Woodberry v. Simmons

118 F. App'x 362
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedNovember 22, 2004
Docket04-3276
StatusUnpublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 118 F. App'x 362 (Woodberry v. Simmons) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Woodberry v. Simmons, 118 F. App'x 362 (10th Cir. 2004).

Opinion

ORDER AND JUDGMENT *

McCONNELL, Circuit Judge.

After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist in the determination of this appeal. See Fed. R.App. P. 34(a)(2); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). This case is therefore submitted without oral argument.

Thomas Woodberry, a state prisoner proceeding pro se, appeals the district court’s dismissal of his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. After carefully reviewing Mr. Woodberry’s brief, the district court’s ruling, and the applicable law, we agree that Mr. Woodberry has failed to state a claim and therefore AFFIRM.

Mr. Woodberry’s § 1983 complaint sought more than $25 million in compensatory and punitive damages from various officials of the Kansas Department of Corrections (“KDOC”) for alleged Eighth Amendment violations. He claimed the KDOC engaged in cruel and unusual punishment when it distributed free tobacco to inmates and then refused to provide inmates smoking cessation programs, such as nicotine gum or patches, when it converted its prisons to smoke-free facilities. He also alleged that the First through the Fourteenth Amendments entitle him “to be medically screened for smoking related *364 illnesses.” Doc. No. 1 at 4. Finally, he claimed KDOC officials denied him access to the courts by refusing to respond to his administrative grievances.

The district court found that the KDOC, in its response to Mr. Woodberry’s grievances, provided a copy of a bulletin in which “prisoners were offered smoking cessation classes ‘to teach ... techniques to stop smoking.’ ” Op. at 3, citing Pl.’s Compl. This same bulletin also informed inmates they could purchase nicotine patches or nicotine gum. Id. Thus, the district court held Mr. Woodberry had “not stated a claim for relief under the Eighth Amendment.” Op. at 4.

The district court also found Mr. Wood-berry’s “claim regarding access to the courts is not entirely clear” but was apparently based on his rebuffed attempt to file an emergency grievance concerning smoking-related issues. Id. His emergency grievance was denied and Mr. Woodberry was advised to follow the routine grievance procedure. The district court held those “circumstances do not suggest any interference with [Mr. Woodberry’s] access to the courts.” Id.

On appeal, Mr. Woodberry renews his Eighth Amendment claim and his claims of violations of the First through Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution. Though not specifically enumerated as such, he also apparently appeals the district court’s ruling regarding his access to the courts by claiming the state “refus[ed] to respond to any 1 of 5 grievances.” Appellant’s Br. at 19. Because the district court dismissed the complaint for failure to state a claim, we review its ruling de novo. Sutton v. Utah State Sch. for Deaf & Blind, 173 F.3d 1226, 1236 (10th Cir.1999).

Mr. Woodbury first claims the Eight Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment requires the KDOC to provide him, a voluntary cigarette consumer, with a battery of medical procedures to determine whether he will contract smoking-related illnesses at some future date. Appellant’s Br. at 18. He apparently has abandoned his claim that the KDOC should have provided smoking cessation classes or aids — presumably because documents he attached to his complaint indicate the KDOC already did so. See Pl.’s Compl. at 13.

Under the Eighth Amendment, prisoners are constitutionally entitled to “humane conditions of confinement guided by ‘contemporary standards of decency.’ ” Penrod v. Zavaras, 94 F.3d 1399, 1405 (10th Cir.1996), quoting Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 103, 97 S.Ct. 285, 50 L.Ed.2d 251 (1976). Accordingly, prison officials must “ensur[e] inmates receive the basic necessities of adequate food, clothing, shelter, and medical care and ... tak[e] reasonable measures to guarantee the inmates’ safety.” Barney v. Pulsipher, 143 F.3d 1299, 1310 (10th Cir.1998), citing Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 832-33, 114 S.Ct. 1970, 128 L.Ed.2d 811 (1994). Prisoners state a claim of cruel and unusual punishment by alleging prison officials demonstrated “deliberate indifference to a prisoner’s serious illness or injury,” Estelle, 429 U.S. at 105, 97 S.Ct. 285, or that prison officials “have, with deliberate indifference,” involuntarily exposed a prisoner to conditions “that pose an unreasonable risk of serious damage to [the inmate’s] future health.” Helling v. McKinney, 509 U.S. 25, 35, 113 S.Ct. 2475, 125 L.Ed.2d 22 (1993).

These cases demonstrate why Mr. Woodberry’s claim fails. KDOC officials have not, as Estelle forbids, manifested “deliberate indifference” to Mr. Woodberry’s “serious injury or illness.” To the contrary, the record undeniably demon *365 strates that KDOC officials have accommodated Mr. Woodberry’s numerous medical requests. Among other treatments, he has received cremes and ointments from a dermatologist to cure his legion skin ailments as well as a testicular sonogram to investigate a knot in his left testicle. See Doc. Nos. 4, 7 and Attachments. He has also received multiple antibiotics, special dietary accommodations for his liver condition, and permission to cut his hair every two weeks so he can apply a healing balm to his diseased scalp skin. See id. Indeed, the evidence Mr. Woodberry has provided shows the KDOC has adequately responded to each of his medical requests. Thus, Estelle provides no basis for Mr. Woodberry’s claims.

Additionally, Helling does not support Mr. Woodbury’s claim because he seeks medical treatment to predict future illnesses that may result from his own volitional actions. The nonsmoking plaintiff in Helling sought damages because he was involuntarily exposed to Environmental Tobacco Smoke (“ETS”) when his cellmate smoked five packs of cigarettes daily. 509 U.S. at 28, 113 S.Ct. 2475. The Court compared the plaintiffs involuntary exposure to ETS to potential personal safety threats from “exposed electrical wiring, deficient firefighting measures, and the mingling of inmates with serious contagious diseases with other prison inmates.” Id. at 34, 113 S.Ct. 2475. In remanding to allow the plaintiff the chance to prove “that the level of ETS to which he has been involuntarily

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Hunnicutt v. Smith
D. New Mexico, 2023
Woodberry v. Simmons
146 F. App'x 976 (Tenth Circuit, 2005)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
118 F. App'x 362, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/woodberry-v-simmons-ca10-2004.