Outley v. Shinn

CourtDistrict Court, D. Arizona
DecidedFebruary 8, 2021
Docket2:21-cv-00084
StatusUnknown

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

Bluebook
Outley v. Shinn, (D. Ariz. 2021).

Opinion

1 WO MDR 2 3 4 5 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA 8 9 Michael Dewayne Outley, Jr., No. CV 21-00084-PHX-JAT (JFM) 10 Plaintiff, 11 v. ORDER 12 David Shinn, et al., 13 Defendants.

14 15 On January 15, 2021, Plaintiff Michael Dewayne Outley, Jr., who is confined in 16 CoreCivic’s Red Rock Correctional Center (RRCC) in Eloy, Arizona, filed a pro se civil 17 rights Complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Doc. 1), an Application to Proceed In 18 Forma Pauperis (Doc. 2), and a Motion for Preliminary Injunction (Doc. 4). The Court 19 will grant the Application to Proceed, order Defendants Shinn and Stolc to answer Count 20 One of the Complaint in their official capacities only, dismiss without prejudice Count Two 21 and Defendants Fizer and Degard, and order Defendants Shinn and Stolc to respond to the 22 Motion for Preliminary Injunction. 23 I. Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis and Filing Fee 24 The Court will grant Plaintiff’s Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis. 28 25 U.S.C. § 1915(a). Plaintiff must pay the statutory filing fee of $350.00. 28 U.S.C. 26 § 1915(b)(1). The Court will assess an initial partial filing fee of $36.63. The remainder 27 of the fee will be collected monthly in payments of 20% of the previous month’s income 28 credited to Plaintiff’s trust account each time the amount in the account exceeds $10.00. 1 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2). The Court will enter a separate Order requiring the appropriate 2 government agency to collect and forward the fees according to the statutory formula. 3 II. Statutory Screening of Prisoner Complaints 4 The Court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief 5 against a governmental entity or an officer or an employee of a governmental entity. 28 6 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). The Court must dismiss a complaint or portion thereof if a plaintiff 7 has raised claims that are legally frivolous or malicious, that fail to state a claim upon which 8 relief may be granted, or that seek monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from 9 such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1)–(2). 10 A pleading must contain a “short and plain statement of the claim showing that the 11 pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2) (emphasis added). While Rule 8 does 12 not demand detailed factual allegations, “it demands more than an unadorned, the- 13 defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me accusation.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 14 (2009). “Threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere 15 conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Id. 16 “[A] complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a 17 claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’” Id. (quoting Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 18 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)). A claim is plausible “when the plaintiff pleads factual content 19 that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the 20 misconduct alleged.” Id. “Determining whether a complaint states a plausible claim for 21 relief [is] . . . a context-specific task that requires the reviewing court to draw on its judicial 22 experience and common sense.” Id. at 679. Thus, although a plaintiff’s specific factual 23 allegations may be consistent with a constitutional claim, a court must assess whether there 24 are other “more likely explanations” for a defendant’s conduct. Id. at 681. 25 But as the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has instructed, courts 26 must “continue to construe pro se filings liberally.” Hebbe v. Pliler, 627 F.3d 338, 342 27 (9th Cir. 2010). A “complaint [filed by a pro se prisoner] ‘must be held to less stringent 28 1 standards than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers.’” Id. (quoting Erickson v. Pardus, 551 2 U.S. 89, 94 (2007) (per curiam)). 3 III. Complaint 4 In his two-count Complaint, Plaintiff names as Defendants Arizona Department of 5 Corrections (ADC) Director David Shinn, RRCC Warden Bruno Stolc, and Assistant 6 Wardens Greg Fizer and T. Degard. In his Request for Relief, Plaintiff seeks monetary 7 damages and injunctive relief. 8 In Count One, Plaintiff alleges ADC and RRCC’s telephone policy is violating his 9 First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. (Doc. 1 at 3.)1 Plaintiff asserts that the telephone 10 policy requires an inmate to submit a list of individuals the inmate wants to call; the 11 individuals on the list must submit an application, “which is for a very intrusive[,] 12 unreas[on]able background check to be completed”; a determination regarding the 13 individuals is made between thirty to sixty days; and inmates are limited to the number of 14 telephone calls per day they can make to the individuals on their list. (Id.) Plaintiff claims 15 that due to the telephone policy, he was denied telephone access and was unable to make a 16 single phone call for sixty days. (Id.) 17 Plaintiff contends the telephone policy is an “exaggerated, irrational[,] arbitrary, 18 [and] ambiguous, [and] serves no penological int[e]rest to the safety [and] security of [the] 19 facilities.” (Id.) He also claims the daily limit on the number of telephone calls an inmate 20 can make is “arbitrary [and] irrational [and] serves no penological int[e]rests.” (Id. at 4.) 21 Plaintiff alleges the policy has been established “for the sole purpose of suppressing 22 [his] right to Intimate Association [and] freedom of speech,” as opposed to any reasonably 23 related and legitimate interest and, therefore, is “greater than ‘necessary or essential’” and 24 does not protect any “‘important or substantial’ int[e]rest.” (Id. at 3.) Plaintiff claims there 25 are already other established safeguards to protect the community and the safety of the 26 prison. (Id. at 3-4.) Specifically, he notes that in order to make a telephone call, he must 27

28 1 The citation refers to the document and page number generated by the Court’s Case Management/Electronic Case Filing system. 1 use a “set voice print” to enter his inmate number; all telephone numbers and telephone 2 calls are recorded and monitored; and the person who is called must establish an account 3 with ADC and RRCC’s phone carrier, must accept each telephone call, and can block an 4 inmate’s telephone calls at any time. (Id.) Plaintiff also alleges the policy is “arbitrary 5 [and] ambiguous” because under ADC and RRCC’s mail policy, he can send mail to 6 anyone he wants and can receive mail, subject to screening, from anyone; he contends the 7 telephone policy is four times more restrictive than the mail policy. (Id. at 5.) He claims 8 the telephone policy is invalid because the “‘valid, rational connection’ requirement is not 9 satisfied” and because the other safeguards show there are “‘obvious easy alternatives 10 available,’” that are being applied and “fully accommodate[] Plaintiff’s rights [and are] a 11 ‘de minim[i]s cost’ to [Defendants’] valid penological int[e]rests.” (Id.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Buckner v. Toro
116 F.3d 450 (Eleventh Circuit, 1997)
Haines v. Kerner
404 U.S. 519 (Supreme Court, 1972)
Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Servs.
436 U.S. 658 (Supreme Court, 1978)
Kentucky v. Graham
473 U.S. 159 (Supreme Court, 1985)
Will v. Michigan Department of State Police
491 U.S. 58 (Supreme Court, 1989)
Hafer v. Melo
502 U.S. 21 (Supreme Court, 1991)
County of Sacramento v. Lewis
523 U.S. 833 (Supreme Court, 1998)
Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly
550 U.S. 544 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Ashcroft v. Iqbal
556 U.S. 662 (Supreme Court, 2009)
Hebbe v. Pliler
627 F.3d 338 (Ninth Circuit, 2010)
Ivey v. Board of Regents of University of Alaska
673 F.2d 266 (Second Circuit, 1982)
Michael Henry Ferdik v. Joe Bonzelet, Sheriff
963 F.2d 1258 (Ninth Circuit, 1992)
Silva v. Di Vittorio
658 F.3d 1090 (Ninth Circuit, 2011)
Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action v. Brown
674 F.3d 1128 (Ninth Circuit, 2012)
Laurie Tsao v. Desert Palace, Inc.
698 F.3d 1128 (Ninth Circuit, 2012)
Crown Point Development, Inc. v. City of Sun Valley
506 F.3d 851 (Ninth Circuit, 2007)
Village of Willowbrook v. Olech
528 U.S. 562 (Supreme Court, 2000)
Thomas Richey v. D. Dahne
807 F.3d 1202 (Ninth Circuit, 2015)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Outley v. Shinn, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/outley-v-shinn-azd-2021.