Smith v. Rutherford County Adult Detention Center et al

Filing 3

MEMORANDUM OPINION OF THE COURT. Signed by District Judge Todd J. Campbell on 6/14/2016. (xc:Pro se party by regular and certified mail.)(DOCKET TEXT SUMMARY ONLY-ATTORNEYS MUST OPEN THE PDF AND READ THE ORDER.)(jw)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE
NASHVILLE DIVISION

STEVE L. SMITH
Plaintiff,
v.
RUTHERFORD COUNTY ADULT
DETENTION CENTER, et al.
Defendants.

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No. 3:16-1277
Judge Campbell

MEMORANDUM

The plaintiff, proceeding pro se, is an inmate at the Rutherford County Adult Detention
Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. He brings this action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the
Rutherford County Adult Detention Center and Chad Willingham, an inmate trustee in the plaintiff’s
housing unit, seeking injunctive relief and damages.
As a trustee, Willingham is charged with the task of passing out food trays in the plaintiff’s
housing unit. The plaintiff alleges that Willingham has tampered with his food tray on several
occasions, often taking food off the trays and leaving him hungry.
To establish a claim for § 1983 relief, the plaintiff must plead and prove that a person or
persons, while acting under color of state law, deprived him of some right guaranteed by the
Constitution or laws of the United States. Parratt v. Taylor, 451 U.S. 527, 535 (1981).
A county jail such as the Rutherford County Adult Detention Center is not a person that can
be sued under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Grimmett v. Wilson County Jail, 2015 WL 787228 (M.D. Tenn.);
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Staggs v. Lewis County Jail, 2009 WL 3877682 (M.D. Tenn.); see also Petty v. County of Franklin,
Ohio, 478 F.3d 341, 347 (6th Cir. 2007)(a county sheriff’s department is also not a “person” subject
to liability under § 1983). Nor does an inmate trustee act under color of state law when he distributes
food trays to other inmates.
Accordingly, the plaintiff has failed to state an actionable claim under § 1983 against these
defendants. Under such circumstances, the Court is obliged to dismiss the complaint sua sponte. 28
U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2).
An appropriate order will be entered.

______________________________
Todd Campbell
United States District Judge

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