Casanova v. Ulibarri

622 F. App'x 724
Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit·Decided August 6, 2015·No. No. 14-2029·Published·Cited by 4 cases

Opinion

ORDER AND JUDGMENT *

MONROE G. McKAY, Circuit Judge.

After examining the briefs and the appellate record, this panel 'has determined unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist in the determination of this appeal. See Fed. R.App. P. 34(a)(2); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). This case is therefore ordered submitted without oral argument.

Plaintiff Jorge Casanova, a former state prisoner, raised several claims against Defendant Robert Ulibarri, the former warden of the prison where Plaintiff was incarcerated. He now appeals the district court’s entry of summary judgment to Defendant on three claims: (1) a due process claim arising out of Plaintiffs placement in administrative segregation; (2) an Eighth Amendment medical-treatment claim relating to the withholding of his medical equipment and the allegedly inadequate medical care he received while in segregation; and (3) an Eighth Amendment failure-to-protect claim arising out of his placement in general population following his release from segregation. Plaintiff also contends the district court erred in failing to recognize an Eighth Amendment medical-treatment claim based on the time he spent in general population.

Taken in the light most favorable to Plaintiff, the record establishes several pertinent facts. Plaintiff is á Cuban refugee who suffers from many severe health problems as the result of torture inflicted by the Cuban government based on his past political activism. Following his conviction on New Mexico state criminal charges, Plaintiff was incarcerated in a state prison located in Los Lunas, New Mexico, from February 2002 to March 2007. When he was taken into state custody in February 2002, his physician and attorney sent letters to the prison to inform officials of Plaintiffs health needs, including his need to retain his Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machine to treat his severe sleep apnea. His physician told the prison: “It is essential that Mr. Casanova have his Continuous Pressure Airway instrument and oxygen while he is incarcerated.... If this should be withheld from him for any reason, I must consider this ... withholding of essential medical treatment on the part of the criminal justice system.” (R. vol. I at 128.)

Until November 2006, Plaintiff was housed in the prison’s geriatric unit, a unit for inmates over the age of fifty-five who have medical conditions. The geriatric unit is located close to the prison hospital, has constant access to nursing care, and provides inmates with more comfortable conditions than the prison’s general population housing.

All of the claims at issue in this appeal arose from an incident which occurred on November 6, 2006, soon after Defendant [727] became warden of the prison. According to sworn statements written by Plaintiff and other inmates, Defendant was present when a correctional officer against whom Plaintiff had previously filed grievances searched Plaintiffs housing unit and allegedly discovered a contraband tobacco-like substance among Plaintiffs belongings. Defendant then personally ordered Plaintiff to be removed from the geriatric unit and placed in segregation. When Plaintiff asked to take his CPAP machine with him, Defendant simply “said in [a] loud voice: ‘Put this man in Segregation.’ ” (R. vol. 1 at 440.) Plaintiff was then handcuffed and sent to segregation without his CPAP machine, glasses, orthopedic shoes, coat, or other medical or personal belongings.

Plaintiff remained in segregation without his medical equipment and other belongings until mid-December 2006, when prison officials declined to pursue contraband charges against him. He was then released into general population rather than being returned to the geriatric unit. Following his placement in general population, he was able to regain possession of his CPAP machine and other belongings. He remained in general population until his release from the state prison in March 2007. He then spent eleven months in a hospital as a result of the medical deterioration he experienced while incarcerated.

The district court granted summary judgment to Defendant on the three claims that are at issue in this appeal: (1) Plaintiffs due process claim arising out of his placement in segregation; (2) his Eighth Amendment claim arising out of the withholding of his medical equipment and inadequacy of the medical care he received in segregation; and (3) his Eighth Amendment failure-to-protect claim based on his placement in general population following his release from segregation. We review the district court’s summary judgment decision de novo, applying the same standards as the district court. See Morris v. City of Colo. Springs, 666 F.3d 654, 660 (10th Cir.2012).

In Estate of DiMarco v. Wyoming Department of Corrections, 473 F.3d 1334 (10th Cir.2007), we discussed four nonexclusive factors that may be pertinent in evaluating whether a prisoner’s confinement in administrative segregation has violated a liberty interest, thus giving rise to a due process right: “whether (1) the segregation relates to and furthers a legitimate penological interest, such as safety or rehabilitation; (2) the conditions of placement are extreme; (3) the placement increases the duration of confinement ...; and (4) the placement is indeterminate.” 473 F.3d 1334, 1342 (10th Cir.2007). We agree with the district court that these factors do not indicate Plaintiffs due process rights were violated when he was placed in segregation for approximately one month while prison officials investigated and decided whether to pursue charges against him based on a correctional officer’s alleged discovery of contraband among his belongings.

Plaintiff mainly argues his due process rights were violated because he was a geriatric patient with serious medical needs and he was sent to segregation without his orthopedic shoes, coat, glasses, CPAP machine, television, or radio. However, we agree with the district court that Plaintiffs allegations regarding the deprivation of his medical equipment and the inadequacy of the medical care he received in the segregation unit should be evaluated as part of his first Eighth Amendment claim and not as part of his due process claim. See Riddle v. Mondragon, 83 F.3d 1197, 1202 (10th Cir.1996) (“[W]e have previously noted that where constitutional protection is afforded under specific constitutional provisions, alleged violations of the protection [728] should be analyzed under those provisions and not under the more generalized provisions of substantive due process.”) As for Plaintiffs other challenges to the conditions of his confinement in segregation, we have previously concluded that similar conditions are insufficient in themselves to give rise to a due process claim. See, e.g., McAdams v. Wyo. Dep’t of Corrections, 561 Fed.Appx. 718, 721-22 (10th Cir.2014); Blum v. Fed. Bureau of Prisons, 1999 WL 638232, at *3 (10th Cir.1999). For substantially the same reasons given by the district court, we conclude that the evidence does not permit a finding that Plaintiffs due process rights were violated by his placement in segregation.

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Casanova v. Ulibarri, 622 F. App'x 724 (10th Cir. 2015).

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