Williams-El v. McLemore

327 F. Supp. 2d 784, 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14297, 2004 WL 1698015
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Michigan
DecidedJuly 15, 2004
DocketCIV. 98-74042
StatusPublished

This text of 327 F. Supp. 2d 784 (Williams-El v. McLemore) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Williams-El v. McLemore, 327 F. Supp. 2d 784, 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14297, 2004 WL 1698015 (E.D. Mich. 2004).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

ANNA DIGGS TAYLOR, District Judge.

Plaintiff, Timothy Williams, is a state prisoner at Standish Maximum Facility in Standish, Michigan. Proceeding pro se, on September 18, 1998, Plaintiff brought this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that Defendants violated *786 his constitutional rights and federal law. On November 30, 1998, Plaintiff filed a second amended complaint to correct prior added names and to add four defendants.

On October 27, 1999, Defendants Warr, White, John Doe, McLemore, Bailey and Rogers filed a motion for summary judgment. On January 10, 2000, this Court granted summary judgment in their favor. Pursuant to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeal’s Order of February 1, 2001, 1 on February 8, 2001, this case was reinstated at the District Court. On August 30, 2001, Defendants Rogers, Warr, White, and McLemore again filed a motion to dismiss, and/or for summary judgment. In a Memorandum Opinion and Order of this Court dated June 27, 2002, the Court granted summary judgment as to Plaintiffs First Amendment and retaliation claims and denied summary judgment as to Plaintiffs Eighth Amendment failure to protect and ADA claims. Subsequent orders have been entered dismissing Defendants Li-bolt, Rogers, Wozniak, Goff and Pass. The only remaining Defendants are Warr, McLemore, Bailey and White. This case is now before this Court on Defendants’ motion for summary judgment and Plaintiffs motion for partial summary judgment. For the reasons stated below, Defendants’ motion must be GRANTED and Plaintiffs motion must be DENIED.

I.

On January 13, 1998, Plaintiff was taken to the State of Michigan’s Josephine McCallum Facility (“JMF”). Upon his arrival at JMF, Plaintiff handed an officer a handwritten note stating that he had enemies housed at JMF, that he feared for his life, and that he wanted protection. In the note, Plaintiff included the names of the enemies he feared. On the same day, prison staff placed Plaintiff in an administrative segregation unit at the neighboring State Prison of Southern Michigan (“SMI”) until the matter could be investigated.

After two days in segregation, on January 15, 1998, Defendant Warr and Officer John Doe arrived at Plaintiffs cell to escort him to an interview with the Security Classification Committee (“SCC interview”) to discuss Plaintiffs concerns. The officers attempted to handcuff Plaintiff behind his back, as is standard procedure. Plaintiff explained that he could not be handcuffed behind his back using regular sized cuffs as he suffers from a deformity in his hands and arms that causes pain when he is handcuffed in the standard manner. The officers then requested that Plaintiff produce “medical detail” documenting his need for special cuffing. Plaintiff did not produce such medical detail.

The officers then sought direction from Deputy Connie Anderson, 2 advising her of the Plaintiffs stated deformity and that Plaintiff refused to be handcuffed behind his back using regular sized cuffs. The officers later returned to Plaintiffs cell where they advised Plaintiff that if he refused to be cuffed in the standard manner he would not be allowed to attend the SCC interview. Plaintiff refused and was therefore not taken to the SCC interview.

On January 16, 1998, due to Plaintiffs failure to attend the SCC interview, Plaintiff was ordered to vacate the cell and return to JMF. Plaintiff refused, explaining that he feared for his life if he returned to JMF. Due to his failure to follow the order, the officers issued Plaintiff a misconduct ticket which resulted in a four *787 teen day detention at SMI. During his segregation, Plaintiff filed a grievance alleging that he should not have received the misconduct ticket because he only incurred the ticket to prevent his return to JMF. This grievance was denied at all stages.

On February 4, 1998, Plaintiff gave officers a note stating that he planned to “get” his enemies when he returned to JMF. Plaintiff specifically referred to the inmates who were the subjects of his request for protection. Prison staff construed this note as threatening behavior and thereafter detained Plaintiff for an additional thirty days. As with the first misconduct ticket, Plaintiff filed a grievance arguing that he improperly incurred the grievance as he wrote the note only to delay his transfer to JMF. He maintained further that he was improperly denied a hearing regarding his safety concerns. The grievance was denied at steps one and two of the grievance process.

On April 3, 1998, as the third step in the grievance process, Director Kenneth McGinnis reviewed Plaintiffs second step grievance report, which was prepared by Defendant William Bailey. While Director McGinnis declined to address the misconduct tickets, he acknowledged Plaintiffs consistent complaint that he was improperly denied a hearing because he could not wear standard restraints. Director McGinnis instructed then SMI Warden Defendant Barry McLemore to insure that further action be taken on Plaintiffs safety concerns.

Following Director McGinnis’ report, Plaintiff did not receive a hearing regarding his security concerns. On August 26, 1998, Plaintiff was released back into JMF general prison population. On September 25, 1998, while participating in gym activities, an inmate stabbed Plaintiff in the back five times.

Following hospitalization, and pending his transfer to a different institution, prison officials returned Plaintiff to SMI and placed him in temporary protective segregation.

On September 22, 1998, Plaintiff filed a complaint seeking injunctive and monetary relief against the following officials employed by the Michigan Department of Corrections: Warden B. McLemore, Warden John Doe, Warden Harold White, Officer H. Warr and Officer John Doe. On November 30, 1998, Plaintiff filed an amended complaint correcting the names of certain defendants and adding additional defendants. The following employees of the Michigan Department of Corrections were added: Deputy Warden Connie Anderson, Warden William Bailey, Deputy Warden Geoff, Deputy Warden Pass, Assistant Warden Dan Wozniak, Officer Rogers and Deputy Warden Libolt. Plaintiff sued the aforementioned individuals in their individual and official capacities. Plaintiff claimed that Defendants violated his Eighth Amendment rights for failing to protect him and for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). All other claims have been dismissed. In addition, orders have been entered dismissing Defendants Libolt, Rogers, Wozniak, Goff and Pass. The only remaining Defendants in this action are Warr, McLemore, Bailey and White.

II.

Summary judgment is to be granted when the moving party demonstrates that there is no genuine issue of material fact, and that the undisputed facts of record require that judgment enter, as a matter of law, on his behalf. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247-48, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). The question is whether the evidence is so one-sided that one party must prevail as a matter of law. Id. at 251-52, 106 S.Ct.

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Bluebook (online)
327 F. Supp. 2d 784, 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14297, 2004 WL 1698015, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/williams-el-v-mclemore-mied-2004.