Tooley v. Boyd

936 F. Supp. 685, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12645, 1996 WL 483002
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Missouri
DecidedAugust 23, 1996
DocketNo. 4:95CV188SNL
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 936 F. Supp. 685 (Tooley v. Boyd) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tooley v. Boyd, 936 F. Supp. 685, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12645, 1996 WL 483002 (E.D. Mo. 1996).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

LIMBAUGH, District Judge.

Pro se prisoner plaintiff1 brings this § 1983 action alleging, that as a result of Ms involvement in a jail race riot, he was more severely pumshed than other culpable black inmates. He further alleges that he was demed assignment to the kitchen because of Ms race (white). Finally, he alleges that he was demed medical treatment for a toe that was injured during the riot. TMs matter is before the Court on the defendants’ motion for summary judgment (# 43). Plaintiff has filed a response.

Courts have repeatedly recognized that summary judgment is a harsh remedy that should be granted only when the moving party has established his right to judgment with such clarity as not to give rise to controversy. New England Mut. Life Ins. Co. v. Null, 554 F.2d 896, 901 (8th Cir.1977). Summary judgment motions, however, “can be a tool of great utility m removing factually insubstantial cases from crowded dockets, freeing courts’ trial time for those that really do raise genuine issues of material fact.” Mt. Pleasant v. Associated Elec. Coop. Inc., 838 F.2d 268, 273 (8th Cir.1988).

Pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c), a district court may grant a motion for summary judgment if all of the information be[688]*688fore the court demonstrates that “there is no genuine issue as to material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Poller v. Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc., 368 U.S. 464, 467, 82 S.Ct. 486, 488, 7 L.Ed.2d 458 (1962). The burden is on the moving party. Mt. Pleasant, 838 F.2d at 273. After the moving party discharges this burden, the nonmoving party must do more than show that there is some doubt as to the facts. Matsushita Elec. Industrial Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 1355-56, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). Instead, the nonmoving party bears the burden of setting forth specific facts showing that there is sufficient evidence in its favor to allow a jury to return a verdict for it. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510-11, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Celótex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 324, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2553, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).

In passing on a motion for summary judgment, the court must review the facts in a light most favorable to the party opposing the motion and give that party the benefit of any inferences that logically can be drawn from those facts. Buller v. Buechler, 706 F.2d 844, 846 (8th Cir.1983). The court is required to resolve all conflicts of evidence in favor of the nonmoving party. Robert Johnson Grain Co. v. Chem. Interchange Co., 541 F.2d 207, 210 (8th Cir.1976). With these principles in mind, the Court turns to an examination of the facts.

Plaintiff, during the relevant time-period, was incarcerated at the St. Louis Municipal Jail facility. On September 12, 1994, at approximately 3:40 p.m., on the third floor — tier three (3), a physical fight broke out among several residents, black and white. Plaintiff was involved in this fight. Correctional officers responded to the disturbance and ordered the inmates to cease fighting and “to rack”. Several inmates, including the plaintiff, failed to comply with the order. Ultimately the disturbance was quelched and the inmates who failed to comply with the correctional officers’ orders were handcuffed, removed from the tier, and taken to the “bullpen” for processing. Defendants’ Exhibit D.

After the disturbance, all of the inmates involved were seen by medical staff. Scratches were noted on plaintiff Tooley. He was offered medical treatment but refused it. Medical records show that plaintiff did not complain of any injury to his toe2 when first examined by the medical staff (following the disturbance). Medical records further show no request by Tooley, at any time following the September 12,1994 disturbance, for medical attention regarding an injury to his toe. Defendants’ Exhibits A and B.

An internal investigation ensued. Several inmates, including the plaintiff, were interviewed as to the cause of the riot. The investigation revealed that the disturbance was the result of underlying racial tensions on the tier, and that the white inmates instigated the riot. Plaintiff was found to be one of the main instigators and participants in the riot. All of the inmates involved (black and white) were charged with contributing to the riot. The black inmates and one white inmate were allowed to return to tier 3-3; however, plaintiff and two other white inmates were segregated on a different floor while the investigation took place. Defendants’ Exhibit D.

Although the facts surrounding plaintiffs claim regarding discrimination in work assignment are sketchy3, it appears that plain[689]*689tiffs initial request for a work assignment in the kitchen was rejected due to the fact that his bond was too high. The jail' facility has a policy of only having four (4) inmates with high bonds and/or murder charges to work in the kitchen at one time. Defendants’ Exhibit C. When an opening occurred, plaintiff was given his kitchen work assignment. Defendants’ Exhibit C.

Plaintiff does not allege any due process violations with regard to his segregation after the race riot. He simply alleges that he was racially discriminated against as regards his confinement to administrative segregation and his request for a kitchen work assignment. In order to establish a claim for an equal protection violation pursuant to the Fourteenth Amendment, plaintiff must show that he was accorded treatment invidiously dissimilar from that accorded to other inmates, with no rational basis existing for the difference in treatment. Wishon v. Gammon, 978 F.2d. 446, 450 (8th Cir.1992); Flit-tie v. Solem, 827 F.2d. 276 (8th Cir.1987). Plaintiff has failed to demonstrate in any way that he has been accorded treatment invidiously dissimilar from that accorded to other similarly situated inmates.

The evidence before this Court clearly shows that an internal investigation of the race riot concluded that the riot was the result of racial tensions between certain white inmates and black inmates on the tier. The investigation further concluded that the white inmates instigated the riot; and that plaintiff was one of the instigators and main participants in the riot. The evidence before this Court also shows that while plaintiff and two other white inmates believed to be the primary participants in the riot were segregated on the second floor; another white inmate and the black inmates were allowed to return to their cells on the third floor.

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Bluebook (online)
936 F. Supp. 685, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12645, 1996 WL 483002, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tooley-v-boyd-moed-1996.