Beckett v. Pennsylvania Department of Corrections

597 F. App'x 665
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedJanuary 7, 2015
Docket14-3656
StatusUnpublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 597 F. App'x 665 (Beckett v. Pennsylvania Department of Corrections) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Beckett v. Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, 597 F. App'x 665 (3d Cir. 2015).

Opinion

OPINION *

PER CURIAM.

Harry L. Beckett, a Pennsylvania inmate proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis, appeals from the District Court’s order granting summary judgment to the defendants. For the reasons set forth below, we will summarily affirm.

I.

Beckett claims that the defendants violated various state and federal laws and his constitutional rights by failing to properly treat his chronic medical condition. Beckett’s allegations focus primarily on the defendants wrongfully denying him medical showers — i.e., longer hot showers — and the use of a cane. The District Court discussed Beckett’s pertinent medical records, which go back as far as 1996, in detail, and we need not repeat that exposition here. In sum, although for most of this period medical staff authorized Beckett’s medical showers, these orders were occasionally rescinded or altered, often within short periods of time. Indeed, on at least one occasion an order for medical showers was issued and rescinded in the same day. Beckett’s authorization to use a cane also varied over time.

After accepting Beckett’s amended complaint, the District' Court granted his motion for appointment of counsel, and two pro bono attorneys agreed to represent him. The District Court then granted the defendants’ motions to dismiss in part, removing several claims and parties from the action. After extensive discovery, the defendants moved for summary judgment, arguing that Beckett’s remaining claims were barred by the statute of limitations, failed on the merits, and failed because Beckett did not exhaust his administrative remedies.

The District Court granted summary judgment on some claims based on the statute of limitations and on the remaining claims based on the merits. Beckett timely filed a notice of appeal. His pro bono counsel then withdrew from the case because they found no successful basis for an appeal.

II.

We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and our review of the District Court’s dismissal and' summary judgment orders is plenary. See State Auto Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co. v. Pro Design, P.C., 566 F.3d 86, 89 (3d Cir.2009) (summary judgment); Allah v. Seiverling, 229 F.3d *667 220, 223 (3d Cir.2000) (motion to dismiss). “To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’ ” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)). Summary judgment is appropriate if, viewing the facts in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a). We will summarily affirm the District Court because this appeal does not present a substantial question. See 3d Cir. LAR 27.4; 3d Cir. I.O.P. 10.6.

At the motion to dismiss stage, the District Court properly disposed of several of Beckett’s claims. First, the District Court correctly held that the Eleventh Amendment barred Beckett’s claims for money damages against Department of Corrections’ defendants in their official capacities, as well as Beckett’s claim for injunctive relief against the Department of Corrections. See Will v. Mich. Dep’t of State Police, 491 U.S. 58, 71, 109 S.Ct. 2304, 105 L.Ed.2d 45 (1989). The District Court then relied on sovereign immunity to dismiss Beckett’s pendent state law claims against the Department of Corrections. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has not waived sovereign immunity for such claims; accordingly, dismissal was proper. See 42 Pa. Cons.Stat. § 8522; McCool v. Dep’t of Corr., 984 A.2d 565, 570 (Pa.Commw.Ct.2009).

Turning to the medical defendants, the District Court dismissed Prison Health Services, Inc., from the case because Beckett failed to allege that it was personally involved in any of his claims. This rule is well-established. See Rode v. Dellarciprete, 845 F.2d 1195, 1207 (3d Cir.1988) (collecting cases). Finally, the District Court dismissed Beckett’s claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act because his alleged treatment did not fall within the statute’s prohibitions. See 42 U.S.C. § 12132; Bryant v. Madigan, 84 F.3d 246, 249 (7th Cir.1996) (holding that the ADA “would not be violated by a prison’s simply failing to attend to the medical needs of its disabled prisoners.”). We perceive no error with the District Court’s dismissals and Beckett raises none.

After extensive discovery, the District Court granted summary judgment to the defendants on some of Beckett’s claims because he filed his lawsuit too late. We agree. For § 1983 actions based on conduct in Pennsylvania, the statute of limitations is two years from the date the claim accrued. See 42 Pa. Cons.Stat. § 5524(2); Kach v. Hose, 589 F.3d 626, 634 (3d Cir.2009). A claim accrues “when the plaintiff knew or should have known of the injury upon which [his] action is based.” Kach, 589 F.3d at 634 (internal quotation marks omitted). Beckett brought this action in January 2010. As such, the District Court ruled that any claim that arose before January 2008 was time barred, rejecting Beckett’s argument that all of his claims were timely under the continuing violations doctrine.

The continuing violations doctrine is an equitable exception to the limitations period, which provides that, “when a defendant’s conduct is part of a continuing practice, an action is timely so long as the last act evidencing the continuing practice falls within the limitations period.” Cowell v. Palmer Twp., 263 F.3d 286, 292 (3d Cir.2001) (quoting Brenner v. Local 514, United Bhd. of Carpenters & Joiners of Am., 927 F.2d 1283, 1295 (3d Cir.1991)).

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597 F. App'x 665, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/beckett-v-pennsylvania-department-of-corrections-ca3-2015.