Cody v. Clark

CourtDistrict Court, D. South Dakota
DecidedJanuary 5, 2023
Docket4:22-cv-04010
StatusUnknown

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

Bluebook
Cody v. Clark, (D.S.D. 2023).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF SOUTH DAKOTA SOUTHERN DIVISION

WILLIAM CODY, 4:22-CV-04010-KES

Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S vs. MOTION TO RECONSIDER IN PART, GRANTING DEFENDANTS’ MOTION DOUG CLARK, in his individual FOR RELIEF FROM ORDER IN PART, capacity; DANIEL SULLIVAN, in his AND GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S individual and official capacity; MOTIONS FOR ASSISTED SERVICE JENNIFER DREISKE, in her individual capacity; BRITTNEY LENGKEEK, in her individual and official capacity; SAM BADURE, in his individual and official capacity; JEFFREY ELTON, in his individual and official capacity; JENNIFER FENOLIO, in her individual and official capacity; TROY PONTO, in his individual and official capacity; TIM REISCH, in his individual capacity; DARIN YOUNG, in his individual capacity; JOHN BENTING, in his individual and official capacity; MIKE LEIDHOLT, in his individual capacity; NYLA SPRINKEL, in her individual and official capacity; JOHN/JANE DOES, in their individual and official capacities; MARY CARPENTER, in her individual and official capacity; KELLIE WASKO, in her individual and official capacity, CHAD ROTERT, in his individual and official capacity,

Defendants.

Plaintiff, William Cody, an inmate at the South Dakota State Penitentiary, filed a pro se civil rights lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Docket 1. This court screened Cody’s complaint under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A, dismissing it in part and directing service on defendants in part. Docket 14. Cody now moves for partial reconsideration of that screening order, seeking clarification of one claim that survived screening and reconsideration of another claim that

this court dismissed at the screening stage. Docket 17. Cody also filed a motion asking this court to require defendants provide him with cross-reference tables for the authorities cited in defendants’ motion for summary judgment because that motion cites to Westlaw and Cody only has access to LEXIS/NEXIS. Docket 60. Cody also sought cross-reference tables for page numbers in docket entries cited in defendants’ briefs. Id. This court granted Cody’s motion. Docket 61. Defendants now move for relief from the order granting Cody’s motion. Docket 62.

Cody has also filed two motions for assisted service. Dockets 19, 25. Cody seeks assistance serving four defendants who are no longer employed with the DOC and Dr. Mary Carpenter, the Medical Director for Correctional Health Care. See Docket 19 at 1; Docket 25 at 1; Docket 37 ¶ 2. I. Cody’s Motion for Reconsideration Cody’s motion for reconsideration asks this court to clarify or reconsider two claims at the screening stage. Docket 18 at 1. First, he asks this court to clarify its order regarding his Fifth Amendment Takings Clause claim regarding

economic impact payments. Id. at 3-4. Second, he asks this court to reconsider its dismissal of his Eighth Amendment conditions of confinement claim regarding prison noise that denied him the ability to sleep. Id. at 5-11. Cody seeks relief under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 52(b), 59(e), 60(a), 60(b)(2), and 60(b)(6). Id. at 2. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has traditionally “instructed courts to consider [motions for reconsideration] either

under Rule 59(e) or Rule 60(b).” Moberly v. Midcontinent Commc’n, 2010 WL 11681663, at *1 (D.S.D. Aug. 2, 2010) (citation omitted). Rule 60(b) authorizes a court to relieve a party from a final judgment or order under the following circumstances: (1) mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect; (2) newly discovered evidence that, with reasonable diligence, could not have been discovered in time to move for a new trial under Rule 59(b); (3) fraud (whether previously called intrinsic or extrinsic), misrepresentation, or misconduct by an opposing party; (4) the judgment is void; (5) the judgment has been satisfied, released, or discharged; it is based on an earlier judgment that has been reversed or vacated; or applying it prospectively is no longer equitable; or (6) any other reason that justifies relief.

Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b). Rule 60(b)(2) does not apply here because while Cody does offer further argument as to his claim, he does not present evidence that could not have been discovered and presented in his complaint and prior supplements. See Docket 18 at 3-11. To obtain relief under Rule 60(b)(6), a party must show that “exceptional circumstances have denied the moving party a full and fair opportunity to litigate his claim and have prevented the moving party from receiving adequate redress.” Harley v. Zoesch, 413 F.3d 866, 871 (8th Cir. 2005) (citation omitted). Here, an improper dismissal at the screening stage would deny Cody a full and fair opportunity to litigate the claims in question. Thus, this court will consider Cody’s motion for reconsideration under Rule 60(b)(6). A. Takings Clause Claim

In his initial complaint, Cody alleged that defendants’ garnishment of his economic impact payments violated the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment. Docket 1 ¶ 168. The Takings Clause is violated when private property is taken for public use without just compensation. U.S. Const. amend V. “[C]onsideration other than cash . . . may be counted in the determination of just compensation.” Blanchette v. Conn. Gen. Ins. Corps., 419 U.S. 102, 151 (1974) (citing Bauman v. Ross, 167 U.S. 548, 584 (1897)). This court found that Cody’s Takings Clause claim survived § 1915A

screening but clarified that a taking would only have occurred if the garnished payments did not reduce Cody’s debt owed to the South Dakota Department of Corrections (SD DOC). Docket 14 at 35-37. Specifically, this court cited Hayes v. Graves, 2022 WL 822881, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 47001 (E.D. Ark. Mar. 16, 2002), an Eastern District of Arkansas case that considered this issue. In Hayes, the court found that the Takings Clause is violated by the garnishment of economic impact payments when inmates are not provided compensation for the garnished funds. See 2022 WL 822881, at *5-6, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS

47001, at *9-11. Thus, the Hayes court concluded that “prisoners are provided with a ‘dollar-for-dollar benefit’ when their stimulus funds are used to pay off their existing court fines, fees, costs, or restitution.” 2022 WL 822881, at *5, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 47001, at *10-11. This court ruled that the principle stated in Hayes also applies when economic impact payment funds “are put towards debts owed to the penitentiary, because the prisoner receives a reduction in debt owed.” Docket

14 at 36 (citation omitted). Thus, to the extent that Cody’s economic impact payments were garnished to pay down existing debt, he received a benefit, and the Takings Clause was not violated. See id. at 36-37. Now, Cody argues that because the terms “debts owed” and “debt owed” do not appear in Hayes and because the words “debt” and “debts” only appear in reference to an Arkansas state statute, garnished funds put towards debt owed to the penitentiary could still violate the Takings Clause. Docket 18 at 4. Cody further argues that Hayes stands for the proposition that “[economic impact payments] may only be used

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