Barnes v. Inch et al
Filing
39
ORDER granting 34 Motion to Dismiss; Plaintiff's claims for monetary damages, as well as his claims for injunctive and declaratory relief against Defendant Mock and Defendant Dixon in their official capacities under the ADA and RA are DISMISSED with prejudice; directions to the Clerk. Signed by Judge Brian J. Davis on 8/1/2022. (JND)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
JACKSONVILLE DIVISION
SCOTT E. BARNES,
Plaintiff,
v.
Case No. 3:20-cv-1375-BJD-JBT
RICKY D. DIXON1 and F. MOCK,
Defendants.
_______________________________
ORDER
I.
Status
Plaintiff, a state inmate of the Florida penal system, initiated this action
by filing a pro se Civil Rights Complaint. Doc. 1. Plaintiff is proceeding in forma
pauperis on a Second Amended Complaint. Doc. 15 (SAC).
Defendants Ricky D. Dixon, Secretary of the Florida Department of
Corrections (FDOC), and F. Mock, Warden of Suwannee Correctional
Institution (Suwannee CI) have moved to dismiss the claims remaining against
them, which are official capacity claims under the Americans with Disability
Act (ADA) and Rehabilitation Act (RA). See Doc. 34 (Motion). The Court
Because Plaintiff sues Mark Inch in his official capacity as the
Secretary of the FDOC, a position he no longer holds, the Court substituted
Ricky D. Dixon, the current Secretary, as the proper party Defendant. See Doc.
30 at 1 n.1.
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advised Plaintiff that the granting of a motion to dismiss would be an
adjudication of the claims against Defendants that could foreclose any
subsequent litigation of the matter and provided Plaintiff with an opportunity
to respond. See Doc. 23. Plaintiff filed a response in opposition to the Motion.
See Doc. 38 (Response). The Motion is ripe for the Court’s review.
II.
Plaintiff’s Allegations and Relevant Procedural History2
In his SAC, Plaintiff alleges that he is deaf and requires a
telecommunication device for the deaf (TDD) to make and receive phone calls.
According to Plaintiff, in June 2019, while housed at Suwannee CI, Plaintiff
noticed that the facility did not have a TDD. Doc. 15 at 11. As such, Plaintiff
began notifying officials about his need for a TDD. Plaintiff provides a timeline
detailing his interactions with Defendant Mock and various other correctional
officials between June 7, 2019, and April 27, 2020, during which Plaintiff, inter
alia, spoke with Mock at ADA committee meetings and filed several grievances
with Mock detailing his disability and need to access an operable TDD to make
phone calls. Id.
According to Plaintiff, however, despite his repeated requests, for
thirteen months, Defendants at Suwannee CI either denied Plaintiff access to
a TDD or refused to have the existing, inoperable TDD repaired. See generally
The Court summarizes only the allegations relevant to the remaining
issues before the Court.
2
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id. Consequently, Plaintiff was unable to make a phone call to anyone during
that time. Plaintiff suggests that access to a TDD is medically necessary, and
Suwannee CI’s failure to provide him with the accommodation hindered his
ability to contact his attorney and family members. Doc. 15 at 17-18. He
contends that on April 28, 2020, he was transferred to Columbia Correctional
Institution (Columbia CI) and finally got access to a functional TDD. Id.
Plaintiff called his family and learned that most of his family had died from
COVID-19. Id. When Plaintiff filed this action, he was still housed at Columbia
CI. See Doc. 1 at 1. After initiating this action, Plaintiff was transferred back
to Suwannee CI and was housed at Suwannee CI when he filed his SAC. See
Doc. 15 at 33; see also Order of Partial Dismissal Without Prejudice (Doc. 22
at 2-3).
Plaintiff sues Defendants Mock and Dixon in their official capacities for
allegedly violating his rights under the ADA and RA.3 As relief, Plaintiff seeks
declaratory and injunctive relief, as well as $10,000 in compensatory damages
Plaintiff originally brought individual and official capacity claims
against Defendants Mock and Dixon and sixteen other Suwannee CI officials
for alleged violations under the ADA and RA, as well as the First, Eighth, and
Fourteenth Amendments. See Doc. 15. The Court dismissed all individual
capacity ADA and RA claims against all Defendants and all individual and
official capacity claims under the First, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments
against all Defendants. Doc. 22 at 11. The Court found Plaintiff’s official
capacity ADA and RA claims against Defendants Mock and Dixon would
proceed as the highest-ranking Defendants, and the other sixteen Defendants
were dismissed from this action as redundant. Id.
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against each Defendant and $5,000 in punitive damages against each
Defendant. Id. at 15. According to the FDOC website, as of the date of this
Order, Plaintiff is currently housed at Blackwater Correctional Facility
(Blackwater CF). See Florida Department of Corrections, Offender Network,
available at www.dc.state.fl.us (last visited July 22, 2022).
III.
Standard of Review
“To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient
factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on
its face.’” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (citing Bell Atl. Corp. v.
Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)). “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.” Id. (citing
Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556). “Labels and conclusions” or “a formulaic recitation
of the elements of a cause of action” that amount to “naked assertions” will not
do. Id. (quotations, alteration, and citation omitted). Moreover, a complaint
must “contain either direct or inferential allegations respecting all the material
elements necessary to sustain a recovery under some viable legal theory.” Roe
v. Aware Woman Ctr. for Choice, Inc., 253 F.3d 678, 683 (11th Cir. 2001)
(quotations and citations omitted). The Court liberally construes the pro se
Plaintiff’s allegations. See Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 520-21 (1972);
Bingham v. Thomas, 654 F.3d 1171, 1175 (11th Cir. 2011).
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IV.
Parties’ Arguments and Analysis
Defendants Mock and Dixon seek dismissal on these grounds: (1)
Plaintiff’s claims involving acts that occurred between June 2019 and
December 2019 are time-barred; (2) Plaintiff’s request for monetary damages
is barred by the Eleventh Amendment; (3) Defendant Mock should be
dismissed as a redundant Defendant; (4) Plaintiff cannot obtain declaratory
relief for past conduct; (5) Plaintiff’s remaining claims are moot; and (6)
Plaintiff cannot demonstrate entitlement to injunctive relief. See generally
Doc. 34. In his brief Response, Plaintiff alleges the “camera” will verify all
incidents that occurred between June 2019 and April 28, 2020; the other
previously dismissed Defendants are Plaintiff’s “witnesses” and know what
happened; Defendant Mock should not be dismissed because he signed
Plaintiff’s grievance appeal; and “all documents will verify everything”
Plaintiff alleges. See Doc. 38.
Defendants’ Eleventh Amendment and mootness arguments are casedispositive, obviating the need to address their other arguments.
a.
Monetary Damages
Defendants argue that Plaintiff’s claims for monetary damages against
them in their official capacities should be dismissed, because they are entitled
to Eleventh Amendment immunity. Doc. 34 at 4-5. The Court agrees that
Plaintiff’s claims for monetary damages against Defendants are barred by the
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Eleventh Amendment. See, e.g., Hayes v. Sec’y, Fla. Dep’t of Children &
Families, 563 F. App’x 701, 703 (11th Cir. 2014) (“The Eleventh Amendment .
. . prohibits suits against state officials where the state is the real party in
interest, such that a plaintiff could not sue to have a state officer pay funds
directly from the state treasury for the wrongful acts of the state.”).4
b.
Injunctive and Declaratory Relief
Plaintiff requests a “declaration that the acts and omissions described
[in his SAC] violated Plaintiff’s rights under the Constitution and laws of the
United States.” Doc. 15 at 27. He also seeks a preliminary and permanent
injunction ordering Defendants and other Suwannee CI officials to enforce the
ADA whenever a deaf inmate needs auxiliary aids and assistance. Id.
Defendants argue that because Plaintiff was housed at Columbia CI when he
filed this action, his request for injunctive relief was rendered moot upon his
transfer out of Suwannee CI. Doc. 34 at 7-8. They also argue that to the extent
the Court recognized Plaintiff had been transferred back to Suwannee CI at
the time of filing his SAC, any deprivation that occurred after his return must
be raised in a new action after proper exhaustion. Id. at 8. The Court finds that
The Court does not rely on unpublished opinions as binding precedent;
however, they may be cited in this Order when the Court finds them persuasive on a
particular point. See McNamara v. GEICO, 30 F.4th 1055, 1060–61 (11th Cir. 2022);
see Fed. R. App. P. 32.1; 11th Cir. R. 36–2 (“Unpublished opinions are not considered
binding precedent, but they may be cited as persuasive authority.”).
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Plaintiff’s transfer to Blackwater CF, where he is still housed, is dispositive of
the remaining issues and renders Plaintiff’s claims for declaratory and
injunctive relief moot.
It is well established that “[i]f events that occur subsequent to the filing
of a lawsuit . . . deprive the court of the ability to give the plaintiff . . .
meaningful relief, then the case is moot and must be dismissed.” Al Najjar v.
Ashcroft, 273 F.3d 1330, 1336 (11th Cir. 2001) (citation omitted). In the
Eleventh Circuit, “[p]risoners’ claims for injunctive or declaratory relief
regarding prison conditions generally become moot when the prisoner
transfers to another prison.” Owens v. Sec’y, Fla. Dep’t of Corr., 602 F. App’x
475, 476 (11th Cir. 2015) (citation omitted) (holding that the prisoner’s ADA
and RA claims were rendered moot by the prisoner’s transfer to another
prison.). “The reason for this rule is that injunctive relief is ‘a prospective
remedy, intended to prevent future injuries,’ and, as a result, once the prisoner
has been released, the court lacks the ability to grant injunctive relief and
correct the conditions of which the prisoner complained.” Smith v. Allen, 502
F.3d 1255, 1267 (11th Cir. 2007), abrogated on other grounds by Sossamon v.
Texas, 563 U.S. 277 (2011).
There is a narrow exception to the doctrine of mootness when a
challenged action is capable of being repeated and when it evades review, but
this exception applies only when: “(1) there is a reasonable expectation or a
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demonstrated probability that the same controversy will recur involving the
same complaining party, and (2) the challenged action is in its duration too
short to be fully litigated prior to its cessation or expiration.” Al Najjar, 273
F.3d at 1336 (internal quotation marks omitted). Here, Plaintiff’s claims are
moot because he requests declaratory and injunctive relief about conditions in
a prison in which he is no longer incarcerated. His ADA and RA claims are
solely based on his lack of access to an operable TDD while housed at
Suwannee CI between June 2019 and April 2020. Doc. 15 at 26. Indeed,
Plaintiff alleges that he obtained access to an operable TDD after his transfer
to Columbia CI on April 28, 2020. Thus, Plaintiff admits that his challenged
conduct is specific to Suwannee CI, and while Plaintiff briefly returned to
Suwannee CI after he initiated this case, Plaintiff did not allege that upon that
brief return, he was again denied access to an operable TDD. Id.
Further, Plaintiff has since been transferred again and is currently
incarcerated at Blackwater CF. Plaintiff fails to show that he will be returned
to Suwannee CI, and even if he is returned to Suwannee CI, he has failed to
allege that the conditions he complains of will still be an issue if he is returned.
As such, Plaintiff has not shown that the challenged conduct falls within the
narrow exception to the mootness doctrine. And thus, because Plaintiff has
been transferred out of Suwannee CI, his claims for injunctive and declaratory
relief against Defendants Mock and Dixon no longer present a case or
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controversy over which the Court has jurisdiction. See Owen, 602 F. App’x at
477 (citing Wahl v. McIver, 773 F.2d 1169, 1173 (11th Cir. 1985) (an inmates
claims for injunctive and declaratory relief in § 1983 action failed to present
case or controversy once inmate has been transferred).
Accordingly, it is
ORDERED AND ADJUDGED:
1.
Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 34) is GRANTED.
2.
Plaintiff’s claims for monetary damages, as well as his claims for
injunctive and declaratory relief against Defendant Mock and Defendant
Dixon in their official capacities under the ADA and RA are DISMISSED with
prejudice.5
Generally, a pro se plaintiff should be provided an opportunity to amend his
complaint “[w]here it appears a more carefully drafted complaint might state a claim
upon which relief can be granted.” Bank v. Pitt, 928 F.2d 1108, 1112 (11th Cir. 1991),
overruled in part by Wagner v. Daewoo Heavy Indus. Am. Corp., 314 F.3d 541, 542
(11th Cir. 2002) (en banc). However, if an amendment would be futile, such as where
a plaintiff can “prove no set of facts” that would entitle him to relief, id., the Court
may dismiss the case with prejudice, Cockrell v. Sparks, 510 F.3d 1307, 1310 (11th
Cir. 2007) (“Leave to amend a complaint is futile when the complaint as amended
would still be properly dismissed or be immediately subject to summary judgment for
the defendant.”). Plaintiff has previously been given an opportunity to amend his
claims. See Order (Doc. 8). Additionally, any effort by Plaintiff to further amend his
claims premised on these facts would be futile.
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3.
The Clerk shall enter judgment dismissing this case with
prejudice, terminate any pending motions, and close the file.
DONE AND ORDERED at Jacksonville, Florida, this 1st day of
August, 2022.
Jax-7
c:
Scott E. Barnes, #464128
counsel of record
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