Stroud v. USP-Lewisburg

District Court, M.D. Pennsylvania·Decided November 30, 2022·No. 1:22-cv-00515·Unknown

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA

MARCUS STROUD, : Plaintiff : : No. 1:22-cv-0515 v. : : (Judge Rambo) WARDEN USP LEWISBURG, : et al., : Defendants :

MEMORANDUM

Plaintiff Marcus Stroud, who was previously incarcerated at the United States Penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania (USP Lewisburg), initiated the above- captioned pro se action, purportedly under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. He asserts constitutional tort claims against the warden of USP Lewisburg and six unidentified USP Lewisburg correctional officers. In May 2022, the Court dismissed Stroud’s complaint but granted him leave to amend. Stroud moves for reconsideration of that order. The Court will grant in part Stroud’s motion for reconsideration. I. BACKGROUND Stroud filed the instant civil rights case in April 2022. (Doc. No. 1.) He alleged that, during prison transfers from FCI Loretto to USP Lewisburg and then from USP Lewisburg to MDC Brooklyn, he was handcuffed using a “Blackbox” mechanism, which is “a small black box [that] sits over the handcuffs restricting movement of the wrists, causing discomfort, and prevent[ing] an inmate from picking the lock.” (Id. ¶¶ 14-16, 22-25.) According to Stroud, of the nine total inmates on the bus from FCI Loretto to USP Lewisburg—all of whom were

designated low- or minimum-security risk—only he and two other inmates were “Blackboxed,” and this was specifically because they were sex offenders. (Id. ¶¶ 17-19, 25.) On the bus transfer from USP Lewisburg to MDC Brooklyn, Stroud

claims that, of the twelve total inmates, nine were low-security prisoners and only two of those low-security inmates (Stroud and another sex offender) were Blackboxed. (Id. ¶¶ 22-25.) Stroud alleges that the USP Lewisburg bus crew “conspired among

themselves” to intentionally Blackbox the sex offenders so that their prior offenses would be exposed to the other prisoners on the bus. (Id. ¶¶ 37, 39.) Stroud maintains that these prison officials knew of “the danger and stigmatization sex offenders face

while in prison” but chose to Blackbox and single out the sex offenders anyway. (Id. ¶¶ 38, 41.) Stroud avers that this practice of Blackboxing low-security sex offenders during transport to reveal their identities has been occurring at USP Lewisburg for “at least 6 months.” (Id. ¶¶ 28, 43-44.)

Stroud claims that Defendants’ actions constitute “state created danger,” “failure to supervise,” equal protection violations, and civil conspiracy. (Id. ¶¶ 36- 56.) In his complaint, he attempted to bring these claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

(Id. ¶ 1.) As the Court noted in its May 25, 2022 Memorandum, all Defendants are prison officials at USP Lewisburg, which is a federal facility. (See Doc. No. 10 at

3.) Stroud, therefore, cannot bring constitutional tort claims against them under Section 1983, as that statute is meant to remedy deprivations of federal rights by persons acting under color of state law. (See id. (citing 42 U.S.C. § 1983; Mack v.

Warden Loretto FCI, 839 F.3d 286, 302 (3d Cir. 2016)).) The Court noted that, while it was possible that some of Stroud’s claims might be cognizable under Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388 (1971), Stroud’s complaint failed to state any civil rights violations, so an analysis of

whether a Bivens remedy was available was unnecessary. (Id.) The Court first analyzed Stroud’s state-created danger claims. It found that Stroud’s pleading fell short at the first element because he had not alleged that

Defendants’ actions had “resulted in foreseeable and direct harm or, for that matter, any harm at all.” (Id. at 6.) The Court further noted the absence of any case law holding that being revealed as a sex offender to other prisoners, by itself, satisfies the “harm element” of the state-created danger paradigm. (Id. at 6 n.1.)

The Court then reviewed and dismissed Stroud’s equal protection claim. The Court construed Stroud’s undeveloped Fifth Amendment claim as asserting that he had been treated unfairly based on his status as a sex offender. (See id. at 7.) The

Court observed, however, that a sex-offender designation does not qualify as membership in a “protected class” for equal protection purposes. (Id. at 7-8 (citing, inter alia, Perry v. Pa. Dep’t of Corr., 441 F. App’x 833, 835, 838 (3d Cir. 2011)

(nonprecedential) (noting that sex-offender prisoner failed to plead membership in a protected class for equal protection claim))). Turning next to Stroud’s “failure to supervise” claim, the Court determined

that Stroud’s complaint failed to state a claim against the warden of USP Lewisburg because the allegations sounded only in respondeat superior. (Id. at 8-9.) The Court further held that, because Stroud’s complaint failed to plausibly state an underlying constitutional violation, his failure-to-supervise claim was also deficient, as Stroud

had not identified a violation of his civil rights of which the warden had actual knowledge and to which the warden had acquiesced. (Id. at 9.) Finally, as to Stroud’s civil conspiracy claim, the Court found that—like his

failure-to-supervise claim—Stroud had not plausibly stated a conspiracy claim because he had not identified an underlying constitutional violation. (See id. at 9-10 (citing Clayworth v. Luzerne County, 513 F. App’x 134, 138 (3d Cir. 2013) (nonprecedential) (“[B]ecause [plaintiff] failed to establish an underlying violation

of his constitutional rights, his [civil rights] conspiracy claim also fails.”)).) Concluding that each of Stroud’s claims was facially deficient in some manner, the Court dismissed Stroud’s complaint but granted him leave to amend as to all claims except his equal protection claim. (See id. at 10-11.) Stroud timely moved for reconsideration of that order. (Doc. No. 12.)1

II. DISCUSSION Stroud contends that all his claims should be permitted to go forward. He also submitted a proposed amended complaint. (Doc. No. 12-1.) That proposed amended

complaint is nearly identical to his original complaint, although it adds a few additional factual allegations as well as an Eighth Amendment failure-to-protect claim against the unidentified bus crews. (See id. ¶¶ 52-59.) For the following reasons, the Court will grant in part Stroud’s motion for reconsideration, but with a

result that Stroud may not have anticipated. The Court will dismiss with prejudice Stroud’s Bivens claims sounding in state-created danger, class-of-one equal protection, and failure to supervise, and will permit him to file an amended complaint

limited to failure to protect and civil conspiracy. A. State-Created Danger The Court begins with Stroud’s state-created danger claims. Stroud’s complaint fails to state a claim for relief for two independent reasons.

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

Stroud v. USP-Lewisburg, (M.D. Pa. 2022).

Stroud v. USP-Lewisburg (Stroud v. USP-Lewisburg) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Davis v. Passman
442 U.S. 228 (Supreme Court, 1979)
Carlson v. Green
446 U.S. 14 (Supreme Court, 1980)
Turner v. Safley
482 U.S. 78 (Supreme Court, 1987)
Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly
550 U.S. 544 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Perry v. Pennsylvania Department of Corrections
441 F. App'x 833 (Third Circuit, 2011)
Farber v. City of Paterson
440 F.3d 131 (Third Circuit, 2006)
Cheryl James v. Wilkes Barre City
700 F.3d 675 (Third Circuit, 2012)
Fred Clayworth v. County of Luzerne
513 F. App'x 134 (Third Circuit, 2013)
Farmer v. Brennan
511 U.S. 825 (Supreme Court, 1994)
Phillips v. County of Allegheny
515 F.3d 224 (Third Circuit, 2008)
Maxwell Ex Rel. Maxwell v. School District of Philadelphia
53 F. Supp. 2d 787 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 1999)
Schieber v. City of Philadelphia
320 F.3d 409 (Third Circuit, 2003)
Charles Mack v. Warden Loretto FCI
839 F.3d 286 (Third Circuit, 2016)
Ziglar v. Abbasi
582 U.S. 120 (Supreme Court, 2017)
Emil Jutrowski v. Township of Riverdale
904 F.3d 280 (Third Circuit, 2018)
Peter Bistrian v. Troy Levi
912 F.3d 79 (Third Circuit, 2018)
Brian Davis v. Charles Samuels, Jr.
962 F.3d 105 (Third Circuit, 2020)
Charles Mack v. John Yost
968 F.3d 311 (Third Circuit, 2020)