he needs to take his bible and religious literature with him when he leaves his cell because "this is the way that I worship and practice my religion to my God of the holy bible". Plaintiff alleges that he witnesses and helps people to learn God's requirements and to live within God's guidelines, and that the only time he is able to worship "freely" is when he is out of his cell, which is two and a half hours a day at recreation time, as this is the only time he is in contact with the other prisoners. Plaintiff alleges that Ray allows a bin to be in the recreation area that is full of bibles and other religious literature, which he [Plaintiff] has been told he can access and read during recreation, so he does not see why it would be any different to allow him to bring his own bible and literature out of his cell with him when he goes to recreation. Plaintiff alleges that the Defendant Chavis is the Sheriff of Darlington County, and that he has sought to come to an "understanding" with Chavis that the way he worships his God is to minister to others as God's representative.
Plaintiff further complains that after February 2017, he did not see his minister again until May 18, 2017. Plaintiff complains that the jail policy is that if you are not on recreation when the minister arrives, you can not go to worship. Therefore, Plaintiff alleges that he has been "deprived of worship service where the volunteers come in" due to this director or sheriff's policy.Plaintiff further alleges that a "Mr. Jones" told him that "the congregation" had never received any mail from the Plaintiff, even though Plaintiff alleges he writes the congregation every month. Finally, Plaintiff alleges that Ray and Chavis show partiality toward the Baptist volunteer over the Jehovah's Witnesses volunteer, because the Baptist minister comes in the door on Sunday and goes to every cell, passing out bibles and literature, including going to other dorms, while the Jehovah's Witnesses volunteers can only go to one dorm, and are not allowed to pass out their literature to each cell but can only do so in the worship service room. See generally, Complaint.
In his amendment adding Benjamin (a correctional officer) as a party Defendant, Plaintiff alleges that since the filing of his Complaint, "Benjamin has been harassing the Plaintiff and threatening to lock him in his cell if he did not take his bible and literature back in his cell". In his amendment adding Hicks (also a correctional officer) as a party Defendant, Plaintiff alleges that Hicks "is a corrections officer that has been threatening and harassing me for months about bring[ing] my bible and literature out of my cell". He further alleges that Hicks "locked [him] down" on September 1, 2017 (apparently for violating this policy). Plaintiff also added claims in this amendment alleging that the Defendant Ray has stopped him from receiving used soft bound books from the prisoner's book clubs, and that since he filed this lawsuit Ray has removed all books from the B Dorm as well as the book bin in the recreation room, although she did not do so in the other dorms. Plaintiff further alleges that Ray has "imposed severe limits on availability of reading material" because he has written to over fifteen book clubs this year, but that Ray refuses to ever let him know when his books have arrived (although Plaintiff also concedes that he received six books (apparently from these book clubs) between January and September 2017). See, Plaintiff's Amendments. Plaintiff seeks monetary damages, as well as declaratory and injunctive relief.
Plaintiff also attached an affidavit to his Complaint in which he attests that he is an ordained minister of the faith of Jehovah's Witnesses, that his religion's "form of worship" largely consists of witnessing to everyone they meet, teaching them what the God of the holy scriptures requires, and to "make the cycles everywhere, even to prisoners". Plaintiff further attests that the only opportunity he has to perform his proselytizing is when he is out of his room on recreation time two and a half hours a day, but that he has been threatened by the CO's (especially Benjamin) with "lock down in [his] cell" if he did not keep his bible and literature in his cell. Plaintiff attests that this is even though the jail allows other bibles and literature to be kept in a book bin in the recreation area. Plaintiff alleges that these policies (of the Director and the Sheriff), by placing a substantial burden on him, violate his religious rights. Plaintiff further alleges that at one point Ray told him that a state statute provides that he cannot bring religious material out of his cell. Plaintiff also attests that Ray and Chavis allow the Baptist volunteers to come in every dorm, and go to each cell and pass out bibles and literature, but that they will not allow Jehovah's Witness volunteers to do the same - that Jehovah's Witnesses can only go to one dorm each visit and are not allowed to go from cell to cell, but only to the worship service room. See generally, Plaintiff's Affidavit.
In support of summary judgment in the case, the Defendant Patricia Ray has submitted an affidavit wherein she attests that she is an employee of the Sheriff of Darlington County, where she serves as Director of the Darlington County Detention Center. Ray attests that Plaintiff has been detained at the Detention Center since October 30, 2015 pending SVP evaluation. Ray attests that at no time during Plaintiff's detainment has he been treated differently from any other inmate, nor has she or any other employee of the Detention Center denied him his ability to practice his religion. Ray attests that general population inmates (such as the Plaintiff) are providedrecreation time each day for the purpose of exercise and also access to the day room for leisure activities. Ray attests that this recreation time is completely voluntary for the inmate, but that for the safety and security of the Detention Center, the officers, and the inmates, no personal property is allowed to be removed from the inmate's cell when they are out of their cell on recreation time. This includes books and religious literature.
Ray attests that this policy was put in place because inmates are allowed recreation time in shifts, with twenty to twenty-five inmates being out of their cells at the same time, while there is often only one officer to oversee the recreation time and maintain order in the unit. Ray attests that the policy that inmates not bring personal property from their cell with them to recreation time allows this officer to be able to adequately observe all inmates and ensure that weapons and contraband are not being brought into the recreation area. Ray attests that because there are limited resources and officers available to supervise inmates during recreation time, they have no viable less restrictive means to maintain the safety and security of the Detention Center, and that this policy is applied without discrimination to all inmates who choose to participate in the daily out of cell recreation time. Even so, inmates (including the Plaintiff) are free to converse with each other during this recreation time, and no inmate (including the Plaintiff) has ever been prevented from "witnessing" to other inmates who choose to listen. Ray attests that all inmates receive an inmate handbook and have...
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