Brown v. Sharpe

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Georgia
DecidedJanuary 17, 2024
Docket6:23-cv-00071
StatusUnknown

This text of Brown v. Sharpe (Brown v. Sharpe) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brown v. Sharpe, (S.D. Ga. 2024).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA STATESBORO DIVISION MICKI BROWN, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) CV623-071 ) WARDEN ADAMS, et al., ) ) Defendants. )

ORDER AND REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION Pro se plaintiff Micki Brown filed this case against multiple defendants arising out of events that allegedly occurred at Smith State Prison. See generally doc. 1. The Court granted him leave to proceed in forma pauperis, doc. 3, and he returned the required forms, see docs. 4 & 5. The Court, therefore, proceeds to screen his Complaint. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A. Because the Court applies Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) standards in screening a complaint pursuant to § 1915A, Leal v. Ga. Dep’t of Corr., 254 F.3d 1276, 1278-79 (11th Cir. 2001), allegations in the Complaint are taken as true and construed in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Bumpus v. Watts, 448 F. App’x 3, 4 n.1 (11th Cir. 2011).

1 Conclusory allegations, however, fail. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (discussing a Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal). As Brown is

proceeding pro se, his pleadings are held to a less stringent standard than pleadings drafted by attorneys and are liberally construed. See Bingham v. Thomas, 654 F.3d 1171, 1175 (11th Cir. 2011).

I. Factual Allegations Brown’s Complaint concerns events that occurred at Smith State Prison and names as defendants several guards, Sharpe, Weston,

Edwards, Hreha, Flowers, Shepard, and Grant, and Warden Brian Adams. See doc. 1 at 2-3. Brown’s factual allegations begin with an incident involving Defendant Grant in April 2022. See id. at 4. He

alleges that Grant told him to take “a count sheet” from her back pocket and he complied. Id. Other officers and a “Warden McFarlane” accused Brown of “grabbing” Grant’s buttocks. Id. He was placed in

segregated confinement, despite his protestations of innocence. Id. at 5. He alleges that he was “found guilty” in the subsequent disciplinary proceeding, but he was not provided an opportunity to be heard. Id.

Apparently in consequence of that finding, he was “placed in a program call[ed] the ‘O.U.T. Program’ . . . which is a 9 month segregated restricted

2 housing unit.” Id. He alleges that, after he had been placed in segregation, Grant provided him with “a signed statement” recanting her

allegations that he grabbed her buttocks. Id. Brown also alleges several use-of-force incidents. The first involved Defendants Hreha and Grant, and another officer, Arthur, not

named as a defendant. See doc. 1 at 6. He alleges that, at an unspecified time, Hreha “choked and punched” him while Arthur and Grant observed. Id. The second incident apparently occurred on

October 5, 2022. Id. Defendants Weston and Sharpe escorted Brown to his cell in handcuffs. Id. When he extended his hands through the flap in the cell door for the officers to remove the handcuffs, Weston

released one, and Sharpe “stated punching [his] arm with handcuffs secured against her fist like brass knuckles.” Id. at 6-7. Weston then “dry stun[ned] him.” Id. at 7. He alleges that Defendants Edwards and

Hreha observed the incident and failed to intervene. Id. Weston and Sharpe then refused to take him for medical attention. Id. After several days, he was transferred to Coastal State Prison for medical

attention, where he was diagnosed with “nerve damage.” Id. at 8. He

3 alleges that he reported the incidents to Defendant Flowers, but Flowers took no action. Id.

Brown next alleges that he was subjected to retaliation for complaints about his treatment. First, he alleges, somewhat vaguely, that Sharpe “placed [him] on a higher phase [of the segregated

confinement program] instead of remaining [him] on the same phase or lowering [him].” Doc. 1 at 9. Shepard subsequently informed him that she had interfered in the investigation of a grievance in retaliation for

his complaints. Id. II. Improper Defendant There is no factual allegation implicating Defendant Adams’

participation in, or even awareness of, the events alleged in the Complaint. See doc. 1 at 4-9. Although Brown characterizes his claim against Adams as “deliberate indifference,” id. at 12, the lack of any

allegation suggesting Adams had subjective knowledge of the events is fatal to such a claim. See, e.g., Burnette v. Taylor, 533 F.3d 1325, 1331 (11th Cir. 2008) (“[I]mputed or collected knowledge cannot serve as the

basis for a claim of deliberate indifference[;] . . . [e]ach individual [d]efendant must be judged separately and on the basis of what that

4 person knows.” (citations omitted)). The more plausible construction of the Complaint is that Brown seeks to hold Adams liable in his

supervisory capacity. However, such liability does not exist under § 1983. See Averhart v. Warden, 590 F. App’x 873, 874 (11th Cir. 2014) (citing Keating v. City of Miami, 598 F.3d 753, 762 (11th Cir. 2010))

(“Section 1983 claims may not be brought against supervisory officials on the basis of vicarious liability or respondeat superior.”). Brown’s claims against Defendant Adams should, therefore, be DISMISSED.

III. Injunctive Relief Brown seeks an “injunction order” which would address the alleged improprieties in the disciplinary process. See doc. 1 at 13. However, he

explicitly seeks that relief against the Georgia Department of Corrections, which is not a party to this case. See id. “[I]t is axiomatic that courts may only enjoin parties before the court,” and the general rule

is that “a court may not enter an injunction against a person who has not been made a party to the case before it.” E.A. Renfroe & Co., Inc. v. Moran, 338 F. App’x 836, 838-39 (11th Cir. 2009) (internal quotation

marks and citations omitted). The Court might permit him to amend, if the only defect in his claim were that he failed to name the proper

5 defendant. See, e.g., Jenkins v. Walker, 620 F. App’x 709, 711 (11th Cir. 2015). However, as the United States District Court for the Middle

District of Florida has succinctly stated: “Federal courts are not appellate venues for prison disciplinary proceedings.” Denson v. Dixon, 2023 WL 5200482, at *9 (M.D. Fla. Aug. 14, 2023). “Moreover, expungement of a

prison disciplinary action is relief obtainable in a habeas action, not in a civil rights case.” Hoffmann v. McCray, 2019 WL 3413536, at *11 (M.D. Fla. July 29, 2019). Since any amendment of his claims for injunctive

relief to name the proper defendant appear futile, no such opportunity is required. Jenkins, 620 F. App’x at 711 (“[A] district court need not allow amendment if the amended complaint would still be subject to

dismissal.”). Brown’s requests for injunctive relief should, therefore, be DISMISSED. IV. Excessive Force

It is well-settled that “the unnecessary and wanton infliction of pain constitutes cruel and unusual punishment forbidden by the Eighth Amendment.” Hudson v. McMillian, 503 U.S. 1, 5 (1992) (internal

quotation marks, alteration, and citation omitted); see also Sears v. Roberts, 922 F.3d 1199, 1205 (11th Cir. 2019). “In considering an Eighth

6 Amendment excessive force claim, [the court] must consider both a subjective and an objective component: (1) whether the officials acted

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