Cosby v. Purkett

782 F. Supp. 1324, 1992 WL 10555
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Missouri
DecidedJanuary 24, 1992
Docket91-1918C(5)
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 782 F. Supp. 1324 (Cosby v. Purkett) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cosby v. Purkett, 782 F. Supp. 1324, 1992 WL 10555 (E.D. Mo. 1992).

Opinion

782 F.Supp. 1324 (1992)

Gregory COSBY, et al., Plaintiffs,
v.
James PURKETT, et al., Defendants.

No. 91-1918C(5).

United States District Court, E.D. Missouri, E.D.

January 24, 1992.

*1325 *1326 Gregory D. Cosby, Keith Jackson, Diamond C. Slater and D.M. Perkin-Bey, pro se.

John F. Cooney, Evans & Dixon, St. Louis, Mo., for Purkett and Allen.

MEMORANDUM

LIMBAUGH, District Judge.

Pro se prisoner plaintiffs have filed a § 1983 action against defendants James Purkett, Superintendent at the Farmington Correctional Center (FCC) and Tim Allen, a functional unit manager (of Housing Unit 5) at the FCC. Plaintiffs allege that numerous constitutional violations existed with regard to their confinement during the months of May and June 1991 in the Administrative Segregation Unit (Housing Unit 5) at the FCC. Plaintiffs seek declaratory, injunctive, and monetary relief. The plaintiffs have filed a motion for summary judgment to which the defendants have replied.

*1327 Plaintiffs' original complaint consisted of a "laundry list" of eighteen allegations of unconstitutional conditions in Unit 5. Most of these allegations were found to be legally frivolous by Magistrate Judge Carol E. Jackson. This Court concurred with her findings. See, order dated November 18, 1991. The remaining allegations have been answered by the defendants and upon review of this matter, for the reasons set forth, the Court finds the remaining allegations to also be legally frivolous and shall be dismissed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(d).

There are two issues that must be addressed preliminarily to addressing plaintiffs' summary judgment motion. Firstly, since plaintiffs are no longer confined to Unit 5, they are no longer subject to the alleged Eighth Amendment violations regarding their confinement. Therefore, they only retain standing to bring these claims for monetary damages. Martin v. Sargent, 780 F.2d 1334, 1337 (8th Cir.1985). Secondly, it should be noted that although the plaintiffs refer to their action as a "class action" it has never been classified as a class action suit and will not be treated as one. The Court will now turn its attention to the plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment.

Courts have repeatedly recognized that summary judgment is a harsh remedy that should be granted only when the moving party has established his right to judgment with such clarity as not to give rise to controversy. New England Mut. Life Ins. Co. v. Null, 554 F.2d 896, 901 (8th Cir. 1977). Summary judgment motions, however, "can be a tool of great utility in removing factually insubstantial cases from crowded dockets, freeing courts' trial time for those that really do raise genuine issues of material fact." Mt. Pleasant v. Associated Elec. Co-op. Inc., 838 F.2d 268, 273 (8th Cir.1988).

Pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c), a district court may grant a motion for summary judgment if all of the information before the court demonstrates that "there is no genuine issue as to material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Poller v. Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc., 368 U.S. 464, 467, 82 S.Ct. 486, 488, 7 L.Ed.2d 458 (1962). The burden is on the moving party. Mt. Pleasant, 838 F.2d at 273. After the moving party discharges this burden, the nonmoving party must do more than show that there is some doubt as to the facts. Matsushita Elec. Industrial Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 1355, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). Instead, the nonmoving party bears the burden of setting forth specific facts showing that there is sufficient evidence in its favor to allow a jury to return a verdict for it. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 324, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2553, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).

In passing on a motion for summary judgment, the court must review the facts in a light most favorable to the party opposing the motion and give that party the benefit of any inferences that logically can be drawn from those facts. Buller v. Buechler, 706 F.2d 844, 846 (8th Cir.1983). The court is required to resolve all conflicts of evidence in favor of the nonmoving party. Robert Johnson Grain Co. v. Chem. Interchange Co., 541 F.2d 207, 210 (8th Cir. 1976). With these principles in mind, the Court turns to an examination of the facts.

Plaintiffs assert that the following conditions and/or deprivations violate their Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments rights: (1) plaintiffs were served cold meals which allegedly upset their stomachs; (2) meals were served without sanitary precautions; (3) plaintiffs not given personal hygiene products such as lotion, deodorant, and hair grease; (4) insufficient amount of toilet paper is issued to inmates confined to Unit 5; (5) number of showers restricted; (6) Unit 5 inmates given torn bed linen and not laundered often enough; (7) ventilation system inadequate; (8) insect and rat infestation of Unit 5; (9) not given proper shoes to wear when taken to medical unit; (10) denial of medical request forms and delays in receiving medical treatment; (11) denial of religious books; (12) *1328 radios confiscated; (13) denied access to law library; (14) due process denied because conduct violations heard by one hearing officer. Plaintiffs' allegations are supported by identical affidavits, virtually void of facts specific to each plaintiff.

Claims Against Defendant Purkett

All of the plaintiffs' claims against defendant Purkett, except for a claim concerning the confiscation of a radio, fail to allege any personal involvement or direct responsibility for a specific incident or deprivation which caused some type of injury to any one of the plaintiffs. Their claims fail to allege any personal loss due to defendant Purkett's actions. Furthermore, their claims fail to allege that Purkett had actual knowledge of the alleged constitutional violations and that he failed to take corrective measures. Suit is brought against Purkett for no other reason than he is the Superintendent of the FCC. Plaintiffs' allegations against defendant Purkett are insufficient to support a constitutional claim against him. Givens v. Jones, 900 F.2d 1229, 1233 (8th Cir.1990); Wilson v. City of Little Rock, 801 F.2d 316, 322 (8th Cir.1986); Martin v. Sargent, 780 F.2d 1334, 1338 (8th Cir.1985).

As for the claim regarding the confiscation of radio, defendant Purkett's directive dated May 23, 1991 (marked as Defendant's Exhibit D) clearly shows that radios were removed from cells in Unit 5 for security reasons.

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782 F. Supp. 1324, 1992 WL 10555, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cosby-v-purkett-moed-1992.