Unruh v. Garden City, Kansas, City of

CourtDistrict Court, D. Kansas
DecidedJuly 25, 2024
Docket5:24-cv-03118
StatusUnknown

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

Bluebook
Unruh v. Garden City, Kansas, City of, (D. Kan. 2024).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF KANSAS

TRENTON SCOTT UNRUH,

Plaintiff,

v. CASE NO. 24-3118-JWL

CITY OF GARDEN CITY, KANSAS, et al.,

Defendants.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

Plaintiff and Kansas prisoner Trenton Scott Unruh brings this pro se civil rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff is in custody at the Winfield Correctional Facility in Winfield, Kansas and he has been granted leave to proceed in forma pauperis. The Court has conducted the statutorily required screening of the complaint and Plaintiff will be given time to file an amended complaint that cures the deficiencies identified in this order. If Plaintiff fails to timely file an amended complaint that cures the deficiencies, this matter may be dismissed without further prior notice to Plaintiff. I. Screening Standards Because Plaintiff is a prisoner, the Court is required by statute to screen his complaint and to dismiss it or any portion of it that is frivolous, fails to state a claim on which relief may be granted, or seeks relief from a defendant immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a) and (b); 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B). “To state a claim under § 1983, a plaintiff must allege the violation of a right secured by the Constitution and laws of the United States, and must show that the alleged deprivation was committed by a person acting under color of state law.” West v. Atkins, 487 U.S. 42, 48-49 (1988) (citations omitted); Northington v. Jackson, 973 F.2d 1518, 1523 (10th Cir. 1992). The Court liberally construes a pro se complaint and applies “less stringent standards than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers.” Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 94 (2007). In addition, the Court accepts all well-pleaded allegations in the complaint as true. Anderson v. Blake, 469 F.3d 910, 913 (10th Cir. 2006). On the other hand, the Court “will not supply additional factual allegations to round out a plaintiff’s complaint or construct a legal theory on plaintiff’s behalf.”

Whitney v. New Mexico, 113 F.3d 1170, 1173-74 (10th Cir. 1997). “[W]hen the allegations in a complaint, however true, could not raise a claim of entitlement to relief,” dismissal is appropriate. Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 558 (2007). Furthermore, a pro se litigant’s “conclusory allegations without supporting factual averments are insufficient to state a claim upon which relief can be based.” Hall v. Bellmon, 935 F.2d 1106, 1110 (10th Cir. 1991). The Court must determine whether Plaintiff has “nudge[d] his claims across the line from conceivable to plausible.” See Smith v. United States, 561 F.3d 1090, 1098 (10th Cir. 2009) (quotation marks and citation omitted). “Plausible” in this context refers “to the scope of the allegations in a complaint: if they are so general that they encompass a wide swath of conduct,

much of it innocent,” then the plaintiff has not met his or her burden. Robbins v. Okla., 519 F.3d 1242, 1247 (10th Cir. 2008) (citing Twombly, at 550 U.S. at 570). II. The Complaint It is not clear from the complaint who Plaintiff intends to name as Defendants in this action. In the caption, Plaintiff identifies as Defendants “Garden City, Kansas, et al.” (Doc. 4, p. 1.) In the portion of the form complaint for identifying Defendants, however, Plaintiff identifies Mike Warren, the Sheriff of Finney County, Kansas, and E. Molinar, an employee of the Finney County Jail (FCJ). Id. at 1-2. And in a page attached to the form complaint, Plaintiff further states: “I name Sheriff Mike Warren, Cpl Molinar, Sgt Moreno, Lt Guzman, CO Castenata, Sgt. Dickson, Co Bates and Co Bokken, a[n]d CO Harp, Sgt Alverado defendants in this suit.” (Doc. 4-1, p. 6 (all errors in original).) Because the pro se complaint is liberally construed, the Court has instructed the clerk to enter all of these individuals and Garden City as Defendants in this matter. As the factual background for the complaint, Plaintiff alleges that his civil rights were violated multiple times by FCJ staff during his incarceration at the FCJ from January 2023 until

July 2023 and again from January 2024 until March 4, 2024. Id. at 2. In additional pages attached to the complaint, Plaintiff further alleges that during his 2023 incarceration, he was held without bail in administrative segregation despite being a “pre[-]indicted” detainee facing a low-grade felony charge with a presumptive sentence of probation. (Doc. 4-1, p. 1, 5.) He was housed in an 8-by-15-foot cell, was only allowed recreation once—in the FCJ gymnasium—and did not see the sun directly until his preliminary hearing in July 2023. Id. at 1- 2, 4. Sometimes Plaintiff was also allowed to spend an hour in another room that had a phone and a table. Id. at 4. He was not allowed television or radio access, although he was issued a tablet through which he could rent movies. Id. at 3, 5. Plaintiff alleges that “the shower never worked”

in his cell block and he had to take showers in the booking area. Id. at 4. FCJ staff denied Plaintiff access to his disciplinary record, but Plaintiff alleges several instances when he was punished by FCJ staff. Id. at 2. Once, Plaintiff “shared a ketchup package” and was locked down in his cell for 24 hours with one hour allowed in the FCJ dayroom. Id. at 5. When Plaintiff called Defendant Harp an offensive name, Defendants Bates and Bokken locked Plaintiff for 10 days in a room in which the lights were always on and a camera recorded everything; the toilet was in plain sight of the camera. Id. at 2, 4. Defendant Harp also wrote Plaintiff up for refusing to clean on the Sabbath, which would have violated his religious beliefs. Id. at 7. On other occasions, Plaintiff was punished by being locked in his cell for 48 hours at a time and once he was locked down for 72 hours with nothing but his clothing and a roll of toilet paper. Id. at 2. Plaintiff also alleges that punishment included confiscating his tablet, so he could not watch the movies he had paid to rent. Id. at 5. Plaintiff alleges that he was not given a hearing prior to these punishments, which were always at the officers’ discretion. Id. at 4. During parts of

Plaintiff’s 2023 incarceration, he was proceeding pro se in his state-court case1, but FCJ staff repeatedly denied him access to a law library. Id. at 1. Plaintiff further asserts that FCJ staff told him that neither a judge nor a lawyer can order the use of the law library. Id. at 8. Plaintiff also alleges that FCJ guards hourly slammed doors, jingled keys, and made enough noise that it was “almost impossible” to sleep through the night. Id. at 3. Detainees such as Plaintiff “were not allowed to cover up” and, if they did, FCJ staff would remove everything from their cell, including bedding, from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. Id. Plaintiff, who has been diagnosed with post- traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), asserts that there was a $20 charge to see a doctor. Id. When Plaintiff did see a medical provider, the provider ignored his PTSD diagnosis, did not provide the

mediation Plaintiff needed to treat his PSD, and did not treat Plaintiff’s Hepatitis C. Id.

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