TAYLOR v. BROWN

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Indiana
DecidedMarch 28, 2022
Docket2:19-cv-00416
StatusUnknown

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

Bluebook
TAYLOR v. BROWN, (S.D. Ind. 2022).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA TERRE HAUTE DIVISION

DENON TAYLOR, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) No. 2:19-cv-00416-JPH-MJD ) RICHARD BROWN, et al. ) ) Defendants. )

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

After the prison mailroom supervisor destroyed a letter that was returned to him, Denon Taylor sued her and the Warden for their role in creating or enforcing an allegedly unconstitutional policy. The defendants have moved for summary judgment. They argue that the destroyed mail, which Mr. Taylor had attempted to send to an offsite physician, was not "legal mail" entitled to heightened First Amendment protection. They also argue that they are entitled to qualified immunity on this claim. For the reasons discussed below, the motion for summary judgment is GRANTED. I. SUMMARY JUDGMENT STANDARD Parties in a civil dispute may move for summary judgment, which is a way of resolving a case short of a trial. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). Summary judgment is appropriate when there is no genuine dispute as to any of the material facts, and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Id.; Pack v. Middlebury Com. Schools, 990 F.3d 1013, 1017 (7th Cir. 2021). A "genuine dispute" exists when a reasonable factfinder could return a verdict for the nonmoving party. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248 (1986). "Material facts" are those that might affect the outcome of the suit. Id. When reviewing a motion for summary judgment, the Court views the

record and draws all reasonable inferences from it in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Khungar v. Access Community Health Network, 985 F.3d 565, 572–73 (7th Cir. 2021). The Court is only required to consider the materials cited by the parties, see Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(3); it is not required to "scour every inch of the record" for evidence that is potentially relevant. Grant v. Tr. of Ind. Univ., 870 F.3d 562, 573-74 (7th Cir. 2017). II. BACKGROUND A. Legal Mail Policies

The Indiana Department of Correction ("IDOC") maintains a policy titled "Offender Correspondence." Dkt. 68-1. Under this policy, all incoming and outgoing "legal correspondence" must be opened and inspected in the presence of the sending or receiving prisoner. Id. at 8. Each correctional facility is required to develop its own operational procedures to ensure that legal mail is opened and inspected in the presence of the sending or receiving prisoner. Id. The definition of "legal correspondence" in IDOC's Offender Correspondence policy does not expressly address the status of returned, undelivered legal mail. Id. at 2.

Wabash Valley Correctional Facility has its own Offender Correspondence policy. Dkt. 68-2. This policy expressly addresses the issue of returned, undelivered legal mail and provides the following: The mail shall be inspected for contraband and prohibited property. (The inspection does not need to occur in front of the offender.) . . . If no contraband or prohibited property is found then the mail shall be destroyed and the offender shall receive a notice of destruction along with a photocopy of the returned envelope. A copy of the notice of destruction and the front of the returned envelope shall be sent to the Classification Department for placement in the offender’s packet.

Id. at 7.

In 2019 and 2020, several prisoners at Wabash Valley Correctional Facility filed civil rights lawsuits to enjoin prison officials from continuing to enforce this provision.1 As a result, the provision was vacated by IDOC Executive Directive #20-30 on June 16, 2020. Dkt. 68-5; Sweeney, 2:19-cv-285-JPH-MJD, dkt. 64- 1 (settlement agreement). Executive Directive #20-30 provides, in relevant part: If a virtual inspection of the mail does not indicate anything unusual or suspicious (e.g. When the returned item is noted on facility logs of outgoing mail), the mail shall be treated as incoming Legal Mail or Privileged Correspondence, and opened in the presence of the offender only to check for contraband/prohibited property and, if no contraband/prohibited property is found, it shall be given to the offender.

. . .

In the event that suspicion is raised that the returned Legal Mail or Privileged Correspondence is tainted with a foreign substance or contains contraband/prohibited property, it shall be treated in the same manner as non-Legal Mail or Privileged or non-Privileged Correspondence which raised similar suspicion . . . If no foreign substance or other contraband /prohibited property is discovered, the mail shall be copied, and the copy provided to the offender.

Dkt. 68-5, p. 3, paras. 6-7.

1 E.g. Sweeney et al. v. Wallace et al., 2:19-cv-285-JPH-MJD; Robinson v. Wallace et al. 2:19-cv-560-JPH-DLP. B. Mr. Taylor's Destroyed Mail On or around February 22, 2019, Mr. Taylor attempted to mail a letter from Wabash Valley Correctional Facility to Dr. Kurtis Madsen, an offsite

physician based in Terre Haute, Indiana. Dkt. 70, p. 1, para. 2. On the envelope, Mr. Taylor misspelled Dr. Madsen's name as "Dr. Madison." Id.; dkt. 68-3, p. 2. Mr. Taylor wanted to pursue legal remedies for injuries and medical treatments for his knee. Dkt. 68-4, p. 13. Mr. Taylor claims that Dr. Madsen is "the reason why [his] knee is messed up." Id. The letter intended for Dr. Madsen included an affidavit describing the issues with Mr. Taylor's knee, along with a witness statement from another prisoner about Mr. Taylor's condition. Id. at 14. Mr. Taylor believed that he needed Dr. Madsen to sign the affidavit before he

could file a lawsuit in state or federal court. Id. at 18. On March 5, 2019, the letter intended for Dr. Madsen was returned by the United States Postal Service, undelivered and marked "return to sender," to Wabash Valley. Dkt. 68-3; dkt. 70, p. 16. Pursuant to Wabash Valley's Correspondence Policy, Ms. Wallace confiscated the letter, inspected it for contraband, and had it destroyed. Id. Ms. Wallace sent Mr. Taylor a copy of the front of the envelope and a Notice and Report of Action Taken on Correspondence form, which stated that the letter had been destroyed. Id.

C. Subsequent Events In his deposition, Mr. Taylor testified that he has been unable to file a lawsuit against Dr. Madsen because his letter to Dr. Madsen was destroyed. Dkt. 68-4, p. 20. He did not make copies of the destroyed affidavit or the testimonial statement from his fellow prisoner, and the prisoner who drafted the testimonial statement is now deceased. Id. at 27. Mr. Taylor stated that he was discouraged by the destruction of his letter

to Dr. Madsen and has not attempted to write another letter. Id. However, he also testified that the policy at Wabash Valley has changed, and prison officials now return legal mail marked "return to sender" to prisoners. Id. at 28. III. DISCUSSION

At issue in this case is a single piece of returned mail that was destroyed. A. Claims for Injunctive Relief are Moot After Mr. Taylor filed this lawsuit, the provision of Wabash Valley's Offender Correspondence policy at issue was vacated by IDOC Executive Directive #20-30. Dkt. 68-5. In his deposition, Mr. Taylor testified that inmates now receive a photocopy of mail marked "return to sender," which complies with the terms of IDOC Executive Order #20-30. As such, the issue of injunctive and declaratory relief is now moot. See Ovadal v. City of Madison, Wisconsin, 469 F.3d 625, 629 (7th Cir.

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TAYLOR v. BROWN, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/taylor-v-brown-insd-2022.