Demos v. Holbrook

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Washington
DecidedJuly 22, 2021
Docket4:20-cv-05062
StatusUnknown

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

Bluebook
Demos v. Holbrook, (E.D. Wash. 2021).

Opinion

1 2

3 4 5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 6

7 JOHN ROBERT DEMOS, JR., NO: 4:20-CV-5062-TOR 8 Plaintiff, v. ORDER DENYING PENDING 9 MOTIONS, TERMINATING JAY INSLEE, Governor of the State of CERTAIN DEFENDANTS AND 10 Washington; ROBERT FERGUSON, GRANTING SECOND State Attorney General; JULIE MARTIN, OPPORTUNITY TO AMEND OR 11 DOC Secretary; DONALD HOLBROOK, VOLUNTARILY DISMISS State Penitentiary Superintendent; KECIA 12 RONGEN, ISRB Chairperson; JANE DOE, DOC Director of Infectious Disease Control; 13 JANE DOE, State House of Representatives Speaker of the House; JOHN DOE, State 14 Senate Majority Leader; GEORGE MARLTON, DOC Contract Attorney; 15 JOHN DOE, DOC WSP Correctional Officer; JOHN DOE, WSP DOC Shift 16 Lieutenant; LYNN CLARK, WSP Former Captain of the Guards; KAREN FORSS, 17 WSP Medical Supervisor; JOHN DOE, DOC Chief of Medical Operations; 18 WILLIAM FRANK JOHN SMITH, WSP Medical Doctor; MANUEL LOUIS 19 SANTANA, WSP Correctional Officer; JOHN DOE, WSP Business Manager; JOHN 20 DOE, WSP Mailroom Supervisor; JOHN DOE, WSP Food Manager; GARY PIERCE, 1 WSP Disciplinary Hearings Officer; ROCHELLE STEPHENS, WSP Legal 2 Liaison; STEVE SINCLAIR, DOC Secretary; and ROBERT HERZOG, DOC 3 Director of Prisoner Operations,

4 Defendants.

5 By Order filed June 22, 2021, the Court advised Plaintiff, a prisoner at the 6 Washington State Penitentiary (“WSP”) of the deficiencies of his initial complaint 7 and directed him to amend or voluntarily dismiss within sixty days. ECF No. 16. 8 Specifically, Plaintiff’s claims against the WSP Superintendent and the Jane Doe 9 chairperson of the Indeterminate Sentencing Review Board (“ISRB”) regarding the 10 novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (“COVID-19”), were insufficient to state a claim 11 upon which relief may be granted, as Plaintiff had failed to allege facts showing that 12 either Defendant was aware of constitutional violations or that they established a 13 policy that caused the violations. Id. at 4. 14 Furthermore, Plaintiff did not present facts showing that he was being 15 subjected to an unreasonable risk to his health or safety and that Defendants 16 Holbrook and Doe were deliberately indifferent to that risk. See Farmer v. Brennan,

17 511 U.S. 825, 834-37 (1994). Indeed, he did not identify a single COVID-19 case 18 at the WSP when he filed this action on March 21, 2020, ECF No. 1. 19 On June 29, 2021, Plaintiff filed a First Amended Complaint consisting of 57

20 pages. Plaintiff now identifies the ISRB chairperson as Kecia Rogen and complains 1 that she did not find him “parolable” in June 2020, which, in turn, allegedly subjected 2 Plaintiff to a high risk of contracting COVID-19. ECF No. 17 at 16–17. Plaintiff

3 names 23 additional Defendants, including Beth Schubach, the PREA1 Coordinator 4 for the Department of Corrections (“DOC”), claiming that she should have released 5 him into the community to receive prison rape therapy and counseling because he is

6 a “verified P.R.E.A. victim.” Id. at 17. 7 In addition, Plaintiff asserts that Defendants Governor Jay R. Inslee, State 8 Attorney General Robert Ferguson, DOC Secretary Julie Martin, WSP 9 Superintendent Donald Holbrook, ISRB Chairperson Kecia Rongen, DOC PREA

10 Coordinator Beth Schubach, State House of Representative Speaker of the House 11 Jane Doe, State Senate Majority Leader John Doe, DOC Secretary Steve Sinclair 12 and DOC Director of Prison Operations Robert Herzog refused to issue an order

13 mandating Plaintiff’s immediate release “while Covid-19 prowls about like an 14 enraged tiger” from 2019 to 2021 in violation of the Eighth Amendment prohibition 15 against cruel and unusual punishment. ECF No. 17 at 9–10. Plaintiff also asserts 16 that Defendants Holbrook, Martin, Ferguson, Sinclair and Herzog failed to ensure

17 their “Covid-19” orders were carried out. Id. at 16. These conclusory assertions are 18 insufficient to cure the deficiencies of the initial complaint. 19

20 1 Prison Rape Elimination Act. 1 On July 8, 2021, Plaintiff filed six motions and 19 separate Affidavits 2 (unsworn), ECF Nos. 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 and 24. The Court has reviewed

3 Plaintiff’s submissions and finds that his conclusory assertions again fail to state a 4 claim upon which relief may be granted. 5 In essence, Plaintiff is complaining that he should have been released from

6 incarceration, but he was not. A prisoner does not have a constitutional right to be 7 released prior to the expiration of a valid sentence. Greenholtz v. Inmates of Neb. 8 Penal & Corr. Complex, 442 U.S. 1, 7 (1979). Furthermore, if a state prisoner 9 challenges the fact or duration of his confinement or seeks a determination that he is

10 entitled to release or a shortening of his period of confinement, his only federal 11 remedy is a writ of habeas corpus, with its requirement of exhaustion of state 12 remedies. See Preiser v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 475, 487-90 (1973); Heck v.

13 Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477, 481 (1994). A § 1983 claim is not the appropriate vehicle 14 for a prisoner to challenge his underlying state conviction and sentence by seeking 15 injunctive relief. Preiser, 411 U.S. at 489 (“a state prisoner challenging his 16 underlying conviction and sentence on federal constitutional grounds in a federal

17 court is limited to habeas corpus . . . he cannot bring a § 1983 action, even though 18 the literal terms of § 1983 might seem to cover such a challenge”). 19 For these reasons, Plaintiff is not entitled to the relief he seeks in his “Motion

20 for Emergency Relief,” that is, his immediate release pending the outcome of this 1 civil suit. ECF No. 20. The Court notes that whether a person is housed in prison 2 or residing in the community, the COVID-19 virus continues to spread throughout

3 society and fear of the virus does not warrant immediate release. Therefore, the 4 Motion for Emergency Relief, ECF No. 20, and the Motion to Expedite, in which 5 Plaintiff again asserts that he is “in imminent danger” of COVID-19 and the Delta

6 variant and lives in “terror of instant or unexpected death,” ECF No. 21, are 7 DENIED. 8 ADDITIONAL MOTIONS 9 In another Motion filed July 8, 2021, Plaintiff seeks to supplement his

10 pleadings with affidavits. ECF No. 18. The Court has reviewed Plaintiff’s most 11 recent affidavits (unsworn), ECF No. 24 at 1–19, which were filed in addition to the 12 seventeen affidavits (declarations) submitted with his First Amended Complaint,

13 ECF No. 17 at 24–40. The Court has referenced some of the newly added affidavits 14 in this Order. Nevertheless, the Court finds that the assertions contained in the 15 affidavits do not advance this litigation. Therefore, Plaintiff’s Motion to Supplement 16 the Pleadings, ECF No. 18, is DENIED.

17 Plaintiff is advised that he does not need to submit exhibits, affidavits, 18 grievances, witness statements, or any other materials with his complaint. Any 19 documents Plaintiff chooses to submit must relate directly to the claims presented in

20 the complaint. Plaintiff must specify which portion of the “exhibit(s)” (i.e., page 1 and paragraph) he is relying on to support the specific fact(s) of the claims presented 2 in the complaint. Plaintiff has not done this. The Court will not comb a litigant’s

3 exhibits in search of a claim not clearly and concisely presented in the complaint. 4 Plaintiff also seeks to amend his complaint. ECF No. 19. Because the Court 5 will be granting Plaintiff a second and final opportunity to amend his complaint, the

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Bluebook (online)
Demos v. Holbrook, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/demos-v-holbrook-waed-2021.