Bradshaw v. Nafziger

484 F. App'x 217
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedJune 7, 2012
Docket11-1109
StatusUnpublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 484 F. App'x 217 (Bradshaw v. Nafziger) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bradshaw v. Nafziger, 484 F. App'x 217 (10th Cir. 2012).

Opinion

ORDER AND JUDGMENT *

WADE BRORBY, Senior Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff-appellant Joseph Bradshaw is a federal prisoner appearing pro se and in *219 forma pauperis under 28 U.S.C. § 1915. He appeals from the district court’s orders dismissing one of the defendants, granting summary judgment to the remaining defendants, and denying various motions in this civil rights case brought pursuant to Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388, 91 S.Ct. 1999, 29 L.Ed.2d 619 (1971). He also has three pending motions in this court. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, deny the pending motions, and affirm.

I. Background

The district court reviewed the facts in detail, so we need not recite them in detail here. In 2000, Mr. Bradshaw was convicted by a jury in federal court in Massachusetts on six charges, including conspiracy, armed robbery of a postal employee, and attempted murder, and he was sentenced to life in prison. United States v. Bradshaw, 281 F.3d 278, 281-82 (1st Cir.2002). He was also ordered to pay $94,276.00 in restitution to the United States Postal Service and $300 in special assessments.

Since September 2005, Mr. Bradshaw has been confined by the Bureau of Prisons (“BOP”) at the United States Penitentiary-Administrative Maximum in Florence, Colorado (“ADX”), which is one part of the Federal Correctional Complex (“FCC”) at Florence. ADX implements the BOP’s Inmate Financial Responsibility Program (IFRP), which is designed to encourage inmates to pay their financial obligations, including restitution. See 28 C.F.R. §§ 545.10, 545.11. Mr. Bradshaw has sometimes voluntarily participated in the IFRP and at other times has been on “refuse” status. When he participated in the IFRP, $25 per quarter was deducted from his trust account. His obligation for $300 in special assessments has been paid in full.

Mr. Bradshaw would like to be transferred to a less-restrictive facility. We have recently noted that the conditions of confinement at ADX are “undeniably harsh.” Rezaq v. Nalley, 677 F.3d 1001, 1014-15 (10th Cir.2012). “Prisoners housed in the general population unit at ADX spend twenty-three hours a day confined to their cells.” Id. at 1005. But inmates housed at ADX may improve their conditions of confinement by seeking admission to the Step-Down Program, “a stratified system of less-restrictive housing to provide inmates with incentives to adhere to the standards of conduct associated with a maximum security custody program.” R., Vol. 1, at 1078. Mr. Bradshaw would like to be admitted to ADX’s Step-Down Program, but he no longer wishes to participate in the IFRP because he believes that his sentence does not yet require him to pay his restitution obligation. An inmate’s refusal to participate in the IFRP is “one of numerous factors” relevant to the BOP’s decision as to whether an inmate is suitable for admission to the ADX Step-Down Program, although it is “not the only factor” or “a determinative factor.” Id. at 1065; see also id. at 1068.

Mr. Bradshaw also has two chronic health problems: (1) hepatitis C, which was diagnosed in the 1980’s; and (2) supra ventricular tachycardia (“SVT”). As with the IFRP, Mr. Bradshaw became dissatisfied with his medical care at ADX.

Mr. Bradshaw filed this civil rights action under Bivens, naming several BOP employees as defendants. A few months *220 later, he filed an amended complaint, adding claims and defendants. His amended complaint also added two other ADX inmates, Timothy Tuttamore and Jamie McMahon, as plaintiffs. 1

The district court concluded sua sponte that the amended complaint should be dismissed and directed plaintiffs to file separate lawsuits asserting their individual medical claims. Mr. Bradshaw appealed to this court, and he also filed a separate action asserting his medical claims, as directed by the district court. See Bradshaw v. Lappin, No. 08-cv-02542-PAB-KLM, 2010 WL 908925 (D.Colo. Mar. 11, 2010). We reversed the district court’s decision and remanded the case for further consideration. Bradshaw v. Lappin, 320 Fed.Appx. 846, 849 (10th Cir.2009) (No. 08-1160). The district court consolidated Mr. Bradshaw’s second action with this case.

On remand, the magistrate judge granted Mr. Bradshaw’s motion for leave to file an amended complaint. Later, however, the district court adopted the magistrate judge’s further recommendation to deny Mr. Bradshaw’s motion for leave to file a proposed supplemental amended complaint.

Mr. Bradshaw’s claims can be divided into two main categories. First, he asserted that defendants Lappin, Wiley, Leyba, Nafziger, Osagie, and Amirkhan were deliberately indifferent to his serious medical needs related to either his heart condition and/or his chronic hepatitis, in violation of the Eighth Amendment. See, e.g., Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 104-05, 97 S.Ct. 285, 50 L.Ed.2d 251 (1976). Second, he asserted that defendants Lappin, Collins, Sudlow, Knox, Madison, Foster, and Fin-ían violated his civil rights under the Fifth and Eighth Amendments by requiring him to make restitution payments pursuant to the IFRP. Mr. Bradshaw challenged both the actual deduction of funds from his account when he voluntarily participated in the IFRP, as well as the expected withdrawal of the privilege of participating in the Step-Down Program if he refused to voluntarily make payments toward his restitution obligation.

The district court ultimately disposed of Mr. Bradshaw’s claims in two lengthy orders filed on September 7, 2010, and March 10, 2011. The court dismissed defendant Lappin, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, because Mr. Bradshaw failed to establish that Director Lappin had minimum contacts with Colorado, and the court therefore lacked personal jurisdiction over him. The court dismissed Warden Wiley because Mr. Bradshaw failed to allege his personal participation in any alleged constitutional deprivation.

The district court granted summary judgment to defendants Collins, Sudlow, Knox, Madison, Foster, and Finían on Mr. Bradshaw’s IFRP claims. The court reasoned that Mr. Bradshaw voluntarily agreed to participate in the IFRP for awhile, so the deduction of funds did not violate his rights. The court further determined that for the time during which Mr.

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484 F. App'x 217, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bradshaw-v-nafziger-ca10-2012.