United States v. King

384 F.3d 1248, 16 Am. Disabilities Cas. (BNA) 111, 2004 U.S. App. LEXIS 19250, 2004 WL 2035197
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedSeptember 14, 2004
DocketNo. 02-13348
StatusPublished
Cited by110 cases

This text of 384 F.3d 1248 (United States v. King) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. King, 384 F.3d 1248, 16 Am. Disabilities Cas. (BNA) 111, 2004 U.S. App. LEXIS 19250, 2004 WL 2035197 (11th Cir. 2004).

Opinion

HULL, Circuit Judge:

Plaintiff Tracy Miller (“Miller”), a paraplegic state prisoner, appeals the grant of summary judgment on his Eighth-Amendment claims brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and his disability-discrimination claims brought under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12131-12165 (“ADA”).

After review and oral argument, we reverse as to Miller’s: (1) Eighth-Amendment claims under § 1983 for monetary damages against defendant Sikes in his individual capacity; (2) Eighth-Amendment claims under § 1983 for injunctive relief against defendant Sikes in his official capacity; and (3) ADA claims for injunc-tive relief against defendant Sikes in his official capacity. We affirm as to Miller’s ADA claims for monetary damages as to [1254]*1254all defendants and as to all other claims against all defendants.

I. BACKGROUND

Miller is a paraplegic, wheelchair-bound inmate at Georgia State Prison (“GSP”) in Reidsville, Georgia. Miller suffers from complete paralysis in his right leg, partial paralysis in his left leg, and a neurogenic bladder condition that causes urinary incontinence. At GSP, Miller is housed in disciplinary isolation in the “K-Building,” which is designated a “high maximum” security section of the prison. As a result of more than 180 disciplinary reports, Miller has been held in isolation in the K-Building since at least 1998, and is due to remain in isolation for a total of more than eight years. Able-bodied inmates in disciplinary isolation are housed in less stringent units than the “high maximum” security K-Building. Because K-Building cells are so small and not accommodated for the wheelchair-bound, prison policy calls for beds to be removed daily so that the wheelchair-bound inmates have some minimal area within which to move around their cells.1

A. Com/plaint

Miller originally filed this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Ronald King, the Hearing Officer for the Office of Inmate Discipline at GSP, and Wayne Garner, Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Corrections (“GDOC”), in their official and individual capacities. The original complaint alleged that the defendants had deprived Miller of various due-process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment, including the right to present witnesses in his disciplinary hearings. Miller also alleged that the defendants had placed him in isolation because he is disabled and in retaliation for his filing suits.

Miller subsequently amended his complaint to add as defendants the State of Georgia, the GDOC, and GSP Warden Johnny Sikes, in his official and individual capacities. Miller also added disability-discrimination claims under Title II of the ADA, retaliation claims under the First Amendment, and cruel-and-unusual-punishment claims under the Eighth Amendment. Miller’s complaint (as amended, the “Complaint”) sought monetary and injunc-tive relief.

Regarding his Eighth-Amendment and ADA claims, Miller’s Complaint essentially makes the following claims against the defendants: (1) that there is no room in his small cell for him to maneuver his wheelchair, making him immobile and restrained for extended periods of time and that this problem is exacerbated by GSP staffs failure to remove his bed from his cell daily, as prison policy requires for wheelchair-bound inmates; (2) that the showers and toilets in the K-Building are not wheelchair-accessible, that he has been denied the opportunity to bathe regularly and to obtain basic hygiene, and that GSP staff have not provided him necessary urine catheters or assistance in using portable toilets, resulting in Miller’s urination and defecation on himself; and (3) that GSP officials and staff have ignored his medical complaints, failed to provide him with rudimentary medical devices required for his paraplegic condition, including leg braces, orthopedic shoes, a wheelchair-accessible van, and wheelchair repairs, and failed to provide him with required medical care, [1255]*1255including physical therapy, occupational therapy, and medical evaluation for his spinal condition, resulting in bed sores, serious atrophy, and deterioration of his spinal condition. As additional ADA claims, Miller asserts that he has. been denied basic privileges provided to able-bodied inmates in isolation, including removal from isolation for one day after each thirty-day isolation period, and participation in “yard call” and “gym call” during each such removal day.2

Miller alleges that GSP officials and staff, including Warden Sikes personally, were aware of his paraplegic condition, the inhumane conditions of his confinement and his serious medical needs, and were deliberately indifferent to those conditions and needs. On these bases, Miller seeks monetary damages and injunctive relief under § 1983 and Title II of the ADA.

B. Preliminary Injunction Hearing

Miller filed numerous motions for emergency preliminary injunctions. The magistrate judge conducted a hearing at which Miller, several inmates, and prison officials testified. We review that evidence because Miller relies on it in this appeal.

During the hearing, Clarence Downs, a GSP prisoner housed in the K-Building with Miller, testified that he had observed correctional officers using excessive force against Miller, that officers at times shut off the water to Miller’s cell for days at a time, that Miller’s cell was not large enough to maneuver a wheelchair, and that prison staff did not remove beds from cells during the day to make the , cells wheelchair-accessible. The magistrate. judge admitted into evidence a letter from J. Philip Ferraro, GDOC Assistant Director of Legal Services, a copy of which was provided to Warden Sikes, stating that “the beds for disabled prisoners in restricted quarters are removed during the day to ensure they have enough room to maneuver their wheelchairs in their cells.” During the hearing, Miller emphasized that his bed was not removed from his cell daily as required by GDOC policies.

Dr. Carolyn Mailloux, the GSP medical director, testified that Miller' was able to stand on his own and maneuver for short periods of time, and that while Miller would not necessarily require a “wheelchair with legs,” it would be beneficial to him. Although Dr. Mailloux- requested various medical consultations and treatments for Miller, Miller never received the prescribed consultations or treatments because each time either Miller refused or GSP Utilization Management did not approve the visits. Dr. Mailloux acknowledged that Miller had experienced some muscle atrophy. -However, Dr; Mailloux testified that medical staff examined Miller shortly before or after he was placed in disciplinary isolation, that Miller’s cell was wheelchair-accessible, that she was .not aware that the prison staff had ever refused Miller medical treatment, and that Miller’s life was not in imminent danger due to lack of medical treatment at the prison. She further testified that Miller had not receiyed. physical therapy because he refused to go to a prerequisite consultation, and that Miller, could travel in a regular van without any special accommodations.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
384 F.3d 1248, 16 Am. Disabilities Cas. (BNA) 111, 2004 U.S. App. LEXIS 19250, 2004 WL 2035197, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-king-ca11-2004.