Cargill v. Shelby County Jail

Filing 67

ORDER The Court hereby ADOPTS the magistrate judge's 65 Report and ACCEPTS his Recommendation. The Defendants' 57 Motion to Dismiss is GRANTED and this case is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE for failure to exhaust his administrative remedies. Signed by Judge Abdul K Kallon on 6/30/2020. (KSS)

FILED
2020 Jun-30 PM 04:45
U.S. DISTRICT COURT
N.D. OF ALABAMA

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA
SOUTHERN DIVISION
QUINCETTA Y. CARGILL,

)
)
Plaintiff
)
)
v.
)
)
JAIL ADMINISTRATOR HOUSE, )
)
ET AL.,
)
Defendants.

Civil Action Number
2:18-cv-00344-AKK-JEO

ORDER
The magistrate judge filed a report recommending that the court construe the
defendants’ motion for summary judgment, see docs. 57; 61, 1 as a motion to dismiss
and grant the motion, dismissing Cargill’s complaint without prejudice pursuant to
42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a) for failing to exhaust administrative remedies. Doc. 65.
Alternatively, the magistrate judge recommended that the court grant the motion for
summary judgment and dismiss the action with prejudice. Id. Cargill objected to
both recommendations. Doc. 66.
Cargill objects to the magistrate judge’s finding related to the failure to
exhaust her administrative remedies, stating for the first time that she complained
about the conduct when she arrived at the Shelby County jail. Id. at 1-4; see doc. 60.

1

The magistrate judge previously construed Defendants’ special report, doc. 57, as a motion for
summary judgment. See doc. 61.

But, even assuming this fact is true, that is not the same thing as filing a grievance
at or with the Clay County jail where the alleged conduct occurred. Cargill belatedly
asserts that the Clay County complaint kiosk operating hours “usually end at
10:00pm and begin against at approx[imately] 8:00am” but transport “occurs usually
between the hours of 4:30am and 5:30am,” and that she assumed the jail had
“constructive knowledge” of her contentions. Doc. 66 at 3. To the extent that Cargill
is implying that she did not have an opportunity to file a grievance between the
incident and her transport, the magistrate judge accounts for this inference: Cargill
knew how to use the grievance process, having “submitted two inmate request
forms” during her custody at Clay County Jail, and the Clay County grievance policy
allows “[g]rievances of any emergency nature [to be] made orally.” Doc. 65 at 11.
As the magistrate judge found, Cargill “provides no reason for not following [the
grievance policy],” including after her transfer to Shelby County. Id. Her claims are
due to be dismissed for failure to exhaust administrative remedies. 2
After careful consideration of the record in this case, including the magistrate
judge’s report, the court hereby ADOPTS the magistrate judge’s report and

2

Cargill would likely also fail at the summary judgment stage as she did not show “that the use of
force was objectively unreasonable and not related to legitimate penological and security
interests.” Doc. 65 at 18. Cargill does not address this finding in her objections, instead attempting
to allege new facts that she contends “were left out of the investigation and were expected to be
disclosed by the Clay County Jail.” Doc. 66 at 7. Because the court will dismiss the action for
failure to exhaust, it need not reach the merits of Cargill’s claim.

ACCEPTS his recommendation.

Defendants’ motion to dismiss, doc. 57, is

GRANTED and the case is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE for failure to
exhaust her administrative remedies.
DONE the 30th day of June, 2020.
_________________________________
ABDUL K. KALLON
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE