Wudnuer v. Douglas County Jail

CourtDistrict Court, D. Nebraska
DecidedJune 4, 2025
Docket8:24-cv-00269
StatusUnknown

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

Bluebook
Wudnuer v. Douglas County Jail, (D. Neb. 2025).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA

WUBILL WUDNUER,

Plaintiff, 8:24CV269

vs. MEMORANDUM AND ORDER DOUGLAS COUNTY JAIL, DOUGLAS COUNTY, DOUGLAS COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, CO'S AND SEARGANTS INVOLVED, MICHAEL MYERS, Director; and HAWSHANK, CO;

Defendants.

Plaintiff Wubill Wudnuer1 filed a Complaint on July 3, 2024, while he was confined in the Jasper County Jail in Newton, Iowa. Filing No. 1. Plaintiff was then moved to the Douglas County Jail (“DCJ”) in Omaha, Nebraska, Filing No. 8, and he filed an Amended Complaint on August 30, 2024, Filing No. 11. The Court will consider the Amended Complaint as the operative pleading. Plaintiff was given leave to proceed in forma pauperis on September 4, 2024. Filing No. 14. The Court now conducts an initial review of Plaintiff’s Amended Complaint to determine whether summary dismissal is appropriate under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(e) and 1915A.

1 Plaintiff identified himself as “Kan Mar” in his Complaint and listed “Wubill Wudnuer” as another name by which he was known. Filing No. 1 at 2. When mail sent to Plaintiff was returned to the Court as undeliverable, see Filing No. 10, the Court updated the docket sheet to list Plaintiff’s name as “Wubill Wudnuer” to match the name provided by Plaintiff on the envelope used to submit his notice of address change, Filing No. 8, and to match the name listed in the Douglas County Department of Corrections’ inmate records. I. SUMMARY OF AMENDED COMPLAINT Plaintiff, who is currently confined in the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services’ Reception and Treatment Center, see Filing No. 19, brings this action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the Douglas County Department of Corrections (“DCDC”), DCDC Director Michael Myers (“Myers”), Corrections Officer Hawshank (“Hawshank”), and Douglas County alleging claims of false imprisonment, invasion of privacy, and unreasonable searches and seizures in violation of the Fourth Amendment while he was confined in the DCJ. Filing No. 11. Plaintiff alleges that on March 29, 2024, unspecified DCDC staff “were doing strip searches as a way to humble inmates” and Plaintiff refused because he was “fed up.” Filing No. 11 at 5. After more correctional officers were called in, Plaintiff complied, but “[t]hey then dragged it out to make it more demeaning by having female C.O.s there as well and saying it wasn’t adequate and having [Plaintiff] redo [the search].” Id. DCDC staff brought Plaintiff to “Administrative Segregation” where they made Plaintiff submit to another search and placed Plaintiff “in a dry cell that flushes once a day and they have to give [Plaintiff] water out of a jug because the sink doesn’t work.” Id. at 6. Plaintiff “took a UA as part of the program the next day” and “on the [second] day they said they found a rock like substance in [Plaintiff’s] room,” though Plaintiff maintains he could not have brought that into the cell “and there are cameras and witnesses that will say the same thing.” Id. Plaintiff does not allege he received any injuries as a result of these events. Id. at 5. As relief, he seeks $2,000 for each of the 62 days he spent in administrative segregation “for contraband,” which totals $124,000 in compensatory damages, and he also requests $5 million in punitive damages and an injunction. Id. II. APPLICABLE LEGAL STANDARDS ON INITIAL REVIEW The Court is required to review prisoner and in forma pauperis complaints seeking relief against a governmental entity or an officer or employee of a governmental entity to determine whether summary dismissal is appropriate. See 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(e) and 1915A. The Court must dismiss a complaint or any portion of it that states a frivolous or malicious claim, that fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or that seeks monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B); 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b). Pro se plaintiffs must set forth enough factual allegations to “nudge[] their claims across the line from conceivable to plausible,” or “their complaint must be dismissed.” Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 569-70 (2007); see also Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (“A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.”). “The essential function of a complaint under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure is to give the opposing party ‘fair notice of the nature and basis or grounds for a claim, and a general indication of the type of litigation involved.’” Topchian v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., 760 F.3d 843, 848 (8th Cir. 2014) (quoting Hopkins v. Saunders, 199 F.3d 968, 973 (8th Cir. 1999)). However, “[a] pro se complaint must be liberally construed, and pro se litigants are held to a lesser pleading standard than other parties.” Topchian, 760 F.3d at 849 (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). Liberally construed, Plaintiff here alleges federal constitutional claims. To state a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a plaintiff must allege a violation of rights protected by the United States Constitution or created by federal statute and also must show that the alleged deprivation was caused by conduct of a person acting under color of state law. West v. Atkins, 487 U.S. 42, 48 (1988); Buckley v. Barlow, 997 F.2d 494, 495 (8th Cir. 1993). III. DISCUSSION As pleaded, Plaintiff’s Complaint fails to state a claim for relief against any of the named defendants, but the Court will give Plaintiff leave to amend his Complaint as set forth below. A. DCJ and DCDC Not Proper Defendants Plaintiff named DCJ and DCDC as defendants in his original Complaint, Filing No. 1 at 2, and DCDC was also named in the Amended Complaint, Filing No. 11 at 1. However, Plaintiff fails to state a claim against DCJ and DCDC because a county jail is not a distinct legal entity subject to suit. See Dan v. Douglas Cnty. Dep’t of Corr., No. 8:06CV714, 2009 WL 483837, at *4 (D. Neb. Feb. 25, 2009) (“the Department of Corrections and other units within the DCCC and Douglas County lack the legal capacity to sue or be sued in their own names”); see also Owens v. Scott Cnty. Jail, 328 F.3d 1026, 1027 (8th Cir. 2003) (“[C]ounty jails are not legal entities amenable to suit.”). Accordingly, DCJ and DCDC will be dismissed as defendants to this action. B. Official Capacity Claims and Claims against Douglas County Plaintiff sues Douglas County and defendants Myers and Hawshank in both their official and individual capacities.

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

Related

Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Servs.
436 U.S. 658 (Supreme Court, 1978)
Bell v. Wolfish
441 U.S. 520 (Supreme Court, 1979)
Pembaur v. City of Cincinnati
475 U.S. 469 (Supreme Court, 1986)
City of Los Angeles v. Heller
475 U.S. 796 (Supreme Court, 1986)
West v. Atkins
487 U.S. 42 (Supreme Court, 1988)
City of Canton v. Harris
489 U.S. 378 (Supreme Court, 1989)
Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly
550 U.S. 544 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Ashcroft v. Iqbal
556 U.S. 662 (Supreme Court, 2009)
Langford v. Norris
614 F.3d 445 (Eighth Circuit, 2010)
Maxine Veatch v. Bartels Lutheran Home
627 F.3d 1254 (Eighth Circuit, 2010)
Chambers v. Pennycook
641 F.3d 898 (Eighth Circuit, 2011)
Martin v. Sargent
780 F.2d 1334 (Eighth Circuit, 1985)
Madewell v. Roberts
909 F.2d 1203 (Eighth Circuit, 1990)
Buckley v. Barlow
997 F.2d 494 (Eighth Circuit, 1993)
Williams v. Carter
10 F.3d 563 (Eighth Circuit, 1993)
Royal v. Kautzky
375 F.3d 720 (Eighth Circuit, 2004)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Wudnuer v. Douglas County Jail, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wudnuer-v-douglas-county-jail-ned-2025.