Jones v. Helder et al

Filing 73

OPINION AND ORDER granting 66 Motion to Dismiss; Landon Harris (Name revised from Medical Staff Landon per Order dated 5/23/2017) dismissed without prejudice. Signed by Honorable Timothy L. Brooks on May 26, 2017. (tg)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS
FAYETTEVILLE DIVISION
EZRA JONES

v.

PLAINTIFF
CASE NO.

5:16-CV-05242

SHERIFF TIM HELDER; SERGEANT BYRD;
CORPORAL CAUDLE; SERGEANT STANTON;
LANDON HARRIS; ARAMARK CORRECTIONAL
SERVICES, LLC; ARAMARK KITCHEN STAFF
FROM AUGUST 24, 2016,TO OCTOBER 2016;
DEPUTY C. CINK; LIEUTENANT FOSTER;
CORPORAL CARRIER; JESSIE ENGLAND;
TOMMY ROARK; and TINA WEBB

DEFENDANTS

OPINION AND ORDER

This is a civil rights case filed by Plaintiff Ezra Jones, under the provisions of 42
U.S.C. § 1983.

Mr. Jones proceeds in forma pauperis and pro se.

He is currently

incarcerated in the Randall L. Williams Correctional Facility of the Arkansas Department
of Correction . At the time at issue in this case, he was incarcerated at the Washington
County Detention Center ("WCDC"). The case is before the Court on a Motion to Dismiss
(Doc. 66) filed by Separate Defendant Landon Harris, pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

I. BACKGROUND
While Mr. Jones was incarcerated at the WCDC , he alleges that: (1) he was not
provided with a diet in keeping with his religious beliefs; (2) he was not provided with
nutritious and well-balanced meals ; (3) he was not treated with dignity and respect and was
routinely spoken to in a derogatory manner; and (4) he was denied vegetarian meals.
With respect to Defendant Harris, who is a nurse practitioner employed by the entity

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that provides medical services to inmates of the WCDC , the original Complaint (Doc. 1)
filed on September 12, 2016 , names Mr. Harris, but does not include any specific factual
allegations concerning him . A Supplement to the Complaint (Doc. 8) was filed on October
5, 2016 , which included more facts in support of Mr. Jones's various causes of action , but
still failed to explain why Mr. Harris was being sued . A second Supplement (Doc. 62) was
filed on February 10, 2017 . In the second Supplement, Mr. Jones "apologize[d] to the
Court for confusing the Defense Lawyers," and then stated:
There is only (1) alegation [sic] against "Landon[.]" He interfered with a
Request clearlly [sic] addressed to RELIGIOUS DIET [and] responded[,]
"You will need to go through religeous [sic] services," and closed the request,
creating further delay.

There is no way to quantify exactly how much his actions attributed to
delays[;] it is[,] however[,] clear that the actions of Landon were wrong .

Id. at 1.

II. LEGAL STANDARD
Rule 8(a) contains the general pleading rules and requires a complaint to present
"a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief. " Fed .
R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2) . "In order to meet this standard, and survive a motion to dismiss under
Rule 12(b)(6) , 'a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true , to state
a claim for relief that is plausible on its face ."' Braden v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 588 F.3d
585 , 594 (8th Cir. 2009) (quoting Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662 , 678 (2009)) .
"The plausibility standard requires a plaintiff to show at the pleading stage that
success on the merits is more than a 'sheer possibility."' Braden, 588 F.3d at 594 (quoting

Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678) . The standard does "not impose a probability requirement at the
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pleading stage; it simply calls for enough fact to raise a reasonable expectation ," or
reasonable inference, that the "defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged ." Iqbal, 556
U.S. at 678 ; see also Stone v. Harry, 364 F.3d 912 , 914 (8th Cir. 2004) (finding that wh ile
prose complaints are liberally construed , they must still allege sufficient facts to support
the claims).

Ill. DISCUSSION
Section 1983 provides a federal cause of action for the deprivation , under color of
law, of a citizen's "rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws"
of the United States. In order to state a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a plaintiff must
allege that the defendant acted under color of state law and that he violated a right secured
by the Constitution . West v. Atkins, 487 U.S. 42 (1988); Dunham v. Wadley, 195 F.3d
1007, 1009 (8th Cir. 1999). The deprivation must be intentional; mere negligence will not
suffice to state a claim for deprivation of a constitutional right under§ 1983. Daniels v.
Williams , 474 U.S. 327 (1986) ; Davidson v. Cannon , 474 U.S. 344 (1986).

Here, reading Mr. Jones's allegations against Mr. Harris as generously as possible ,
they do not state a plausible claim for relief. At most, Mr. Jones contends that Mr. Harris
negligently responded to his request concerning a "religious diet" by directing him to resubmit the request to a different department within the WCDC . Even if this act was
negligent, negligence does not rise to the level of conduct that states a claim under§ 1983.
See, e.g., Myers v. Morris, 810 F.2d 1437 (8th Cir. 1987) (citing Davidson , 474 U.S. at 348;
Daniels, 474 U.S. at 330-31) .
IV. CONCLUSION

For this reason , the Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 66) filed by Separate Defendant

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Landon Harris is GRANTED, and all claims against him are DISMISSED WITHOUT

PREJUDICE for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted . Fed . R. Civ.
P. 12(b)(6).

IT IS SO ORDERED on this

,/ ~

--2/l:._ day of May,

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