JOHNSON v. ALVEY

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Indiana
DecidedSeptember 17, 2021
Docket1:19-cv-04931
StatusUnknown

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

Bluebook
JOHNSON v. ALVEY, (S.D. Ind. 2021).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA INDIANAPOLIS DIVISION

FRANKIE LEE JOHNSON, JR., ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) Case No. 1:19-cv-04931-TWP-MJD ) KATHY ALVEY and J. AMMON, Lt., ) ) Defendants. )

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS' CROSS-MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT, DENYING PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT, AND DIRECTING ENTRY OF FINAL JUDGMENT

This matter is before the Court on the parties' cross Motions for Summary Judgment. Plaintiff Frankie Lee Johnson, Jr. ("Mr. Johnson"), initiated this civil action alleging that defendants Kathy Alvey ("Warden Alvey") and Lt. Jerry Ammon ("Captain Ammon"1) (collectively the "Defendants"), violated his Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights while he was incarcerated at the Branchville Correctional Facility. Specifically, Mr. Johnson alleges that Warden Alvey and Captain Ammon approved his placement in a recreation cell when he was sent to segregation. (Dkt. 16 at 2.) He alleges cruel and unusual punishment because he had to sleep on a mattress on the floor when he had stab wounds in his back, had no access to running water or a toilet, and the lights were kept on in the cell for 24 hours a day. Id. For the reasons explained below, Mr. Johnson's Motion for Summary Judgment, (Dkt. 61), is denied, and the Defendants' Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment, (Dkt. 67) is granted.

1 In the Defendants briefing, Defendant Jerry Ammon is referred to a Captain Ammon. When the Complaint was filed, Ammon was a Lieutenant at Branchville Correctional Facility; however, a Google search reveals that he was promoted to the rank of Captain in August 2019 (see Indiana Department of Correction press release dated August 28, 2019). Accordingly, in this Entry, the Court will refer to him as "Captain Ammon". I. STANDARD OF REVIEW A motion for summary judgment asks the court to find that a trial is unnecessary because there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and, instead, the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(a). Whether a party asserts that a fact

is undisputed or genuinely disputed, the party must support the asserted fact by citing to particular parts of the record, including depositions, documents, or affidavits. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(1)(A). A party can also support a fact by showing that the materials cited do not establish the absence or presence of a genuine dispute or that the adverse party cannot produce admissible evidence to support the fact. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(1)(B). Affidavits or declarations must be made on personal knowledge, set out facts that would be admissible in evidence, and show that the affiant is competent to testify on matters stated. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(4). Failure to properly support a fact in opposition to a movant's factual assertion can result in the movant's fact being considered undisputed, and potentially in the grant of summary judgment. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(e). In deciding a motion for summary judgment, the court need only consider disputed facts

that are material to the decision. A disputed fact is material if it might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law. Williams v. Brooks, 809 F.3d 936, 941-42 (7th Cir. 2016). "A genuine dispute as to any material fact exists 'if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.'" Daugherty v. Page, 906 F.3d 606, 609-10 (7th Cir. 2018) (quoting Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248 (1986)). On summary judgment, a party must show the court what evidence it has that would convince a trier of fact to accept its version of the events. Gekas v. Vasilades, 814 F.3d 890, 896 (7th Cir. 2016). The moving party is entitled to summary judgment if no reasonable fact-finder could return a verdict for the non-moving party. Nelson v. Miller, 570 F.3d 868, 875 (7th Cir. 2009). The court views the record in the light most favorable to the non-moving party and draws all reasonable inferences in that party's favor. Skiba v. Ill. Cent. R.R. Co., 884 F.3d 708, 717 (7th Cir. 2018). It cannot weigh evidence or make credibility determinations on summary judgment because those tasks are left to the fact-finder. Miller v. Gonzalez, 761 F.3d 822, 827 (7th Cir.

2014). The court need only consider the cited materials, Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(3), and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has repeatedly assured the district courts that they are not required to "scour every inch of the record" for evidence that is potentially relevant to the summary judgment motion before them. Grant v. Trs. of Ind. Univ., 870 F.3d 562, 572-73 (7th Cir. 2017). Any doubt as to the existence of a genuine issue for trial is resolved against the moving party. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 255. When reviewing cross-motions for summary judgment, all reasonable inferences are drawn in favor of the party against whom the motion at issue was made. Valenti v. Lawson, 889 F.3d 427, 429 (7th Cir. 2018) (citing Tripp v. Scholz, 872 F.3d 857, 862 (7th Cir. 2017)). The existence of cross-motions for summary judgment does not imply that there are no genuine issues of material

fact. R.J. Corman Derailment Servs., LLC v. Int'l Union of Operating Eng'rs, Local Union 150, AFL-CIO, 335 F.3d 643, 647 (7th Cir. 2003). II. STATEMENT OF FACTS The following statement of facts has been evaluated pursuant to the standard set forth above. The facts are considered undisputed except to the extent that disputes of fact are noted. Mr. Johnson is an Indiana Department of Correction ("IDOC") inmate who was incarcerated at the Branchville Correctional Facility during the time relevant to his claims. (Dkt. 11.) On February 8, 2019, Mr. Johnson was placed in emergency administrative segregation pending an investigation for an alleged battery upon another offender. (Dkt. 61-1 at 7, 11; Dkt. 68-1 at 1-2; Dkt. 68-4, ¶ 6.) Due to overpopulation in the restrictive housing unit, offenders were held in recreation cells pending restrictive housing unit cell space. (Dkt. 61-1 at 2, 9; Dkt. 68-3 at 6.) Mr. Johnson

was housed in this temporary administrative segregation recreation cell for four days. (Dkt. 61-1 at 2.) While housed there, "Johnson received water and was offered the ability to dispose of bodily waste every thirty (30) minutes or upon request, as instructed by the Warden." (Dkt. 68-4, ¶ 8; Dkt. 68-3 at 6.) He "was able to request, at any time . . . water, food, restroom use, hygienic materials such as hand sanitizer, and any other reasonable request which could be accommodated in accordance with facility policy." (Dkt. 68-4, ¶ 9; Dkt. 68-3 at 1, 3.) Mr.

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JOHNSON v. ALVEY, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/johnson-v-alvey-insd-2021.