Grinter v. Knight

532 F.3d 567, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 12919, 2008 WL 2444809
Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit·Decided June 19, 2008·No. 05-6755·Published·Cited by 1,484 cases

Opinion

OPINION

JULIA SMITH GIBBONS, Circuit Judge.

A Kentucky prisoner proceeding pro se appeals the district court’s order dismissing his civil rights action brought under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981 and 1983 for violations of due process, equal protection, the Eighth Amendment, and the Fourteenth Amendment during a mandatory screening procedure before the complaint was served on the defendants. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm in part and reverse in part.

I.

Henry David Grinter filed a pro se complaint in which he sought relief pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981 and 1983. He names the following persons as defendants in their individual and official capacities: (1) Sergeant Chad Knight of the Kentucky State Penitentiary, (2) Lieutenant and Adjustment Committee Chairman William Henderson of the Kentucky State Penitentiary, (3) Lieutenant and Adjustment Committee Member Jay R. Jones of the Kentucky State Penitentiary, (4) Case Worker and Adjustment Committee Member Steve Hern of the Kentucky State Penitentiary, (5) Warden Glenn Haeberlin of the Kentucky State Penitentiary, (6) Commissioner John D. Rees of the Kentucky State Penitentiary, (7) Lieutenant Joel Dunlap, head of Internal Affairs at the Kentucky State Penitentiary, (8) Lieutenant Will Thomas, Internal Affairs employee at the Kentucky State Penitentiary, and (9) Lieutenant Tim White of the Kentucky State Penitentiary. Grinter alleges his claims under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981 and 1983 resulted from violations of his due process, equal protection, Eighth Amendment, and Fourteenth Amendment rights.

In his complaint, Grinter alleges that on January 3, 2003, Knight came to his cell to investigate an incident report that had been filed. 1 He alleges that Knight presented the report to him through a food opening in the door of Grinter’s cell in the segregation unit and that Knight refused *571 to add witnesses to an incident report in response to his request. After that, Knight closed the slot and slipped a copy of the report under the door.

Grinter avers that a short time later, White and another guard dressed in full riot gear approached his cell without a nurse present. White ordered Grinter to remove his clothes, pinned him to the wall while Grinter’s linens and personal property were removed, and placed him under four-point restraints. 2 Grinter remained in the restraints, shackled to his bed, for four hours and sustained cuts and bleeding.

Grinter alleges that the following day, January 4, 2003, he was issued a disciplinary report claiming he assaulted defendant Knight. The incident report detailing the January 3 incident, which was attached to the complaint, stated that Grinter wadded up and threw the incident report. The report also stated that Grinter struck Knight’s left arm and that Knight had a “small red spot” on his wrist. According to the incident report, at a hearing several weeks later the adjustment committee found Grinter guilty. The report states, “Based on facts as stated by Sgt. Knight and [the] medical report from Nurse Roy-stor ... Grinter did strike Sgt. Knight[,] causing a red spot on his left wrist.” The adjustment committee assessed a non-re-storable penalty of sixty days forfeiture of good time credits.

Grinter alleges that he was never provided a copy of any medical records, the testimony Nurse Roystor gave cannot be true because she did not witness the incident, and J. Belt’s written statement regarding the incident is troubling. Plaintiff appealed to the warden and the state department of corrections but was unsuccessful.

The district court dismissed the claims against Rees, Haeberlin, Hern, Jones, Henderson, Thomas, and Dunlap and the due process claims against Knight and White for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b). It dismissed the claims against the defendants, state employees, in their official capacities as claims against Kentucky — which was immune from suit. It dismissed the substantive due process claims based upon the use of the four-point restraints, the challenge to the procedures used by the adjustment board, and the denial of good-time credits, finding no liberty interest present. Likewise, it dismissed the claims for failure to intervene in or overturn the finding of guilt, explaining that the defendants could not be named on the basis of their supervisory roles and that there was no liberty interest. The district court dismissed the § 1981 claim against Knight, holding that Knight, as a public official, cannot be sued under § 1981.

The district court dismissed Grinter’s § 1983 claims for violation of his equal protection rights against defendant Knight and the Eighth Amendment excessive force claim against defendant White for failure to exhaust his administrative remedies pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1997e. At the direction of this court, the district court granted Grinter permission to file a late notice of appeal. This appeal followed.

II.

We review a district court’s decision to dismiss under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(e), *572 1915A, and 42 U.S.C. § 1997e de novo. McGore v. Wrigglesworth, 114 F.3d 601, 604 (6th Cir.1997) (overruled on other grounds by Jones v. Bock, 549 U.S. 199, 127 S.Ct. 910, 918-19, 166 L.Ed.2d 798 (2007)). The Prison Litigation Reform Act (“PLRA”) requires district courts to screen and dismiss complaints that are frivolous or malicious, that fail to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or that seek monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b).

III.

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Grinter v. Knight, 532 F.3d 567, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 12919, 2008 WL 2444809 (6th Cir. 2008).

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