Parkell v. Morgan

917 F. Supp. 2d 328, 2013 WL 227658, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8172
CourtDistrict Court, D. Delaware
DecidedJanuary 22, 2013
DocketCiv. No. 12-1304-SLR
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 917 F. Supp. 2d 328 (Parkell v. Morgan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Parkell v. Morgan, 917 F. Supp. 2d 328, 2013 WL 227658, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8172 (D. Del. 2013).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

SUE L. ROBINSON, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff Donald D. Parkell (“plaintiff”), is a pretrial detainee at the Howard R. Young Correctional Institution (“HRY-CI”), Wilmington, Delaware, who proceeds pro se and has been granted in forma pauperis status. He filed this complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claiming violations of his constitutional rights.1 (D.I. 3) Plaintiff filed an amended complaint on January 9, 2013 adding as parties defendant Delaware Department of Correction (“DOC”) Commissioner Carl Danberg (“Danberg”) and hearing officer Lt. Pedrick (“Pedrick”). (D.I. 8) In addition, plaintiff recently filed a motion for injunctive relief to obtain dental treatment. (D.I. 10)

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

This court must dismiss, at the earliest practicable time, certain in forma pauperis and prisoner actions that are frivolous, malicious, fail to state a claim, or seek monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2) (in forma pauperis actions); 28 U.S.C. § 1915A (actions in which prisoner seeks redress from a governmental defendant); 42 U.S.C. § 1997e (prisoner actions brought with respect to prison conditions). The court must accept all factual allegations in a complaint as true and take them in the light most favorable to a pro se plaintiff. Phillips v. County of Allegheny, 515 F.3d 224, 229 (3d Cir.2008); Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 93, 127 S.Ct. 2197, 167 L.Ed.2d 1081 (2007). Because plaintiff proceeds pro se, his pleading is liberally construed and his complaint, “however inartfully pleaded, must be held to less stringent standards than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers.” Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. at 94, 127 S.Ct. 2197 (citations omitted).

[331]*331An action is frivolous if it “lacks an arguable basis either in law or in fact.” Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 325, 109 S.Ct. 1827, 104 L.Ed.2d 338 (1989). Under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(i) and § 1915A(b)(1), a court may dismiss a complaint as frivolous if it is “based on an indisputably meritless legal theory” or a “clearly baseless” or “fantastic or delusional” factual scenario. Neitzke, 490 at 327-28, 109 S.Ct. 1827; Wilson v. Rackmill, 878 F.2d 772, 774 (3d Cir.1989); see, e.g., Deutsch v. United States, 67 F.3d 1080, 1091-92 (3d Cir.1995) (holding frivolous a suit alleging that prison officials took an inmate’s pen and refused to give it back).

The legal standard for dismissing a complaint for failure to state a claim pursuant to § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii) and § 1915A(b)(1) is identical to the legal standard used when ruling on Rule 12(b)(6) motions. Tourscher v. McCullough, 184 F.3d 236, 240 (3d Cir.1999) (applying Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) standard to dismissal for failure to state a claim under § 1915(e)(2)(B)). However, before dismissing a complaint or claims for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted pursuant to the screening provisions of 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915 and 1915A, the court must grant plaintiff leave to amend her complaint unless amendment would be inequitable or futile. See Grayson v. Mayview State Hosp., 293 F.3d 103, 114 (3d Cir.2002).

A well-pleaded complaint must contain more than mere labels and conclusions. See Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009); Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). The assumption of truth is inapplicable to legal conclusions or to “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action supported by mere eonclusory statements.” Id. at 1949. When determining whether dismissal is appropriate, the court conducts a two-part analysis. Fowler v. UPMC Shadyside, 578 F.3d 203, 210 (3d Cir.2009). First, the factual and legal elements of a claim are separated. Id. The court must accept all of the complaint’s well-pleaded facts as true, but may disregard any legal conclusions. Id. at 210-11. Second, the court must determine whether the facts alleged in the complaint are sufficient to show that plaintiff has a “plausible claim for relief.”2 Id. at 211. In other words, the complaint must do more than allege plaintiffs entitlement to relief; rather it must “show” such an entitlement with its facts. Id. “[W]here the well-pleaded facts do not permit the court to infer more than a mere possibility of misconduct, the complaint has alleged — but it has not shown— that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (quoting Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(a)(2)).

III. DISCUSSION

The complaint contains two counts. Count one alleges cruel and unusual punishment in violation of plaintiffs Fourteenth Amendment rights and count two alleges that plaintiff was subjected to conditions significantly worse than other people under similar circumstance in violation of the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment. More particularly, plaintiff alleges delay and denial in receiving den[332]*332tal, medical, and mental health treatment, unlawful conditions of confinement, denial of law library access, violations of his right to equal protection, an unlawful finding of violation of prison rules with subsequent loss of privileges, and denial of a religious diet.

The Eighth Amendment cruel and unusual punishment clause does not apply until an inmate has been both convicted of and sentenced for his crimes. See Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 392 n. 6, 109 S.Ct. 1865, 104 L.Ed.2d 443 (1989); Hubbard v. Taylor, 399 F.3d 150, 164 (3d Cir.2005). Pretrial detainees are protected under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause rather than the Eighth Amendment. Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 535-37, 99 S.Ct. 1861, 60 L.Ed.2d 447 (1979); Boring v.

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Bluebook (online)
917 F. Supp. 2d 328, 2013 WL 227658, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8172, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/parkell-v-morgan-ded-2013.