Ham v. Anderson et al

Filing 10

ORDER: Plaintiff is granted leave to file an amended complaint within thirty (30) days of the date of this order re 1 Complaint. (Amended Pleadings due by 6/9/2014.) So Ordered by Judge Steven J. McAuliffe.(jab)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

Stephen Ham
v.

Case No. 14-cv-135-SM
Opinion No. 2014 DNH 105

Kathleen Anderson, et al

O R D E R

Stephen Ham, a prisoner at the New Hampshire State Prison,
has filed a complaint

(doc. no. 1) alleging that prison

conditions in his cell created a hazard and caused him injury,
and that he received inadeguate medical care for his serious
injury, in violation of his rights under the Eighth Amendment of
the United States Constitution, and state tort law.

The matter

is before the court for preliminary review pursuant to 28 U.S.C.
§ 1915A(a).

Standard
In determining whether a pro se pleading states a claim, the
court construes the pleading liberally.
551 U.S. 89, 94 (2007).

See Erickson v. Pardus,

Disregarding any legal conclusions, the

court considers whether the factual content in the pleading and
inferences reasonably drawn therefrom, taken as true, state a
facially plausible claim to relief.

Hernandez-Cuevas v. Taylor,

723 F.3d 91, 102-03

(1st Cir. 2013)

(citing Ashcroft v. Iqbal,

556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009)).

Background
On November 28, 2013, Sgt. Duprey of the New Hampshire State
Prison placed Ham in a cell with a broken bed frame.

The damage

to the frame created two sharp edges on the frame, where one
would ordinarily get on and off the bed.

On December 1 or 2,

2013, Ham scratched his leg on one of the sharp edges.

Medical

personnel cleaned and bandaged his cut at the infirmary and Ham
returned to his cell.

After the incident. Corrections Officer

Joseph O'Brian wrote an incident report concerning Ham's injury
and cell conditions.
On December 9, 2013, Ham again cut himself on one of the
sharp metal edges, and received a S^-inch long laceration that
bled heavily.
infirmary.

Ham was treated by several people at the prison

NHSP medical personnel decided to close Ham's

laceration with a "glue medical bond."

Ham alleges that thirty

minutes after the glue was applied, his cut started to reopen,
and he returned to the infirmary to have his cut taped closed and
rebandaged.

Ham alleges that he has a sizeable scar on his leg

where he was cut.

Ham also alleges that after his injury, a

corrections official moved him to a different cell.
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Discussion
I.

Eighth Amendment Claims
A.

Cell Condition

Ham alleges that defendants knowingly housed him in a cell
that, due to the exposed sharp metal edge on his bedframe,
subjected him to an unreasonable risk of harm.

The constitution

requires prison officials to take "reasonable measures to
guarantee the safety of the inmates."
U.S. 825, 832-33.

Farmer v. Brennan, 511

To establish unconstitutional endangerment, an

inmate must assert facts to demonstrate that, objectively, he was
incarcerated "under conditions posing a substantial risk of
serious harm," and that the involved prison officials knew of and
disregarded the excessive risk to the inmate's safety.

Id. at

834 .
Ham alleges generally that defendants were aware of the
dangerous condition in his cell but failed to remedy the hazard,
resulting in Ham's continued exposure to the sharp edge that
caused his more serious injury.

However, Ham has not alleged

facts to show that defendants Kathleen Anderson, the Unit Manager
on Ham's unit, Sgt. Duprey, the officer who initially placed Ham
in the cell in question, and Lisa Savage, the medical care
provider who treated Ham after his second injury, had any
knowledge of the sharp edges and the risk of harm, and failed to
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take reasonable steps to correct it.

Ham does state that

Corrections Officer Joseph O'Brian was aware of the first injury
and thus the risk that Ham was subject to future injury.

Ham

also states that O'Brian responded to the situation by writing an
incident report concerning Ham's injury and cell conditions.

The

court cannot therefore infer that 0'Brian disregarded a risk to
Ham's safety, or that 0'Brian failed to respond to the situation
in a reasonable manner.

Ham has failed to plead any facts that

show that any defendant acted with deliberate indifference in
disregarding a known risk to Ham's safety, and Ham has thus
failed to assert a claim that his Eighth Amendment rights were
violated, relative to his cell conditions.

B.

Medical Care

Ham complains that the use of a glue bond that failed to
hold violated his Eighth Amendment right to adeguate medical
care.

Nothing in the complaint indicates, however, that Ham's

medical care was inadeguate, or that any defendant was
deliberately indifferent to any substantial risk of harm.

Ham

alleges that each time he was injured, he received prompt medical
attention and treatment.

Ham has thus failed to state any claim

asserting an unconstitutional deprivation of adeguate medical
care.
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II.

State Law Claims
Ham alleges that the defendants' acts which form the basis

of his asserted Eighth Amendment claims also constitute
negligence under state law.

Because Ham has failed to state any

federal claim for relief, the court declines to exercise its
supplemental jurisdiction over the state law claims.
28 U.S.C. § 1367.

See

Nothing in this order prevents Ham from

litigating his negligence claims in the state courts.

Conclusion
For the foregoing reasons, the court finds that Ham has
failed to state a federal constitutional claim upon which relief
may be granted, and is therefore subject to dismissal under
§ 1915A(a).

Accordingly, Ham is granted leave to file an amended

complaint within thirty days of the date of this order, stating
plausible federal claims arising out of the facts alleged.

If

Ham fails to comply with this order, this action will be
dismissed without prejudice for failure to state a plausible
federal claim, and the state claims will be dismissed without
prejudice to refiling in state court.

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SO ORDERED.

McAulitte
Jnited States District Judge
May

, 2014

cc:

Stephen Ham, pro se

SM:jba

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