Porterfield v. Shelby County Jail

CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Tennessee
DecidedDecember 29, 2020
Docket2:19-cv-02885
StatusUnknown

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

Bluebook
Porterfield v. Shelby County Jail, (W.D. Tenn. 2020).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE WESTERN DIVISION ISAAC PORTERFIELD, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) No. 2:19-cv-02885-JTF-atc ) v. ) ) SHELBY COUNTY JAIL,ET AL., ) ) Defendants. ) ) ORDER DISMISSING THE COMPLAINT WITHOUTPREJUDICE (ECF NO. 1) ANDGRANTING LEAVE TO AMEND On December 23, 2019, Plaintiff Isaac Porterfield, who is incarcerated under booking number 1912425 at Shelby County Criminal Justice Center (“Jail”), in Memphis, Tennessee, filed a pro se complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. (ECF No. 1.) On June 12, 2020, the Court granted him leave to proceed in forma pauperis and assessed the $350 filing fee. (ECF No. 14.) Plaintiff sues: the Jail; Shelby County Jail DRT Team1; and Judge Lee Coffee. His complaint suggests claims for judicial misconduct and excessive force. He seeks $30 million in relief. (ECF No. 1 at PageID 5-6.) I. BACKGROUND Porterfield states that several unidentified members of the DRT Team assaulted him when they “came and got me to go back to prison.” (ECF No. 1 at PageID 5 (the Incident).) Afterwards, 1 The Court construes Plaintiff’s “DRT” designation to refer to Direct Response Team. See, e.g., Burns v. Shelby Cnty., No. 16-3017, 2018 WL 6186805, at *1 (W.D. Tenn. Nov. 27, 2018). they allegedly continued their assault at an unspecified medical facility. (Id.) Hedoes not identify the date of these events, the particular actors involved, or his putative injuries. (See id.) II. LEGAL STANDARDS A. Screening Requirements The Court is required toscreenprisoner complaints and to dismiss any complaint, or any

portion thereof, if the complaint — (1) is frivolous, malicious, or fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted; or (2) seeks monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b);see also28 U.S.C. §1915(e)(2)(B). In assessing whether the complaint in this case states a claim on which relief may be granted, the Court applies the standards of Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6), as stated inAshcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 677-79 (2009) and inBell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555-57 (2007). Hill v. Lappin, 630 F.3d 468, 470-71 (6th Cir. 2010). The Court accepts a plaintiff’s “well-pleaded” factual allegations as true and then determines whether the allegations “‘plausibly

suggest an entitlement to relief.’” Williams v. Curtin, 631 F.3d 380, 383 (6th Cir. 2011) (quotingIqbal, 556 U.S. at 681). Conclusory allegations “are not entitled to the assumption of truth,” and legal conclusions “must be supported by factual allegations.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 679. Although a complaint need only contain “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief,” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2), Rule 8nevertheless requires factual allegations to make a “‘showing,’ rather than a blanket assertion, of entitlement to relief.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555 n.3. “Pro se complaints are to be held ‘to less stringent standards than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers,’ and should therefore be liberally construed.”

2 383(quoting Martin v. Overton, 391 F.3d 710, 712 (6th Cir. 2004)). Pro se litigants, however, are not exempt from the requirements of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Wells v. Brown, 891 F.2d591, 594 (6th Cir. 1989); see alsoBrown v. Matauszak, 415 F. App’x 608, 612, 613 (6th Cir. Jan. 31, 2011) (affirming dismissal ofpro secomplaint for failure to comply with “unique pleading requirements” and stating“a court cannot ‘create a claim which [a plaintiff] has not spelled out in

his pleading’” (quotingClark v. Nat'l Travelers Life Ins. Co., 518 F.2d 1167, 1169 (6th Cir. 1975))). B. Requirements To State A Claim Under 42 U.S.C. §1983 Plaintiff filed his complaint (ECF No. 1) pursuant to42 U.S.C. § 1983, which provides: Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress.... To state a claim under § 1983, a plaintiff must allege two elements: (1) a deprivation of rights secured by the “Constitution and laws” of the United States (2) committed by a defendant acting under color of state law. Adickes v. S.H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144, 150 (1970). III. ANALYSIS A. Official CapacityClaims Against The DRT Team, The Jail & Judge Coffee Plaintiff sues the DRT Team in their official and individual capacities. (ECF No. 1 at PageID 4.) He does not specify whether he sues the Jail and Judge Coffee in their official or individual capacities. The Sixth Circuit requires plaintiffsto “set forth clearly in their pleading that they are suing the state defendants in their individual capacity for damages, not simply in their capacity as state 3 officials.” Wells, 891 F.2d at 592. “Absent a specification of capacity, it is presumed that a state official is sued in his official capacity.” Northcott v. Plunkett, 42F.App’x 795, 796 (6th Cir. 2002) (citing Wells, 891 F.2d at 593). As such, Plaintiff’s official capacity claims against the DRT Team and the Jail are treated as claims against Shelby County. His official capacity claims against Judge Coffee are treated as claims against the State of Tennessee.

As to official capacity claims against the DRT Team and the Jail, alocal government such as a municipality or county “cannot be held liablesolelybecause it employs a tortfeasor -- or, in other words, a municipality cannot be held liable under§1983on a respondeat superiortheory.” Monell v. Dep’t. of Soc. Serv., 436 U.S. 658, 691 (1978)(emphasis in original);seealsoSearcyv.CityofDayton,38F.3d282,286(6thCir.1994). A municipality may be held responsible for a constitutional deprivation only if there is a direct causal link between a municipal policy or custom and the alleged deprivation. Monell, 436 U.S. at 691-92; Deaton v. Montgomery Cnty., Ohio, 989 F.2d 885, 889 (6th Cir. 1993). A plaintiff “must (1) identify the municipal policy or custom, (2) connect the policy to the municipality, and (3) show that his

particular injury was incurred due to execution of that policy.” Alkirev.Irving,330F.3d802,815 (6thCir.2003) (citingGarner v.Memphis Police Dep’t,8F.3d358,364(6thCir.1993)).

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Porterfield v. Shelby County Jail, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/porterfield-v-shelby-county-jail-tnwd-2020.