Boyd v. Arnone

48 F. Supp. 3d 210, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 138200, 2014 WL 4851885
CourtDistrict Court, D. Connecticut
DecidedSeptember 30, 2014
DocketCivil No. 3:11cv824(AWT)
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 48 F. Supp. 3d 210 (Boyd v. Arnone) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Connecticut primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Boyd v. Arnone, 48 F. Supp. 3d 210, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 138200, 2014 WL 4851885 (D. Conn. 2014).

Opinion

RULING ON DEFENDANTS’ SECOND MOTION TO DISMISS

ALVIN W. THOMPSON, District Judge.

The pro se plaintiff, Ray Victor Boyd, a/k/a I-Noble Ra’Sun Allah, who is currently incarcerated at Osborn Correctional Institution, filed this action asserting claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, 42 U.S.C. § 2000ce et seq. (“RLUIPA”), and various provisions of the Connecticut General Statutes and the Connecticut Constitution. The Amended Complaint named thirty-nine defendants.1

[213]*213On September 26, 2013, the court dismissed the Fifth, Seventh and Eighth Amendment claims, the § 1985 and § 1988 claims, the claims pursuant to Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 52-1, 52-29, 52-471 and 51-345, the claims under Article First, §§ 9 and 10 of the Connecticut Constitution, and all other claims against defendants Roy, Mal-loy, Barone, Garnett, Sharr, Rodriguez, Si-cilia, Strange, Lantz, Brian Murphy, Anker, the City of Newtown, and the City of Suffield pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(l). (See Doc. No. 15.) The court concluded that the First and Fourteenth Amendment claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the deprivation of religion claims under RLUIPA, and the state law claims under Conn. Gen.Stat. § 52-571b and Article First, §§ 3, 14, 20 of the Connecticut Constitution should proceed against defendants Arnone, Bruno, Peter Murphy, Ri-naldi, Frey, DeGennaro, Strom, LaJoie, Dzurenda, Corl, Weir, Beaudry, Pitts, Manley, Allen, Paine, Kelly, Walker, Mar-cial, Boland, Aldi, Perez, Hynes, Cala-brese, Farrell, and the John/Jane Does in their individual and official capacities.

The remaining defendants have moved to dismiss the § 1983 claims for monetary relief against them in their individual capacities pursuant to Rule 12(b)6 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. For the reasons set forth below, the motion is being granted in part and denied in part.

I. Legal Standard

When deciding a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted under Rule 12(b)6, the court accepts as true all factual allegations in the complaint and draws inferences from these allegations in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. See Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974); Flores v. Southern Peru Copper Corp., 343 F.3d 140, 143 (2d Cir.2003). The court’s review is limited to “the facts alleged in the pleadings, documents attached as exhibits or incorporated by reference in the pleadings and matters of which judicial notice may be taken.” Samuels v. Air Transport Local 504, 992 F.2d 12, 15 (2d Cir.1993). The court considers not whether the plaintiff ultimately will prevail, but whether he has asserted sufficient facts to entitle him to offer evidence to support his claim. See York v. Ass’n of Bar of City of New York, 286 F.3d 122, 125 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 537 U.S. 1089, 123 S.Ct. 702, 154 L.Ed.2d 633 (2002).

In reviewing the complaint in response to a motion to dismiss, the court applies a “plausibility standard,” which is guided by two working principles. See Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009). "First, the requirement that the court accept as true the allegations in the complaint “ ‘is inapplicable to legal conclusions,’ and ‘[tjhreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere eonclusory statements, do not suffice.’ ” Harris v. Mills, 572 F.3d 66, 72 (2d Cir.2009) (quoting Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937). Second, to survive a motion to dismiss, the complaint must state a plausible claim for relief. Determining whether the complaint states a plausible claim for relief is “ ‘a context-specific task that requires the reviewing court to draw on its judicial experience and common sense.’ ” Id. (quoting Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937). Even under this standard, -howev[214]*214er, the court liberally construes a pro se complaint. See Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 94, 127 S.Ct. 2197, 167 L.Ed.2d 1081 (2007) (“A document filed pro se is to be liberally construed and a pro se complaint, however inartfully pleaded, must be held to less stringent standards than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers.”) (per curiam) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted); Burgos v. Hopkins, 14 F.3d 787, 790 (2d Cir.1994) (court should interpret pro se plaintiffs complaint “to raise the strongest arguments [it] suggest[s]”).

II. Factual Allegations2

The plaintiff alleges that he is an adherent of a religion called the Nation of Gods and Earths (“NGE”), also known as the Five Percenters. From October 2008 to July 2009, the plaintiff was incarcerated at Garner Correctional Institution in New-town, Connecticut (“Garner”). During this time period defendants Arnone, Bruno, Ri-naldi, Strom, LaJoie, Dzurenda, Weir, Marcial, Hynes, Calabrese and Farrell refused to permit him to engage in congregate religious services and prayers associated with the NGE.

In July 2009, correctional officials transferred the plaintiff to MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in Suf-field, Connecticut (“MacDougall”). From July 2009 to December 2012, defendants Arnone, Bruno, Peter Murphy, Rinaldi, Frey, DeGennaro, Strom, LaJoie, Corl, Weir, Beaudry, Pitts, Manley, Allen, Paine, Kelly, Walker, Marcial, Boland, Aldi, Perez and Hynes refused to permit the plaintiff to engage in congregate religious services and prayers associated with the NGE, denied his request to purchase religious headwear, and restricted his ae-cess to a religious newspaper called The Five Percenter. The plaintiff seeks monetary damages from the defendants in their individual capacities.

III. Discussion

The defendants move to dismiss the § 1983 claims against them in their individual capacities.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Burke v. Lamont
D. Connecticut, 2022

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
48 F. Supp. 3d 210, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 138200, 2014 WL 4851885, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/boyd-v-arnone-ctd-2014.