IN RE: RESHAN SAVAGE BEY

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedAugust 4, 2025
Docket2:25-cv-02081
StatusUnknown

This text of IN RE: RESHAN SAVAGE BEY (IN RE: RESHAN SAVAGE BEY) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
IN RE: RESHAN SAVAGE BEY, (E.D. Pa. 2025).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA

RESHAN SAVAGE BEY : CIVIL ACTION Plaintiff : : v. : NO. 25-CV-2081 : WARDEN ERICKA PATTERSON, et al., : Defendants :

M E M O R A N D U M

NITZA I. QUIÑONES ALEJANDRO, J. AUGUST 4, 2025

Reshan Savage Bey, a prisoner at the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center (“PICC”), filed this civil rights action against PICC Warden Ericka Patterson, Lieutenant S. Sam, and Correctional Officer D. Johnson.1 Each defendant is named in his or her individual as well as official capacities. Bey also seeks leave to proceed in forma pauperis, which the Court will grant. For the reasons set forth, the Complaint will be dismissed. I. FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS2 Bey alleges that, after an incident with his cell mate that occurred on January 30, 2025, he was taken from PICC to Jefferson Torresdale Hospital for medical treatment for a dislocated jaw

1 Public records, which the Court may consult when conducting a screening, see Buck v. Hampton Twp. Sch. Dist., 452 F.3d 256, 260 (3d Cir. 2006), indicate that Bey was a pretrial detainee at the time of the events described in his Amended Complaint. He was subsequently convicted of the charges for which he was detained on June 6, 2025. See Commonwealth v. Savage, CP-51-CR-0004246-2024 (C.P. Philadelphia).

2 The factual allegations are taken from Bey’s Amended Complaint (ECF No. 4), which is the operative pleading. Garrett v. Wexford Health, 938 F.3d 69, 82 (3d Cir. 2019), cert. denied, 140 S. Ct. 1611 (2020) (“In general, an amended pleading supersedes the original pleading and renders the original pleading a nullity. Thus, the most recently filed amended complaint becomes the operative pleading.”) (internal citations omitted). Here, it consists of the Court’s form complaint available to prisoners as well as additional typed pages. The Court deems the entire submission to constitute the Amended Complaint and adopts the sequential pagination assigned by the CM/ECF docketing system. and then went to the medical unit at the Philadelphia Detention Center after he was discharged the next day. (Am. Compl. at 4-5.) He returned to PICC on March 21, 2025, but found his legal and personal property were missing. (Id.) His property had been packed up by F-2 Unit workers and Defendant Johnson. Johnson then gave the property to an unknown employee and it went missing.

(Id. at 5, 16.) Warden Patterson allegedly failed to investigate the property loss after Bey wrote to her. (Id. at 12, 19-22.) Bey alleges that Patterson violated his First, and Fifth Amendment rights by failing to respond to his grievance and investigate the loss, including reviewing available surveillance videos. (Id. at 13;, 25 (grievance addressed to Patterson).) She also allegedly violated his Eighth Amendment rights by placing him in the Restricted Housing Unit (“RHU”) at PICC from March 21 to April 21, 2025, after the incident with the cellmate, as well as when she transferred him back to PICC where the incident happened. (Id. at 13.) Defendant Sam came to Bey’s cell while he was in the RHU on March 30, 2025 and told him that she would have his former cellmate’s cell searched to see if he had Bey’s property. (Id. at 14.) On April 8, 225, she told him that his property could not be found within the facility. (Id.

at 4, 14.) He filled out a form that Sam provided but no investigation was conducted. (Id. at 14.) He further alleges that Sam never searched the former cellmate’s cell, failed to preserve surveillance camera evidence, and negligently did not act on the form Bey completed.3 (Id. at 15.)

3 Bey’s reference to negligence does not state a constitutional claim. The United States Supreme Court has held that § 1983 claims may not be predicated on a state actor’s mere negligence. See Canton v. Harris, 489 U.S. 378, 387 (1989) (holding that mere negligence in training cannot form basis of § 1983 liability); Daniels v. Williams, 474 U.S. 327, 328 (1986) (holding that official’s mere negligence is not actionable under § 1983 because “the Due Process Clause is simply not implicated by a negligent act of an official causing unintended loss of or injury to life, liberty, or property”). His passing reference to the term also fails to raise any state law claim. Bey appears to allege also that Sam violated his rights by placing him back into the population at PICC where his jaw had been broken.4 (Id.) Defendant Johnson filed a misconduct report asserting that Bey was involved in a physical altercation with his cellmate, even though Bey and the cellmate did not “indicate nor gave a

statement to [] Johnson that there was a physical altercation between them.” (Id. at 16.) Bey claims his rights were violated because Johnson falsely reported there was a physical altercation but asserts also that he was “obviously . . . discretely attacked and/or fainted,” resulting in his broken jaw. (Id. at 17.) He also claims that Johnson did not respond for about one hour to other inmates calling out to get help for Bey. (Id.) Bey claims he had to be assisted when he was removed from the cell because he was incoherent and partially unconscious. (Id. at 16.) Bey seeks money damages on his constitutional claim.5 (Id. at 5.) II. STANDARD OF REVIEW The Court grants Bey leave to proceed in forma pauperis.6 Accordingly, 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii) requires the court to dismiss a complaint if it fails to state a claim. Whether a

4 Bey avers in passing that the cells at PICC “are a safety hazard [as] there is no panic button or intercom.” (Am. Compl. at 15.) It is unclear whether Bey intended to allege a claim based on this allegation or provided it merely as context for his other claims. If it is a separate claim, it is undeveloped and not plausible since Bey does not allege he was harmed by this condition or that any named Defendant was personally involved in that harm. See Rode v. Dellarciprete, 845 F.2d 1195, 1207 (3d Cir. 1988) (“A defendant in a civil rights action must have personal involvement in the alleged wrongs” to be liable.).

5 In addition to constitutional provisions, Bey cites 18 U.S.C. §§ 241 and 3921. (Am. Compl. at 3.) There is no section 3921 in Title 18 of the United States Code. Section 241 is the criminal statute establishing criminal liability for certain deprivations of civil rights. Molina v. City of Lancaster, 159 F. Supp. 2d 813, 818 (E.D. Pa. 2001); Figueroa v. Clark, 810 F. Supp. 613, 615 (E.D. Pa. 1992). An individual cannot bring criminal charges through a private lawsuit, Linda R.S. v. Richard D., 410 U.S. 614, 619 (1973), and § 241 does not give rise to a civil cause of action. See United States v. Philadelphia, 644 F.2d 187 (3d Cir. 1980) (declining to create civil remedy under 18 U.S.C. §§ 241 and 242); U.S. ex rel. Savage v. Arnold, 403 F. Supp. 172 (E.D. Pa. 1975). Accordingly, any claim under these sections is dismissed with prejudice.

6 Because Bey is a prisoner, he must still pay the $350 filing fee for this case in installments as required by the Prison Litigation Reform Act.

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IN RE: RESHAN SAVAGE BEY, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-reshan-savage-bey-paed-2025.