Kelly v. Santiago

CourtDistrict Court, D. Connecticut
DecidedAugust 6, 2019
Docket3:18-cv-01796
StatusUnknown

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

Bluebook
Kelly v. Santiago, (D. Conn. 2019).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT

Joshua Kelly, Plaintiff, No. 3:18-cv-01796-VAB v.

Antonio Santiago, et al., Defendant.

INITIAL REVIEW ORDER AND RULING ON MOTION FOR TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER AND MOTION FOR ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE ON PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION

Joshua Kelly (“Plaintiff”) has sued Director of Security Antonio Santiago, Security Risk Group Coordinator John Aldi, Lieutenant J. Russell, Disciplinary Hearing Officer King, District Administrator Edward Maldonado, and Warden Mulligan (collectively “Defendants”) under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for alleged violations of his First, Fifth, Eight, and Fourteenth Amendment rights under the United States Constitution and Sections Four, Five, Seven, Eighth, Nine and Twenty of Article First of the Connecticut Constitution because of his security classification and the conditions of his confinement at New Haven Correctional Center. Complaint, ECF No. 1 (“Compl.”). Since the filing of this lawsuit, Mr. Kelly has since been moved to the MacDougall- Walker Correctional Institution and Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Center. On February 7, 2019, Mr. Kelly filed a motion for a temporary restraining order and a motion for an order to show cause why a preliminary injunction should not issue, seeking damages, declaratory relief, and a preliminary injunction prohibiting the defendants from keeping Mr. Kelly confined in the Security Risk Group.1 For the following reasons, Mr. Kelly’s First Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment claims may proceed, however, the Court DISMISSES Mr. Kelly’s other federal constitutional claims, DISMISSES Mr. Kelly’s official capacity claims for monetary damages, and DECLINES to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over his state constitutional claims.

The Court also DENIES Mr. Kelly’s motion for a temporary restraining order but GRANTS Mr. Kelly’s motion for an order to show cause on the preliminary injunction. The Court also ORDERS the defendants to respond to the order to show cause as to why the Court should not grant Mr. Kelly’s temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction should by September 13, 2019. I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND A. Factual Allegations In 2015, prison officials designated Mr. Kelly to the Security Risk Group and he successfully completed the Security Risk Group program. Statement of Case, Compl. at ¶ 6.

On June 11, 2018, Mr. Kelly was incarcerated in New Haven Correctional Center. Id. at ¶ 1. On June 20, 2018, prison officials brought Mr. Kelly to the Restrictive Housing Unit (“RHU”),2 pending an investigation into alleged gang affiliation. Id. at ¶ 2. Prison officials allegedly used Mr. Kelly’s social media posts to designate him as a Security Risk Group

1 MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution defines a Security Risk Group as “a group of inmates possessing common characteristics distinguishing them from other inmates or groups of inmates that has been designated by the Commissioner as posing a threat to the safety of staff, the facility, other inmates, or the community in accordance with A.D. 6.14, Security Risk Groups.” MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution, MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution Inmate Handbook 17, https://www.law.umich.edu/special/policyclearinghouse/Documents/CT%20-%20MacDougall%20Handbook.pdf. 2 According to MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution’s policies, “[i]nmates assigned to Punitive Segregation status shall be housed in the Restrictive Housing Unit (RHU).” Id. member, which Disciplinary Hearing Officer (“DHO”) King allegedly did do. See Statement of Case, Compl. at ¶ 9, ¶ 4. District Administrator Mr. Maldonado relied on Administrative Directive 6.14 when segregating Mr. Kelly, based on an alleged finding that Mr. Kelly had affiliated with the Security Risk Group, the “Bloods.” Legal Claims, Compl. at ¶ 3. Two days later, Mr. Kelly went to a hearing after arriving at the Restrictive Housing Unit,

Statement of Case, Compl. at ¶ 3, but he alleges that he never received a ticket, nor did officials give him an opportunity to make a plea, id. at ¶ 4. After Mr. King designated Mr. Kelly to the Security Risk Group, he was sent to the MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution (“Walker”) to complete Phase Two. Statement of Case, Compl. at ¶ 11. At Walker, Mr. Kelly alleges that he could not take a shower more than three times each week, could have no contact visits, could not eat with others, and could not participate in any religious, educational, or social programming. Mr. Kelly alleges that prison officials limited his activity in other ways, including no hot water, restricting use the phone more than three times a week for fifteen minutes at a time, prohibiting day-room recreational center

access during inclement weather, and banning electronic devices. Mr. Kelly alleges that he spends twenty-three to twenty-four hours in a cell each day. Id. at ¶¶ 13–24. Additionally, Mr. Kelly alleges that gang members threatened him with death. Id. at ¶¶ 26–27. Mr. Kelly alleges that he is not a gang member, should be with other inmates not affiliated with gangs in general population, and his current placement is dangerous. Id. at ¶ 10. B. Procedural History On November 2, 2018, Mr. Kelly filed his Complaint against Director of Security Antonio Santiago, Security Risk Group Coordinator John Aldi, Lieutenant J. Russell, DHO King, District Administrator Edward Maldonado, and Warden Mulligan, in their individual and official capacities for security classifications made while at the new Haven Correctional Center. Compl. At the time of the Complaint, Mr. Kelly had been confined at MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution. Statement of Case, Compl. at ¶ 4. On December 26, 2018, Mr. Kelly notified the Court of his transfer from the MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution to the Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Center.

Notice, ECF No. 11. On February 7, 2019, Mr. Kelly filed a motion for an order to show cause and a motion for a temporary restraining order and injunction. Mot. for Order to Show Cause for TRO and Prelim. Inj., ECF No. 12. II. STANDARD OF REVIEW A. Section 1915 Review The Court must “review . . . a complaint in a civil action in which a prisoner seeks redress from a government entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). The Court must “identify cognizable claims or dismiss the complaint, or any portion

of the complaint,” if the complaint or any of its parts are “frivolous, malicious, or fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted” or “seeks monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief.” Id. at § 1915A(b). The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure require that a plaintiff plead only “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief,” see Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2), to provide the defendant “fair notice of what the . . . claim is and the grounds upon which it rests,” see Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007). A plaintiff’s “[f]actual allegations must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level,” and assert a cause of action with enough heft to show entitlement to relief and “enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 570.

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Kelly v. Santiago, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kelly-v-santiago-ctd-2019.