Woods v. Edwards, 94-30433
| Decision Date | 10 May 1995 |
| Docket Number | No. 94-30433,94-30433 |
| Citation | 51 F.3d 577 |
| Parties | Claude E. WOODS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Edwin W. EDWARDS, et al., Defendants-Appellees. Claude E. WOODS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Andrew J. DUNN, Corrections Major and Chairman of Lockdown Review Board, et al., Defendants-Appellees. Summary Calendar. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Claude E. Woods, Angola, LA, pro se.
David Glen Sanders, Louisiana Dept. of Justice, Lit. Div., Baton Rouge, LA, for Edwards, et al.
No attorneys for Dunn, et al.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana.
Before WISDOM, KING and GARWOOD, Circuit Judges.
Claude Woods, incarcerated in the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, brought this Sec. 1983 action alleging that his current status at the prison in "extended lockdown", 1 a form of disciplinary isolation, was motivated by racial animus or was in retaliation for his resorting to the courts for relief. Further, Woods contended that his continued confinement was wrongful, that some conditions of his confinement were unconstitutional, and that his due process rights were violated. The district court concluded that the plaintiff's claims lacked sufficient evidentiary support and granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment. Because we agree with the conclusions of the district court, we AFFIRM.
On July 23, 1991, Woods was placed in "extended lockdown" after a prison disciplinary board concluded that he had written threatening letters to individuals outside the prison and forged the name of another prisoner as the author. According to prison guidelines, the plaintiff's status is reviewed every 90 days and, until now, the board has decided to leave Woods in extended lockdown citing the serious nature of his offenses.
Woods filed this Sec. 1983 action alleging that the prison now refuses to release him from extended lockdown because of his race or, alternatively, in retaliation for his prosecution of this case and several grievances he pursued through internal prison procedures. The plaintiff also alleges that his continued confinement is wrongful, that he has been subjected to unconstitutional conditions during his time in extended lockdown, and that his due process rights 2 have been violated.
Both the plaintiff and the defendants made motions for summary judgment. The magistrate recommended that the defendants' motion be granted and, after dismissing the plaintiff's objections to the magistrate's report, the district court accepted this recommendation. In his report, the magistrate concluded that there is no evidence that the prison authorities' on-going decision to keep the plaintiff in extended lockdown is motivated by the plaintiff's race or is in retaliation for his resorting to relief in the courts and to availing himself of the prison's grievance procedures. Also, the magistrate held that a remedial order is not a basis for Sec. 1983 liability. Further, the magistrate found that the plaintiff's due process rights have not been violated by either his continued confinement or by the action of a biased disciplinary board. Finally, the magistrate dismissed four defendants 3 because the plaintiff had alleged no act by them that was causally connected to any alleged violation of his constitutional rights. The plaintiff contends on appeal that these decisions were erroneous and argues that the judgment in favor of the defendants should be reversed. This Court granted the plaintiff's motion to proceed in forma pauperis on appeal.
The plaintiff alleges that prison officials have maintained his status in extended lockdown while releasing similarly situated white prisoners in violation of his equal protection rights. 4 To prove a cause of action under Sec. 1983, the plaintiff must demonstrate that prison officials acted with a discriminatory purpose. 5 "Discriminatory purpose in an equal protection context implies that the decisionmaker selected a particular course of action at least in part because of, and not simply in spite of, the adverse impact it would have on an identifiable group". 6
The defendants, in moving for summary judgment, presented summaries of Wood's review hearings which indicate that his status in extended lockdown has been maintained because of the seriousness of his actions in writing threatening letters and forging the name of another prisoner. The plaintiff has alleged no specific act of discrimination nor has he offered proof of discriminatory intent on the part of prison officials. Rather, the plaintiff rests his claim on only his personal belief that discrimination played a part in his continued residency in extended lockdown.
We review the district court's grant of summary judgment under the same standard applied by the district court and in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. If the party moving for summary judgment has shown that no genuine issue of material fact remains and that he is entitled to judgment as a matter of law, "the non-movant must go beyond the pleadings and designate the specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial". 7 Woods has failed to respond to the defendant's evidence and indicate a material issue that is unresolved. And, as concluded by the district court, Woods has failed to present evidence of discriminatory intent on the part of prison officials. The district court, therefore, did not err when it granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment.
Woods also alleges that his status in extended lockdown has been maintained in retaliation for pressing this case and for pursuing grievances within the prison. It is settled that prison officials cannot act against a prisoner for availing himself of the courts and attempting to defend his constitutional rights. 8 As with his equal protection claim, however, Woods has offered no evidence, other than a personal belief that he is the victim of retaliation. The defendants, in response, have presented summaries of the review board's conclusions. Their stated reason for maintaining the defendant's status in extended lockdown is the seriousness of his original violation of the rules. The defendant has offered no evidence to oppose the prison's characterization of his treatment as fair and according to the guidelines of the prison. Woods has failed to respond to the defendant's evidence and indicate a material issue that is unresolved. In the light of the record, the district court did not err when it granted the summary judgment motion of the defendants.
"The Constitution 'does not mandate comfortable prisons' ... but neither does it permit inhumane ones, and it is now settled that 'the treatment a prisoner receives in prison and the conditions under which he is confined are subject to scrutiny under the Eighth Amendment' ". 9 The Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment imposes minimum requirements on prison officials in the treatment received by and facilities available to prisoners. 10
A constitutional violation, however, occurs only when two requirements are met. First, there is an objective requirement that the condition "must be so serious as to 'deprive prisoners of the minimal civilized measure of life's necessities,' as when it denies the prisoner some basic human need". 11 Second, under a subjective standard, we must determine whether the prison official responsible was " 'deliberately indifferent' to inmate health or safety". 12 The deliberate indifference standard can be appropriately applied to the plaintiff's allegations regarding the conditions of confinement as well as to his allegations regarding the failure of the prison to provide him adequate medical care. 13
In this case, the plaintiff contends that the conditions of his confinement in extended lockdown at Angola violate the Eighth Amendment. Wood alleges that his cell was inadequately cooled and that the high temperature, while uncomfortable in itself, also contributed to the plaintiff's health problems. Specifically, the plaintiff contends that his sinus condition was aggravated by the cell's high temperature. The defendants, in response, presented evidence that the portion of the jail housing prisoners in extended lockdown is equipped with fans used to circulate the air.
The plaintiff argues that the district court erroneously granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment on this claim. Woods, however, has failed to present medical evidence of any significance nor has he identified a basic human need that the prison has failed to meet. While the temperature in extended lockdown may be uncomfortable, that alone cannot support a finding that the plaintiff was subjected to cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment. Therefore, we affirm the district court's grant of the defendants' motion for summary judgment.
The plaintiff argues that his continued residency in extended lockdown is wrongful and that the prison has no valid reason for maintaining his current status. "Classification of inmates in Louisiana is a duty of the Louisiana Department of Corrections and an inmate has no right to a particular classification under state law". 14 Generally, prison officials are given broad discretion in administering prisons and prisoners are seen to "retain only a narrow range of protected liberty interests". 15
In Hewitt v. Helms, the Supreme Court held that the Due Process Clause alone does not grant inmates a protectable interest in being in the general population of the prison. 16 The Supreme Court, however, further held that a liberty interest may be created by state law which places mandatory limitations on prison officials in determining a prisoner's status. 17 In Louisiana, a manual, "The Disciplinary Rules and Procedures for Adult Inmates" governs the...
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