Patterson v. Bolster

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Virginia
DecidedJanuary 31, 2020
Docket3:18-cv-00854
StatusUnknown

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

Bluebook
Patterson v. Bolster, (E.D. Va. 2020).

Opinion

| □□□ IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA JAN 3 □ 2020 Richmond Division CLERK, U.S. DISTRICT COURT ANTHONY PATTERSON, ) “MOND, □□ ) Petitioner, ) ) Vv. ) Civil Action No. 3:18CV854-HEH ) MARK BOLSTER, ) ) Respondent. ) MEMORANDUM OPINION (Granting Motion for Summary Judgment) Anthony Patterson, a federal inmate proceeding pro se, brings this petition pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241 (“§ 2241 Petition,” ECF No. 1). Patterson’s claims stem from his convictions within the Bureau of Prisons (“BOP”) for the institutional infractions of possession of narcotics and use of intoxicants. Specifically, Patterson raises the following claims for relief:' Claim One: Patterson was “denied due process . . . when the Discipline Hearing Officer [(“DHO”)] failed to provide [him] with a written copy of his decision and the reasons for the sanctions following the DHO hearing.” (§ 2241 Pet. 6.) Claim Two: The DHO’s findings at Patterson’s “disciplinary hearings were unsupported by ‘some evidence.’” (Mem. Supp. § 2241 Pet. 5, ECF No. 2.)

' The Court employs the pagination assigned by the CM/ECF docketing system to the parties’ submissions. The Court corrects the spelling, capitalization, and punctuation in the quotations from the parties’ submissions.

Respondent filed a Motion to Dismiss, or in the Alternative, a Motion for

- Summary Judgment (“Motion for Summary Judgment,” ECF No. 6),” asserting, inter alia, that Patterson’s claims lack merit.> Despite the provision of notice pursuant to Roseboro y. Garrison, 528 F.2d 309 (4th Cir. 1975), Patterson has not responded. For the reasons set forth below, Respondent’s Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 6) will be granted. Patterson’s § 2241 Petition (ECF No. 1) will be denied because his claims are without merit. I. STANDARD FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT Summary judgment must be rendered “if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). It is the responsibility of the party seeking summary judgment to inform the Court of the basis for the motion, and to identify the parts of the

2 Because the Court relies upon the exhibits submitted by the parties, the Court will determine whether summary judgment is appropriate under Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and declines to consider Respondent’s Motion to Dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). As such, Respondent’s Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 5) will be dismissed as moot. 3 Respondent also argues that Patterson’s § 2241 Petition should be dismissed because he “failed to exhaust his administrative remedies.” (Mem. Supp. Mot. Summ. J. 13, ECF No. 7.) It is Respondent’s burden to establish that Patterson did not exhaust all available administrative remedies. See Jones v. Bock, 549 U.S. 199, 216 (2007) (concluding that “failure to exhaust [administrative remedies] is an affirmative defense”), Here, Respondent contends that as of March 8, 2019, Patterson had “not submitted an[y] appeal to the BOP’s Central Office,” and therefore, he had not exhausted all administrative remedies. (Kelley Decl. {J 31-32; see Mem. Supp. § 2241 Pet. 13-16.) However, in Patterson’s instant § 2241 Petition, one of his claims pertains to the approximately ten-month delay in his receipt of the DHO Reports from his disciplinary hearings. Respondent has not adequately addressed whether the significant delay in Patterson’s receipt of the DHO Reports impacts Patterson’s ability to exhaust all administrative remedies before filing suit. As such, the Court will address the merits of Patterson’s claims.

record that demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323 (1986). “[W]here the nonmoving party will bear the burden of proof at trial on a dispositive issue, a summary judgment motion may properly be made in reliance solely on the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file.” /d. at 324 (internal quotation marks omitted). When the motion is properly supported, the nonmoving party must go beyond the pleadings and, by citing affidavits or “‘depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file,’ designate ‘specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.’” Jd. (quoting former Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c) and 56(e) (1986)). In reviewing a summary judgment motion, the Court “must draw all justifiable inferences in favor of the nonmoving party.” United States v. Carolina Transformer Co., 978 F.2d 832, 835 (4th Cir. 1992) (citing Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255 (1986)). However, a mere scintilla of evidence will not preclude summary judgment. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 251 (citing Improvement Co. v. Munson, 81 U.S. (14 Wall.) 442, 448 (1872)). “{T]here is a preliminary question for the judge, not whether there is literally no evidence, but whether there is any upon which a jury could properly proceed to find a verdict for the party . .. upon whom the onus of proof is imposed.” /d. (quoting Munson, 81 U.S. at 448). Additionally, “Rule 56 does not impose upon the district court

a duty to sift through the record in search of evidence to support a party’s opposition to summary judgment.” Forsyth v. Barr, 19 F.3d 1527, 1537 (Sth Cir. 1994) (quoting Skotak v. Tenneco Resins, Inc., 953 F.2d 909, 915 & n.7 (Sth Cir, 1992)); see Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(3) (“The court need consider only the cited materials... .”).

In support of his Motion for Summary Judgment, Respondent submits: (1) the Declaration of Christina Kelley, a Senior Attorney at the Federal Correctional Complex in Butner, North Carolina, whose office oversees legal issues arising at the Federal Correctional Complex in Petersburg, Virginia (“FCC Petersburg”), (“Kelley Decl.,” ECF No. 7-1, at 1-9); (2) a copy of Patterson’s inmate data report reflecting Patterson’s current sentence and his projected release date (id. at 11-14); (3) a copy of an Incident Report for the institutional infraction of possession of narcotics (id. at 16-17); (4) copies of a Notice of Discipline Hearing Before the DHO form and a Duties of Staff Representative form for the institutional infraction of possession of narcotics (id. at 19— 20); (5) two copies of the Inmate Rights at Discipline Hearing form (id. at 22, 33); (6) a

copy of a DHO Report for the institutional infraction of possession of narcotics (id.

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Patterson v. Bolster, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/patterson-v-bolster-vaed-2020.