Farabee v. Cary

CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Virginia
DecidedOctober 20, 2020
Docket7:16-cv-00325
StatusUnknown

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

Bluebook
Farabee v. Cary, (W.D. Va. 2020).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA ROANOKE DIVISION

BRIAN FARABEE, ) ) Plaintiff ) Civil Action No. 7:16-CV-325 ) v. ) ) HAROLD CLARKE, et al., ) By: Michael F. Urbanski ) Chief United States District Judge Defendants )

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Brian Farabee, a Virginia inmate proceeding pro se, brought this civil rights actions concerning treatment for his mental illness and conditions of confinement in several correctional institutions in this district between March 2016 and January 2017. Farabee’s claims mirror those he brought in the Eastern District of Virginia in Farabee v. Yaratha, 801 F. App’x 97 (4th Cir. 2020), and in this court, Farabee v. Lee, No. 7:18cv425. In this case, as in each of those other cases, Farabee complains that he is not receiving Dialectical Behavior Treatment (“DBT”), and instead is forcibly medicated with antipsychotic drugs and kept in isolation. Defendants contend that Farabee is not a candidate for DBT, is housed to protect himself and others, and is medicated as medically necessary. In a memorandum opinion entered on January 12, 2018,1 the court granted in part and denied in part defendant’s motion for summary judgment and directed the defendants to file another motion for summary judgment. Memorandum Opinion, ECF No. 99. Farabee

1 The allegations and legal framework of this case are fully outlined in the court’s earlier Memorandum Opinion. ECF No. 99. subsequently moved for a preliminary injunction, as to which Magistrate Judge Pamela M. Sargent recommended denial following a hearing. Report and Recommendation, ECF No. 154. In a memorandum opinion entered on August 27, 2018, the court adopted Judge Sargent’s

report and recommendation and overruled Farabee’s objections to the denial of a preliminary injunction. Memorandum Opinion, ECF No. 179. Defendants filed a supplemental motion for summary judgment and the magistrate judge filed a Report and Recommendation on March 15, 2019, recommending that summary judgment be entered for defendants on plaintiff Farabee’s claims. ECF No. 188. Farabee has filed objections to the report and this matter is now ripe for the court’s consideration.2

I. A. Factual Background. The facts of this case are set forth at length in both the prior Memorandum Opinions and Reports and Recommendations issued in this case. In particular, the Report and Recommendation entered by the Magistrate Judge on March 15, 2019 exhaustively addressed the facts related to Farabee’s claims and need not be repeated here. See ECF No. 188.

However, to summarize, Farabee suffers from mental illnesses, including Borderline Personality Disorder. In 1999 he was found not guilty by reason of insanity after setting a fire inside Eastern State Hospital in a suicide attempt. Farabee currently is incarcerated in the Virginia Department of Corrections (“VDOC”) for violation of the terms of probation following a 2000 conviction for malicious wounding while civilly committed in the custody of

2 In the meantime, the court addressed the same claims raised by Farabee in Farabee v. Lee, No. 7:18cv425. See Report and Recommendation, ECF NO. 86, and Memorandum Opinion, ECF No. 95. Virginia’s Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. While incarcerated, Farabee was found guilty of committing another crime in 2004, and of violating the terms of his probation in 2015. Farabee currently is incarcerated in the VDOC based on his most recent

conviction. Farabee’s allegations concern his period of incarceration at three southwest Virginia VDOC facilities in 2016. While at Wallens Ridge State Prison (“Wallens Ridge”), Farabee was placed in five-point restraints intermittently between March 22, 2016 and April 5, 2016 because of self-harming threats and behaviors. Staff at Wallens Ridge believed they were unable to treat Farabee because of his acts and threats of self-harm and his refusal of treatment. Staff

sought and was granted permission by a state court to transfer Farabee to Marion Correctional Treatment Center (“MCTC”), VDOC’s psychiatric facility for adult male inmates, for “as needed” involuntary “medical and/or mental health care” for up to 180 days. Farabee alleges that while he was at Wallens Ridge, defendant Dr. Meredith Cary, VDOC Chief Psychiatrist, threatened to forcibly drug him even though he made clear to her that he did not want to be drugged. After he was transferred to MCTC, Farabee claims that

Dr. Cary directed the nursing staff to forcibly medicate him and keep him in isolation. Farabee was forcibly injected with Haldol four times in April 2016 and with another narcotic tranquilizer one time in April 2016. Farabee alleges that the medication and isolation caused him severe side effects, including fear, humiliation, pain, soreness, bleeding, dry mouth, dizziness, tremors, an inability to sit still, blurred vision, muscle aches, and drowsiness. Farabee was transferred to Red Onion State Prison (“Red Onion”) on June 22, 2016,

where he began refusing treatment, harming himself, and threatening to harm himself. He tried to open wounds by cutting and biting himself and threatened to purposefully infect the wounds. Farabee was transferred back to MCTC on September 23, 2016 for acute treatment to

stabilize his behavior. He remained noncompliant with treatment at MCTC and was found guilty on several disciplinary charges while at MCTC. B. Procedural Background. Farabee filed a complaint in this matter on July 1, 2016 and filed a second amended complaint on February 9, 2017, alleging § 1983 causes of action against various VDOC employees. The causes of action stem from the mental health treatment he received while

incarcerated in VDOC facilities. ECF No. 71. Defendants Harold W. Clarke, Director of the VDOC, A. David Robinson, VDOC Chief of Correctional Operations, Dr. Cary, Dr. James A. Lee, Chief Psychiatrist at MCTC, Eric Madsen, VDOC psychologist, and Dara Robichaux- Watson, Warden at MCTC, and VDOC filed a motion for summary judgment on April 7, 2017 (ECF Nos. 76, 77). On January 12, 2018, the district court entered a memorandum opinion and order

granting in part and denying in part the motion for summary judgment. ECF Nos. 99, 100. Farabee was allowed to proceed on (1) his due process and deliberate indifference claims regarding forced administration of antipsychotic drugs by defendants Cary and Lee; (2) his deliberate indifference claims against defendants Madsen, Cary, Lee, and Robichaux-Watson related to his placement in isolating conditions of confinement at Wallens Ridge, Red Onion, and MCTC; and (3) his retaliation claim against defendants Lee and Robichaux-Watson. Also,

Farabee’s official capacity claims against Clarke and Robinson about the availability of treatments, programs, and activities for inmates previously deemed “not guilty by reason of insanity” remain pending. All the other claims brought by Farabee were dismissed. The order directed the parties to complete discovery and defendants were directed to file motions for

summary judgment supported by affidavit(s) on the remaining claims. In her subsequently issued exhaustive Report and Recommendation, Judge Sargent recommended dismissal of Farabee’s remaining claims, finding no genuine issue of material fact that defendants were deliberately indifferent to Farabee’s serious mental health needs; no deliberate indifference to a serious risk of harm caused by Farabee’s conditions of confinement; no basis for the claim of retaliation and that defendants were entitled to qualified

immunity. II. A district court must review de novo any part of a report and recommendation to which a party properly objects. 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(C); Orpiano v.

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Farabee v. Cary, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/farabee-v-cary-vawd-2020.