GIBSON v. THE GEO GROUP, 1:17-cv-00092

Plaintiff Lionel Gibson, an Indiana prisoner, filed an amended 42 U.S.C. § 1983 complaint arising from events at New Castle Correctional Facility on January 11, 2016.
Gibson alleges an inmate assault that Officer Onyesonwu watched and failed to stop; Gibson says other officers (Gilmer, Becker) thereafter sprayed him in the eye with pepper spray and failed to protect him, allowing another inmate to stab his eye with a shank.
Gibson alleges he warned Unit Manager Angie Price months earlier that his safety was at risk; he also alleges Price served as an impartial-impaired disciplinary hearing officer and Warden Butts and Robert Bugher denied his appeals. The disciplinary conviction was later vacated.
Gibson asserts (1) Eighth Amendment excessive force/failure-to-protect claims against Onyesonwu, Gilmer, Becker, and Price; (2) due process claims against Price, Butts, and Bugher for disciplinary proceedings and segregation; and (3) denial-of-access-to-courts claims against GEO Group, Price, and Lt. Storm for restricted access to legal papers during transfer/segregation.
The court screened the amended complaint under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A and dismissed the due process and access-to-courts claims for failure to state a claim, but allowed the Eighth Amendment excessive force/failure-to-protect claims to proceed against Onyesonwu, Gilmer, Becker, and Price.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Excessive force / failure to protect	Officers watched/failed to stop assault; pepper spray blinded him and allowed stabbing	Defendants did not address in detail at screening; claim must plead plausibly	Survives screening as plausible Eighth Amendment claims against Onyesonwu, Gilmer, Becker, and Price
Due process for disciplinary conviction & segregation	Price biased hearing officer; Butts and Bugher denied appeals; seeks damages for ~140 days in segregation	False conduct reports alone not a constitutional violation; 90-day segregation not an atypical, significant hardship	Dismissed for failure to state a due process claim (no atypical, significant hardship)
Denial of access to courts	Being held without legal papers for ~14 days after assault impeded timely appeal of motion to correct sentence	Gibson’s appeals were filed or attempted before the assault deadline; he failed to show a nonfrivolous claim was frustrated	Dismissed: no causal showing that prison actions prevented a nonfrivolous claim; timeliness issues not excused by confinement
Municipal / entity and other defendants (GEO Group, Butts, Bugher, Lt. Storm)	Liability based on policies/failure to act or appeal denials	Insufficient allegations tying policies/actions to constitutional injury	GEO Group, Butts, Bugher, and Lt. Storm dismissed from action

Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662 (pleading standard: factual content must permit plausible inference of liability)
Sandin v. Conner, 515 U.S. 472 (due process protected liberty requires atypical and significant hardship)
Lagerstrom v. Kingston, 463 F.3d 621 (prisoners have no constitutional right to avoid false disciplinary reports)
Kervin v. Barnes, 787 F.3d 833 (court assesses entirety of confinement to determine atypical hardship)
In re Maxy, 674 F.3d 658 (denial-of-access claim requires showing the prison frustrated a nonfrivolous legal claim)