Damien Kentreal Johnson v. Jefferson Parish Sheriff Office, et al.

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Louisiana
DecidedApril 27, 2026
Docket2:24-cv-00080
StatusUnknown

This text of Damien Kentreal Johnson v. Jefferson Parish Sheriff Office, et al. (Damien Kentreal Johnson v. Jefferson Parish Sheriff Office, et al.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Damien Kentreal Johnson v. Jefferson Parish Sheriff Office, et al., (E.D. La. 2026).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA

DAMIEN KENTREAL JOHNSON CIVIL ACTION

VERSUS NO. 24-00080

JEFFERSON PARISH SHERIFF OFFICE, ET AL. SECTION: D

ORDER and REASONS

Before the Court is a Motion to Dismiss Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) For Failure to State a Claim, filed by the defendant, Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joseph Lopinto.1 The Motion, which was filed on December 18, 2025, was set for submission on January 6, 2026. The Motion was mailed to plaintiff, Damien Kentreal Johnson, at his address of record at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center, and was not returned as undeliverable. As of the date of this Order and Reasons, the Motion is unopposed. After careful consideration of the parties’ memoranda and the applicable law, the Motion is GRANTED. The Court, however, will grant Johnson leave to amend his Amended Complaint2 to address the deficiencies raised in the Motion. I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND On January 9, 2024, Damien Kentreal Johnson filed a Complaint Under the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, against the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office (“JPSO”) and Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joseph P. Lopinto.3 Johnson alleges that, as a pretrial detainee in Jefferson Parish Correctional Center, he is being punished for

1 R. Doc. 22. 2 R. Doc. 4. 3 R. Doc. 1. The Court notes that Johnson signed the Complaint on January 4, 2024, and that it was postmarked on January 6, 2024. Id. at pp. 5 & 6. exercising his First Amendment right to freedom of religion and for refusing to cut his hair to fulfill his religious obligation as a “Rasta/Nazarite.”4 The Complaint, however, was marked deficient by the Clerk of Court on January 10, 2024, for failure

to pay the filing pay or request to proceed as a pauper.5 Upon receipt of a motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis,6 the Clerk’s Office filed Johnson’s Complaint into the record on January 22, 2024.7 In the Complaint, Johnson checked several boxes indicating that the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center has a prisoner grievance procedure, that he presented his complaint through that procedure, and Johnson wrote that his complaint was “pending.”8 Attached to the Complaint is an “Inmate Grievance Form,” which was purportedly filed on January 4, 2024, and contains the

same facts that are set forth in the Complaint.9 The Inmate Grievance Form is blank in the section to be filled out by facility personnel, so there is no information regarding the date it was received, who it was screened by and referred to, or any official response to the grievance.10 A handwritten Amended Complaint was also filed into the record on January 22, 2024.11 Johnson alleges in the Amended Complaint that he has been incarcerated

at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center for nine months and that, as punishment for refusing to cut his hair, he is not allowed to go to the yard for recreation, use the

4 R. Doc. 1 at pp. 4–5. 5 R. Doc. 2. 6 R. Doc. 5. 7 R. Doc. 3. The Court notes that R. Docs. 1 and 3 are identical. 8 R. Doc. 3 at pp. 2–3. 9 R. Doc. 3-1. 10 Id. 11 R. Doc. 4. The Court notes that Johnson wrote on the Amended Complaint that it was “filed: 1-16- 24.” Id. at p. 1. There is no postmark on the envelope in which it was sent to the Court. Id. at p. 3. phone, or buy items from the commissary.12 Johnson asserts that these actions violate his rights under both the First Amendment and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (the “RLUIPA”).13 Johnson seeks injunctive relief and

damages pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the RLUIPA, and specifies that he is suing Sheriff Lopinto in his individual and official capacity.14 In its initial screening of the case, this Court dismissed the Amended Complaint with prejudice as frivolous and for failure to state a claim under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(e)(2)(B) and 1915A(b)(1).15 Johnson timely appealed this Court’s dismissal of his claims against Sheriff Lopinto in his official capacity.16 The Fifth Circuit issued a Per Curiam opinion on March 25, 2025, reversing the dismissal of Johnson’s official

capacity claims against Sheriff Lopinto, and remanding the case back to this Court for further proceedings.17 Upon remand, Sheriff Lopinto filed the instant Motion to Dismiss asserting that Johnson’s § 1983 and RLUIPA claims should be dismissed under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) because Johnson failed to exhaust his administrative remedies prior to filing suit, as required by the Prison Litigation Reform Act.18 Pointing to the Inmate

Grievance Form submitted with Johnson’s Complaint, in which Johnson claims that the grievance was filed on January 4, 2024, Sheriff Lopinto asserts that there is no indication that the grievance was received by a member of JPSO and points out that

12 R. Doc. 4 at pp. 1–2. 13 Id. at p. 2. 14 Id. at p. 2. 15 See R. Docs. 7 & 8. 16 R. Doc. 11. See R. Doc. 16-1 at p. 2, n.2. 17 R. Doc. 16-1. 18 R. Doc. 22. Johnson filed this lawsuit only five days later, while the grievance process was “pending.”19 Sheriff Lopinto argues that inmates are required to exhaust their administrative remedies before filing § 1983 or RLUIPA claims.20 Sheriff Lopinto

further asserts that an inmate is required to exhaust all steps of a grievance process even if the prison fails to respond to his grievances at an earlier step in the process.21 Sheriff Lopinto contends that, by stating that his grievance was “pending,” Johnson has admitted that he did not exhaust all steps in the grievance process prior to filing this suit.22 As such, Sheriff Lopinto asserts that Johnson’s claims for monetary relief under § 1983 and the RLUIPA must be dismissed under the Prison Litigation Reform Act.23

Sheriff Lopinto further asserts that Johnson is not entitled to injunctive relief under the RLUIPA.24 Sheriff Lopinto points out that the Fifth Circuit noted in its Per Curiam Opinion that a search of JPSO’s detainees did not return a result for Johnson.25 Without stating whether Johnson is still in JPSO custody, Sheriff Lopinto asserts that if Johnson is no longer in the custody of the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center, his request for injunctive relief is moot under Fifth Circuit precedent.26

Sheriff Lopinto further asserts that, even if Johnson is still incarcerated at the

19 R. Doc. 22-1 at p. 2 (citing R. Doc. 3-1 & R. Doc. 3 at pp. 2–3). 20 R. Doc. 22-1 at pp. 6–7 (citing 42 U.S.C. § 1997(e)(a); 42 U.S.C. § 2000cc-2(e); Moussazadeh v. Texas Dep’t of Criminal Justice, 703 F.3d 781 (5th Cir. 2012)). 21 R. Doc. 22-1 at p. 8 (citing Wilson v. Epps, 776 F.3d 296, 301 (5th Cir. 2015); Hicks v. Lingle, 370 Fed.Appx. 497, 499 (5th Cir. 2010); Ates v. St. Tammany Parish, Civ. A. No. 13-5732, 2014 WL 1457777 (E.D. La. Apr. 15, 2014) (Feldman, J.)). 22 R. Doc. 22-1 at p. 9 (citing R. Doc. 3-1). 23 R. Doc. 22-1 at p. 9. 24 Id. at pp. 9–10. 25 Id. (citing R. Doc. 16-1 at p. 2, n.1). 26 R. Doc. 22-1 at pp. 9–10 (citing Herman v. Holiday, 238 F.3d 660, 665 (5th Cir. 2001)).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Halbert v. City of Sherman, Tex.
33 F.3d 526 (Fifth Circuit, 1994)
Herman v. Holiday
238 F.3d 660 (Fifth Circuit, 2001)
Wright v. Hollingsworth
260 F.3d 357 (Fifth Circuit, 2001)
Plotkin v. IP Axess Inc.
407 F.3d 690 (Fifth Circuit, 2005)
Cutrer v. McMillan
308 F. App'x 819 (Fifth Circuit, 2009)
Brady Hicks, Jr. v. Tarrant County Texas
370 F. App'x 497 (Fifth Circuit, 2010)
Cutter v. Wilkinson
544 U.S. 709 (Supreme Court, 2005)
Woodford v. Ngo
548 U.S. 81 (Supreme Court, 2006)
Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly
550 U.S. 544 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Jones v. Bock
549 U.S. 199 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Ashcroft v. Iqbal
556 U.S. 662 (Supreme Court, 2009)
Gentilello v. Rege
627 F.3d 540 (Fifth Circuit, 2010)
Maloney Gaming Management, L.L.C. v. St. Tammany Parish
456 F. App'x 336 (Fifth Circuit, 2011)
Nolan v. M/v Santa Fe
25 F.3d 1043 (Fifth Circuit, 1994)
Opulent Life Church v. City of Holly Springs
697 F.3d 279 (Fifth Circuit, 2012)
Mike Gines v. D.R. Horton, Incorporated
699 F.3d 812 (Fifth Circuit, 2012)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Damien Kentreal Johnson v. Jefferson Parish Sheriff Office, et al., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/damien-kentreal-johnson-v-jefferson-parish-sheriff-office-et-al-laed-2026.