Maurice Williams v. City of St. Louis, et al

Filing

PER CURIAM OPINION FILED - THE COURT: Roger L. Wollman, Steven M. Colloton and Raymond W. Gruender (UNPUBLISHED); Granting [4293609-2] motion to proceed on appeal in forma pauperis filed by Appellant Maurice Williams. [4348383] [15-2416]

United States Court of Appeals
For the Eighth Circuit
___________________________
No. 15-2416
___________________________
Maurice Williams,
lllllllllllllllllllll Plaintiff - Appellant,
v.
City of St. Louis; Burton Barr, Chaplan, Individually and Officially; Richard Gray,
Director, Individually and Officially; Melvin Diggs, Correctional Officer,
Individually and Officially; Sydney Turner, Correctional Officer, Individually and
Officially; Len Crenshaw, Supt., Individually and Officially; Irene Mitchell,
Individually and Officially; Dale Glass, Commissioner, Individually and
Officially; Unknown Irving, Correctional Officer III, Individually and Officially,
lllllllllllllllllllll Defendants - Appellees.
____________
Appeal from United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Missouri - St. Louis
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Submitted: October 16, 2015
Filed: December 21, 2015
[Unpublished]
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Before WOLLMAN, COLLOTON, and GRUENDER, Circuit Judges.
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PER CURIAM.

Appellate Case: 15-2416

Page: 1

Date Filed: 12/21/2015 Entry ID: 4348383

Maurice Williams, an inmate at the St. Louis City Justice Center, appeals from
the district court’s1 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B) dismissal of his action alleging
violations of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized
Persons Act (RLUIPA). Following de novo review, see Moore v. Sims, 200 F.3d
1170, 1171 (8th Cir. 2000) (per curiam), we grant Williams’s motion to proceed in
forma pauperis and summarily affirm.
We conclude that the district court properly dismissed Williams’s section 1983
claims against the city of St. Louis and the individual defendants in their official
capacities because he did not allege that any city policy or custom was responsible
for the violations of his rights. See Kentucky v. Graham, 473 U.S. 159, 165-66
(1985); Monell v. Dep’t of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658, 690-90 (1978).
We also agree that his section 1983 claims against the individual defendants
in their individual capacities failed. As to Williams’s claim that he was kept in
solitary confinement for 23-24 hours at a time for non-disciplinary reasons and was
served food at unsafe temperatures, he failed to allege facts indicating that his
confinement led to any substantial risk of harm or immediate danger to health, or that
defendants knew of and deliberately ignored the likelihood of harm. See Beaulieu v.
Ludeman, 690 F.3d 1017, 1044-45 (8th Cir. 2012); Wishon v. Gammon, 978 F.2d
446, 449 (8th Cir. 1992); Ervin v. Ciccone, 557 F.2d 1260, 1262-63 (8th Cir. 1977).
As to his claim that he was subjected to weekly strip searches, he failed to allege facts
indicating that the strip searches were exaggerated beyond what was necessary for
genuine security considerations, see Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 559-62 (1979);
Story v. Foote, 782 F.3d 968, 971-72 (8th Cir. 2015), or that defendants conducted
the searches with deliberate indifference to his health or safety, see Farmer v.
Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 834, 836 (1994).
1

The Honorable Judge Carol E. Jackson, United States District Judge for the
Eastern District of Missouri.
-2Appellate Case: 15-2416

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Date Filed: 12/21/2015 Entry ID: 4348383

Finally, in his amended complaint, Williams made only a conclusory allegation
that he was denied a religious diet. We agree with the district court that the allegation
was insufficient to state a claim under RLUIPA that was plausible on its face, as
Williams did not establish a substantial burden on his religious beliefs. See Ashcroft
v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009); cf. 42 U.S.C. 2000cc-1(a); Van Wyhe v. Reisch,
581 F.3d 639, 655 (8th Cir. 2009); Murphy v. Mo. Dep’t of Corr., 372 F.3d 979, 988
(8th Cir. 2004).
Accordingly, we affirm.
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-3Appellate Case: 15-2416

Page: 3

Date Filed: 12/21/2015 Entry ID: 4348383