Snuggs v. United States Bureau of Prisons et al
Filing
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MEMORANDUM OPINION & ORDER, 1) Snuggs complaint is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE 2) DENIED AS MOOT 4 MOTION for Temporary Restraining Order 3) Court will enter an appropriate judgment 4) action is STRICKEN from active docket. Signed by Judge Henry R. Wilhoit, Jr on 3/20/13.(SMT)cc: COR, Snuggs via USMail, Warden, USAtty
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF KENTUCKY
NORTHERN DIVISION AT ASHLAND
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JOHN SNUGGS,
Plaintiff,
V.
BUREAU OF PRISONS, et al.,
Defendants.
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Civil Action No. 13-34-HRW
MEMORANDUM OPINION
AND ORDER
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John Snuggs is an inmate confined in the Federal Correctional Institution in
Ashland, Kentucky. Proceeding without an attorney, Snuggs has filed a civil rights
complaint asserting claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. [D. E. No.1] By separate order,
the Court has granted Snuggs's motion to pay the filing fee in installments.
The Court must conduct a preliminary review of Snuggs's complaint because
he has been granted permission to pay the filing fee in installments and because he
asserts claims against government officials. 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(e)(2), 1915A. A
district court must dismiss any claim that is frivolous or malicious, fails to state a
claim upon which relief may be granted, or seeks monetary relief from a defendant
who is immune from such relief. McGore v. Wrigglesworth, 114 F.3d 601,607-08
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(6th Cir. 1997). The Court evaluates Snuggs's complaint under a more lenient
standard because he is not represented by an attorney. Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S.
89,94 (2007); Burton v. Jones, 321 F.3d 569,573 (6th Cir. 2003). At this stage, the
Court accepts Snuggs's factual allegations as true, and liberally construes his legal
claims in his favor. Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555-56 (2007).
Having reviewed the complaint, the Court will dismiss Snuggs's claims because he
has not stated grounds entitling him to relief under § 1983.
DISCUSSION
Snuggs states that on April 5, 2012, he sustained a shoulder injury while
working at his prison job at FCI-Ashland, that he underwent surgery, and that his
treating physician prescribed a course of post-operative physical therapy. Snuggs
alleges that the defendants, the Bureau ofPrisons ("BOP"), Kenneth J. Gomez, M.D.,
and Amanda S. Waugaman, failed or refused to schedule any physical therapy
treatment for him notwithstanding his treating physician's orders. Snuggs alleges that
the actions ofthe defendants are "negligent in nature .... " [D. E. No.1, p. 3, ~ 14]; that
his shoulder injury has worsened; and he has been damaged as a direct and proximate
cause of the defendants' negligence. [Id.,
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15-18] Snuggs seeks compensatory
damages, a temporary restraining order prohibiting either his being transferred or
other retaliatory actions against him, and his court costs and attorney fees.
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As a threshold matter, Snuggs asserts claims under " ... 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and
the laws ofthe Commonwealth ofKentucky." [Id., p. 1] In this case, the defendants
are employed by the federal, rather than state, government. To the extent Snuggs
contends they violated his constitutional rights, his claims do not fall under § 1983,
but under a similar remedy found pursuant to Bivens v. Six Unknown Fed. Narcotics
Agents, 403 U.S. 388 (1971).
But Snuggs does not contend that the defendants were "deliberately
indifferent" to his medical needs, an intentional state of mind required to support a
civil rights claim in this context. Comstockv. McCrary, 273 F.3d 693, 703 (6th Cir.
2001). Instead, he repeatedly states that they were negligent because they did not
provide him with the physical therapy his surgeon prescribed. But negligence or
medical malpractice does not violate the Constitution. Lewis v. Grider, 27 F. App'x
282,283 (6th Cir. 2001); Brown v. Kordis, 46 F. App'x315, 317 (6th Cir. 2002). The
Court must therefore dismiss Snuggs's civil rights action for failure to state a claim.
This does not necessarily mean that Snuggs is without a remedy. Ordinarily
the United States is immune from suit, but the federal government has waived that
immunity in the Federal Tort Claims Act ("FTCA"), 28 U.S.C. §§ 1346(b),
2671-2680, for negligence committed by its officials and employees within the scope
of their employment. Molzo! ex reI. Molzo! v. United States, 502 U.S. 301, 304
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(1992). Before a plaintiff may file suit, however, he must first present his claim to
the agency to consider settling the claim, and the agency must deny that request. 28
U.S.C. § 2675(a). A plaintiff must complete a Form 95 requesting administrative
settlement of his claim and submit it to the agency within two years after the events
complained of, and if the agency denies the request, he must file suit within six
months. 28 U.S.C. § 2401(b); Ellison v. United States, 531 F.3d 359,362 (6th Cir.
2008).
The FTCA may provide a remedy. However, when a prisoner is injured while
performing prison work, he may not sue under the FTCA, but must use the remedy
provided by the Inmate Accident Compensation Act ("IACA"). 18 U. S.C. § 4126( f).
Some courts have held that this is true even when the prisoner sues not for the work
injury itself, but when he claims that subsequent medical care to treat that injury was
negligent. Cf Alvarez v. Gonzales, 155 F. App'x 393 (10th Cir. Nov. 10,2005).
Snuggs may therefore wish to pursue his claim through the IACA as well. An IACA
claim must begin at the prison, 28 C.F.R. §§ 301.301-.319, he may wish to discuss
how to begin the process with appropriate prison staff.
Snuggs has also filed a motion seeking a TRO prohibiting the defendants from
transferring him to another BOP facility or taking any other action against him in
retaliation for his filing this lawsuit. That motion will be denied as moot.
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CONCLUSION
Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that:
1.
Snuggs's complaint [D.E.No. 1] is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.
2.
Snuggs's motion seeking a temporary restraining order [D. E. No.4] is
DENIED AS MOOT.
3.
The Court will enter an appropriate judgment.
4.
This action is STRICKEN from the active docket.
This March 20, 2013.
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