HENRY DAVID GRINTER, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CHAD KNIGHT, individually and in his official capacity as Sergeant, Kentucky State Penitentiary, et al., Defendants-Appellees.
No. 05-6755
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT
Decided and Filed: June 19, 2008
Before: NORRIS, BATCHELDER, and GIBBONS, Circuit Judges.
RECOMMENDED FOR FULL-TEXT PUBLICATION Pursuant to Sixth Circuit Rule 206. File Name: 08a0213p.06. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky at Paducah. No. 04-00224—Thomas B. Russell, District Judge. Submitted: February 7, 2008.
COUNSEL
OPINION
JULIA SMITH GIBBONS, Circuit Judge. A Kentucky prisoner proceeding pro se appeals the district court‘s order dismissing his civil rights action brought under
I.
Henry David Grinter filed a pro se complaint in which he sought relief pursuant to
In his complaint, Grinter alleges that on January 3, 2003, Knight came to his cell to investigate an incident report that had been filed.1 He alleges that Knight presented the report to him through a food opening in the door of Grinter‘s cell in the segregation unit and that Knight refused
Grinter avers that a short time later, White and another guard dressed in full riot gear approached his cell without a nurse present. White ordered Grinter to remove his clothes, pinned him to the wall while Grinter‘s linens and personal property were removed, and placed him under four-point restraints.2 Grinter remained in the restraints, shackled to his bed, for four hours and sustained cuts and bleeding.
Grinter alleges that the following day, January 4, 2003, he was issued a disciplinary rеport claiming he assaulted defendant Knight. The incident report detailing the January 3 incident, which was attached to the complaint, stated that Grinter wadded up and threw the incident report. The report also stated that Grinter struck Knight‘s left arm and that Knight had a “small red spot” on his wrist. According to the incident report, at a hearing several weeks later the adjustment committee found Grinter guilty. The report states, “Based on facts as stated by Sgt. Knight and [the] medical report from Nurse Roystor . . . Grinter did strike Sgt. Knight[,] causing a red spot on his left wrist.” The adjustment committee assessed a non-restorable penalty of sixty days forfeiture of good time credits.
Grinter alleges that he was never provided a copy of any medical records, the testimony Nurse Roystor gave cannot be true because she did not witness the incident, and J. Belt‘s written statement regarding the incident is troubling. Plaintiff appealed to the warden and the state department of corrections but was unsuccessful.
The district court dismissed the claims against Rees, Haeberlin, Hern, Jones, Henderson, Thomas, and Dunlap and the due process claims against Knight and White for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted pursuant to
The district court dismissed Grinter‘s
II.
We review a district court‘s decision to dismiss under
III.
Section 1983 provides a private right of action for those persons subject to a deprivation of the “rights, privileges or immunities” guaranteed under the Constitution when that deprivation is effected by a person operating “under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage” of a governmental entity.
A. Due Process
We first turn to Grinter‘s due process claims. The district court dismissed Grinter‘s substantive due process claims for failure to state a claim. On appeal, Grinter appears to assert that the district court erred. Grinter argues that “the defendants did separately and jointly violate[ ] the substantive due process rights of the plaintiff.”
i. Official Capacity
Grinter names the defendants to the
“[A] suit against a state official in his or her official capacity is not a suit against the official but rather is a suit against the official‘s office.” Will v. Mich. Dep‘t of State Police, 491 U.S. 58, 71 (1989). The Eleventh Amendment bars suits brought in federal court against a state and its agencies unless the state has waived its sovereign immunity or consented to be sued in federal court. Id. at 66. See also Abick v. Michigan, 803 F.2d 874, 876-77 (6th Cir. 1986). All of the defendants are state employees аnd Kentucky has not waived its sovereign immunity. To the extent they are sued in their official capacities, the
ii. Individual Capacity
Grinter alleges his substantive due process rights were violated when he was placed under four-point restraints for four hours, when prison adjustment procedures were not followed at his disciplinary hearing, and when the adjustment committee did not comply with the Kentucky statute authorizing good-time credits. The district court dismissed each of these claims for failure to state a сlaim.
The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment provides that a person may not be deprived of “life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”
Prisoners have narrower liberty interеsts than other citizens as “lawful incarceration brings about the necessary withdrawal or limitation of many privileges and rights, a retraction justified by the considerations underlying our penal system.” Sandin v. Conner, 515 U.S. 472, 485 (1995) (internal quotations and citation omitted). We “reach the question of what process is due only if the inmates establish a constitutionally protected liberty interest.” Wilkinson v. Austin, 545 U.S. 209, 221 (2005). A liberty interest may arise from the Due Process Clause or a state regulation. Sandin, 515 U.S. at 487.
iii. Four-Point Restraints
Grinter alleges a substantive due process violаtion against White because he was in four-point restraints for four hours and White did not wait for a nurse to arrive before placing Grinter in the restraints.
“The Due Process Clause standing alone confers no liberty interest in freedom from state action taken within the sentence imposed.” Sandin, 515 U.S. at 480 (quotation marks and citation omitted). “Discipline by prison officials in response to a wide range of misconduct falls within the expected perimeters of the sentence imposed by a сourt of law.” Id. at 485. “[T]he Constitution itself does not give rise to a liberty interest in avoiding transfer to more adverse conditions of confinement.” Wilkinson, 545 U.S. at 221.
In Sandin, the Supreme Court held that a prisoner‘s thirty-day confinement in disciplinary segregation was “within the range of confinement normally expected for one serving an indeterminate term of 30 years to life,” Sandin, 515 U.S. at 487, and did not “present a dramatic departure from the basic conditions of [the inmate‘s] sentence,” id. at 485. In contrast, in Wilkinson, the Supreme Court held that prisoners “have a liberty interest in avoiding assignment to [super-maximum security prison].” Wilkinson, 545 U.S. at 224. We have held that a prisoner‘s designation as a member of a security threat group did not give rise to a liberty interest. Harbin-Bey v. Rutter, 420 F.3d 571, 577 (6th Cir. 2005). We also held that we would not “find [ ] a liberty interest on the face of” a substance abuse regulation that banned most visitation for prisoners found guilty of two or more substance abuse violations. Bazzetta v. McGinnis, 430 F.3d 795, 802-03 (6th Cir. 2005).3
The use of the four-point restraints and conditions in which they were administered – the four-hour duration of
The use of the restraints and the absence of a nurse pose a lesser hardship than the thirty-day assignment to solitary confinement in Sandin that the Court held did not infringe a liberty interest and are significantly less burdensome than the assignment to super-maximum security prison which was found not to infringe any liberty interest in Wilkinson. This situatiоn is more analogous to banning visitors or designating prisoners as a threat, as in Bazzetta and Harbin-Bey, where we found there was no liberty interest. Thus, the Due Process Clause does not give rise to a liberty interest in freedom from four-point restraints or in having a nurse arrive before placing an inmate in the restraints.
A state may create a liberty interest through a law or regulation establishing freedom from restraint which “imposes atypical and significant hardship on the inmate in relation to the ordinary incidents of prison life.” Sandin, 515 U.S. at 484. Grinter has pointed to no Kentucky law or regulation that creates an interest in freedom from four-point restraints or in having a nurse present when such restraints are applied to a prisoner. Therefore, White did not violate the Due Process Clause by placing Grinter in four-point restraints for four hours or in attaching the restraints without a nurse present.
iv. Adjustment Procedures in the Disciplinary Hearing
Grinter alleges a substantive due process violation against Henderson, Jones, and Hern because they violаted policy by failing to provide Grinter with a copy of a medical report, failed to question Dunlap and Thomas, failed to make J. Belt available for questioning, and found guilt without sufficient evidence.4 The district court dismissed each of these claims.
The allegations of failing to provide a copy of a medical report, failing to question Dunlap and Thomas, and failing to make J. Belt available for questioning appear to allege that defendants failed to follow established procedures. Failing to follow proper procedures is insufficient to establish an infringement of a liberty interest. Olim v. Wakinekona, 461 U.S. 238, 250 (1983) (“Process is not an end in itself. Its constitutional purpose is to protect a substantive interest to which the individual has a legitimate claim of entitlement.“). Thus, the substantive due process violation
Thus, even if Grinter had asserted a procedural due process claim against these defendants, it also would have failed. See Sweeton v. Brown, 27 F.3d 1162, 1165 (6th Cir. 1994) (holding that due process does not require that parole authorities follow established procedure). These alleged procedural violations by Henderson, Jones, and Hern did not violate the Due Process Clause.
v. Compliance With the Statute Authorizing Good-Time Credits
Grinter alleges a substantive due process violation because Henderson, Jones, and Hern violated the Kentucky good-time credit statute,
As “the Due Process Clause itself does not create a liberty interest in credit for good behavior,” Sandin, 515 U.S. at 477, the question is whether the Kentucky statute creates such an interest. A Kentucky inmate “possesses no inherent constitutional right . . . to accumulate good time credits.” Hopewell v. Berry, No. 89-5332, 889 F.2d 1087 (table), 1989 WL 137177, at *1 (6th Cir. Nov. 15, 1989) (citing Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539, 557 (1974)). Furthermore, “[p]rison officials clearly have discretion undеr state law to deny a prisoner future good time.” Id. (citing
vi. Supervisory or Administrative Liability
The district court dismissed the claims against Haeberlin, Rees, Dunlap, and Thomas for multiple reasons including that Grinter cannot maintain a claim against these defendants in their supervisory capacities.
In his complaint, Grinter alleges that Warden Haeberlin and Commissioner Rees violated his due process rights by acting in a supervisory capacity and allowing their employees to violate Grinter‘s rights and for affirming the finding of guilt. “Because
In conclusion, for the reasons explained above, we affirm the dismissal of Grinter‘s due process claims against all defendants named in these claims.
B. Equal Protection Under § 1981
Grinter asserts an equal protection claim against Knight in his official and individual capacities under
Section 1981 provides that “[a]ll persons within the jurisdiction of the United States shall have the same right in every State and Territory to make and enforce contracts.”
Section 1981 is unavailable to Grinter as a vehicle to pursue a damages claim against Knight in his official capacity. “[T]he express ‘action at law’ provided by
Because Jett remains in force, consequently,
Furthermore, Grinter fails to state a claim against Knight in his individual capacity.7 Grinter alleges Knight subjected him to cruel and unusual punishment because оf his race. Grinter, who is pro se, is held to a less stringent pleading standard than a party with an attorney. Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 520 (1972). Despite this, “more than bare assertions of legal conclusions is ordinarily required to satisfy federal notice pleading requirements.” Scheid v. Fanny Farmer Candy Shops, Inc., 859 F.2d 434, 436 (6th Cir. 1988). See also Kamppi v. Ghee, 208 F.3d 213 (table), 2000 WL 303018, at *1 (6th Cir. May 14, 2000) (“Thus, the less stringent standard for pro se plaintiffs does not compel the courts to conjure up unpleaded facts to support conclusory allegations.“) As Grinter pleads a legal conclusion without surrounding facts to support the conclusion stated in this claim, he fails to state a claim. We affirm the dismissal of the
C. Failure to Exhaust Administrative Remedies
The district court dismissed Grinter‘s Eighth Amendment excessive force and equal protection race discrimination claims for failure to exhaust administrative remedies. On appeal, Grinter argues that he had exhausted his administrative remedies as to all claims at the time he filed the complaint.
Prisoners must exhaust their administrative remedies before challenging prison conditions.
Grinter alleges that defendant White used excessive force in applying the four-point restraints in violation of the Eighth Amendment. He also alleges that defendant Knight discriminated against him because of his race in violation of his equal protection rights. The district court summarily dismissed both of thеse claims because of Grinter‘s failure to plead or demonstrate that he had exhausted his administrative remedies. While the district court followed our precedent at the time it ruled in dismissing these claims at the screening stage on exhaustion grounds, Jones overruled these cases and changed the law. Under Jones, because exhaustion is an affirmative defense, a claim may not be dismissed at the screening stage for failure to plead or attach exhibits with proof of exhaustion. We reverse the dismissal of these claims for failure to exhaust administrative remedies and remand the case for further proceedings in light of Jones. See, e.g., Dotson v. Corr. Med. Servs., 2007 WL 3230909, at *2 (6th Cir. Nov. 1, 2007) (remanding case to the district court with instructions to evaluate claims prematurely dismissed under Jones and listing cases remanding pursuant to Jones).
IV.
For the foregoing reasons, we affirm in part and reverse in part the judgment of the district court.
