Christopher Deaton v. Jim Smith

667 F. App'x 590

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
• Decided: July 26, 2016
• Docket: 16-1212
• Status: Unpublished

Opinions

PER CURIAM.

Christopher Deaton brought a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action in which he alleged that, while he was an inmate at the Varner Unit of the Arkansas Department of Correction, officials enforced grooming policy in a manner that constituted "calculated harassment unrelated to prison needs,” and amounted to “blackmail.” He also complained that officials moved him to punitive housing in retaliation for filing a grievance, and demonstrated deliberate indifference to his health and safety. He appeals after the district court¹ dismissed certain claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a) for failure to exhaust administrative remedies, and granted summary judgment for defendants on the merits as to the remaining claims. Upon careful de novo review of the record, and consideration of the parties’ submissions on appeal, we find no basis for reversal. Unlike the inmate plaintiff in Scher v. Engelke, 943 F.2d 921, 924 (8th Cir. 1991), who established a claim of “calculated harassment” in violation of the Eighth Amendment when guards conducted numerous unnecessary searches and confiscated property in retaliation for the inmate reporting misconduct by another guard, Deaton was in violation of a prison grooming policy when officials enforced, or threatened to enforce, the rules against him. Deaton’s retaliation claim under the First Amendment fails in light of circuit precedent, because there was some evidence that he was in violation of the grooming policy, Orebaugh v. Caspari, 910 F.2d 526 (8th Cir. 1990) (per curiam); see Hartsfield v. Nichols, 511 F.3d 826, 829 (8th Cir. 2008). Accordingly, we affirm. See 8th Cir. R. 47B.

1 . The Honorable J. Leon Holmes, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas, adopting the report and recommendations of the Honorable Beth Deere, United States Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas.