Sharbaugh v. Beaudry

267 F. Supp. 3d 1326
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Florida
DecidedJuly 14, 2017
DocketCase No. 3:16cv126-MCR-EMT
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 267 F. Supp. 3d 1326 (Sharbaugh v. Beaudry) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sharbaugh v. Beaudry, 267 F. Supp. 3d 1326 (N.D. Fla. 2017).

Opinion

ORDER

M. CASEY RODGERS, CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

In this civil rights suit, Plaintiff Russell Sharbaugh (“Sharbaugh”), as Personal Representative of the Estate of Ricky Dean Martin, alleges that Ricky Dean Martin was brutally beaten, raped, and murdered by his cellmate while serving a state prison sentence. Sharbaugh claims that the attack resulted from the deliberate indifference of the Defendants (prison officials and supervisors) to the known substantial risk of harm Martin faced from the cellmate, in violation of the Eighth Amendment.1 See 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Shar-baugh seeks damages for Martin’s emotional and physical torture, injury, and trauma; immense pain and suffering; humiliation; terror; and death (“hedonic damages”).2

Pending are Defendants’ Motions for Judgment on the Pleadings pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(c) on the ground that in this case, noneconomic damages are not available as a matter of law on Sharbaugh’s § 1983 claim because Martin died as a result of the alleged constitutional violation.3 Defendants argue that because § 1983 does not speak to damages or the survival of a cause of action after death, it is “deficient” for purposes of 42 U.S.C. § 1988, and therefore, pursuant to § 1988, the Court must look to state law and award damages consistent with Florida’s Wrongful Death Act (“FWDA”), Fla. Stat. §§ 768.16-768.26, which does not permit recovery for a decedent’s pre-death pain and suffering.4 Shar-baugh opposes the motions, arguing that, because the FWDA precludes a claim for [1329]*1329the decedent’s pain and suffering, it is inconsistent with the purposes of § 1983 and should not govern the damages award in this case. After an exhaustive review of the matter, the Court concludes that the FWDA, which fills a gap in § 1983 by allowing for the survival of Martin’s cause of action against Defendants but precluding a claim for decedent’s pain and suffering, is not inconsistent with the policies underlying federal law. Defendants’ motions will be granted.

I. Standard of Review

A Rule 12(c) motion for judgment on the pleadings for failure to state a claim is considered under the same standard as a motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6). See Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(h)(2)(B) (providing that failure to state a claim can be raised by a motion under Rule 12(c)); see also 316, Inc. v. Maryland Cas. Co., 625 F.Supp.2d 1179, 1181 (N.D. Fla. 2008). Thus, the Court considers whether the plaintiff has pled a plausible claim, “accepting the facts in the complaint as true and viewing them in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party.” Horsley v. Feldt, 304 F.3d 1125, 1131 (11th Cir. 2002); see also Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (“[A] complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face”); Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) (stating the plausibility standard).

II. Discussion

A. Sections 1983 & 1988

Section 1983 provides a cause of action for injuries caused by official actions taken under color of state law in deprivation of a person’s constitutional rights. 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The Supreme Court has characterized § 1983 as creating “ ‘a species of tort liability’ in favor of persons who are deprived” of their rights under the Constitution. Memphis Cmty. Sch. Dist. v. Stachura, 477 U.S. 299, 305-06, 106 S.Ct. 2537, 91 L.Ed.2d 249 (1986) (quoting Carey v. Piphus, 435 U.S. 247, 253, 98 S.Ct. 1042, 55 L.Ed.2d 252 (1978)). As one of the “Reconstruction civil rights statutes,” § 1983 is given “a sweep as broad as [its] language.” Robertson v. Wegmann, 436 U.S. 584, 590, 98 S.Ct. 1991, 56 L.Ed.2d 554 (1978) (quoting Griffin v. Breckenridge, 403 U.S. 88, 97, 91 S.Ct. 1790, 29 L.Ed.2d 338 (1971)).

The exercise of jurisdiction under § 1983 and the means of enforcing its mandate are set out in § 1988, which provides:

The jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters conferred on the district courts by [the civil rights laws] ... shall be exercised and enforced in conformity with [federal laws], so far as such laws are suitable to carry the same into effect; but, in all cases where they are not adapted to the object, or are deficient in the provisions necessary to furnish suitable remedies and punish offenses against law, the common law, as modified and changed by the constitution and statutes of the State wherein the court having jurisdiction of such civil or criminal cause is held, so far as the same is not inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of the United States, shall be extended to and govern the said courts in the trial and disposition of the cause....

[1330]*133042 U.S.C. § 1988(a). Section 1988 recognizes that in certain respects, the civil rights statutes are “unsuited or insufficient to.furnish suitable remedies,” 42 U.S.Q. § 1988, because, “federal law simply does not cover every issue that may arise in the context of a federal civil rights action.” Robertson, 436 U.S. at 588, 98 S.Ct. 1955. Thus, to fully carry the civil rights statutes into effect, § 1988 requires courts .to conduct a three-step inquiry to determine “the rules of decision applicable to civil rights claims.” Wilson v. Garcia, 471 U.S. 261, 267, 105 S.Ct. 1938, 85 L.Ed.2d 254 (1985) (superseded by statute on other grounds); see also Estate of Gilliam v. City of Prattville, 639 F.3d 1041, 1045 (11th Cir. 2011). First, courts look to federal law, and consider whether it is “suitable to carry [the civil and criminal civil rights statutes] into effect.” Estate of Gilliam, 639 F.3d at 1045 (citing § 1988) (alteration in original). Second, if federal law is not “adapted to the object” or is “deficient” in providing suitable remedies, courts must apply common law, as modified by state law. Id.

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Bluebook (online)
267 F. Supp. 3d 1326, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sharbaugh-v-beaudry-flnd-2017.