Anctil v. Fitzpatrick

STEVE ANCTIL, JR., Plaintiff v. JOSEPH FITZPATRICK, et al., Defendants

1:16-cv-00107-JAW

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF MAINE

December 13, 2018

RECOMMENDED DECISION ON DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

In this action, Plaintiff alleges Defendant Troy Ross, the Deputy Warden at the Maine State Prison, failed to protect him from harm caused by other inmates, and that Defendant Joseph Fitzpatrick, the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections, and Defendants Rodney Bouffard and Randall Liberty, the former and current Wardens of the Maine State Prison, deprived him of his right to his legal mail. (Order Affirming Recommended Decision and Addressing Other Pending Motions, ECF No. 90.)

The matter is before the Court on Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment. (ECF No. 93.) Following a review of the summary judgment record, and after consideration of the relevant legal issues, I recommend the Court grant Defendants' motion for summary judgment.

PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

After Plaintiff filed this action on February 24, 2016, he amended the complaint on two occasions. (Complaint, ECF No. 1; Amended Complaint, ECF No. 18/24; Amended Complaint, ECF No. 31.) In his original complaint, Plaintiff asserted a claim based on a challenge to the grievance policy and grievance practices at the Maine State Prison. As explained in a recommended decision after a review of Plaintiff's complaint, Plaintiff did not allege an actionable claim. (Recommended Decision, ECF No. 9.)

On April 6, 2016, Plaintiff moved to amend the complaint (Motion, ECF No. 16), and subsequently filed a proposed amended complaint. (Amended Complaint, ECF No. 18.) In his proposed amended complaint, Plaintiff named as defendants Joseph Fitzpatrick, Rodney Bouffard, Randall Liberty, Troy Ross, and Wendell Atkinson. The Court granted the motion to amend. (ECF No. 23.)

Following a review of the amended complaint, I recommended the Court dismiss the claims asserted in the amended complaint, but that Plaintiff be afforded another opportunity to amend the complaint. (Recommended Decision, ECF No. 25.) On July 7, 2016, Plaintiff filed a second amended complaint, which pleading he dated and signed "under penalty of perjury." (Second Amended Complaint, ECF No. 31.) In the second amended complaint, Plaintiff alleged facts related to each of the matters he had grieved. (ECF No. 31-1.)¹

On October 24, 2016, following a review of the second amended complaint, I determined the second amended complaint generated the following legal issues and claims: First Amendment (access to court, legal mail, retaliation, and access to newspapers), Fourth Amendment (monitored legal telephone calls), Eighth Amendment (failure to protect,failure to treat, unsanitary conditions, and noise), Fourteenth Amendment (failure to compensate for damaged or lost property and improper charges to prison account), and Challenge to Grievance Procedures (claims asserted against Defendant Atkinson, in his role as Grievance Review Officer). (Recommended Decision, ECF No. 36.) I recommended the Court dismiss all Plaintiff's claims except for his claim regarding the failure to protect against an assault and the related failure to train, which claim would proceed as a deliberate indifference claim against Defendant Ross. (Id. at 3 - 19.) As explained in the recommended decision, the claim concerns assaults that occurred between September and November, 2014:

Plaintiff alleges that in September 2014 he was relocated to "Charlie Pod" after notifying the pod officer that he believed he would not be safe in that pod. According to Plaintiff, the officer told him he would be moved after the officer placed "a phone call." (Second Am. Compl., Statement of Claim, at 1, ECF No. 31-1.) A week later, Plaintiff was assaulted by an inmate in Charlie Pod with "two combination locks on a belt, and stabbed in the chest." (Id.) Several days later, Plaintiff addressed his concerns "with staff." (Id. at 2.) In October 2014, Defendant Atkinson "declined to investigate" and stated that Plaintiff should have presented the issue sooner. (Id.) In November 2014, Plaintiff was again assaulted by the same inmate. (Id.) In May 2015, Plaintiff informed Defendant Fitzpatrick that he was advised he would be stabbed again and in June 2015, Defendant Ross responded that Plaintiff's concerns "don't require further review, as [he] created [his] own issues." (Id.)

(Recommended Decision at 36.)

On January 20, 2017, Plaintiff filed a supplement to his pleadings, seeking leave to amend. The supplement consisted of 92 paragraphs related to events that occurred between April, 2016, and January, 2017, mostly related to mail. (Supplemental Pleading, ECF No. 46.) After a review of the supplemental pleadings, I recommended the Court permitPlaintiff to proceed solely on his failure to protect claim against Defendant Ross. (Recommended Decision, ECF No. 53.)

The Court affirmed in part the recommended decision. The Court agreed that Plaintiff stated an actionable claim against Defendant Ross regarding an assault by another prisoner. The Court also determined that Plaintiff stated a claim "of inadequate access to the courts [based on] Defendants' alleged failure to properly handle the Plaintiff's incoming and outgoing legal mail pertaining to Plaintiff's efforts to challenge the conditions of his confinement." (Order, ECF No. 68.) The Court therefore permitted Plaintiff to supplement his mail claim through the supplemental pleading. (Order at 6, 13 - 14.)

On October 5, 2017, Defendant Ross moved to dismiss Plaintiff's claim. Defendant Ross argued the allegations do not permit a plausible inference that he was aware of or involved in matters related to Plaintiff's failure to protect claim, or that he had cause to believe there was a need for additional training. (ECF No. 70.) After Plaintiff filed a response to the motion, I recommended the Court deny the motion. (ECF No. 80.) The Court subsequently affirmed the recommended decision and denied Defendant Ross's motion to dismiss. (ECF No. 90.)

On May 8, 2018, Defendants filed the pending motion for summary judgment and a supporting statement of material facts. (ECF Nos. 93, 94.) On May 29, 2018, Plaintiff asked the Court to stay the proceedings or to extend the time to for him to respond toDefendants' motion for summary judgment.² (ECF No. 98.) The Court denied the request for a stay, but extended the time for Plaintiff to file a response to the motion. (ECF No. 108.)

Noting the deadline for Plaintiff's response had expired without the filing of a response, by order dated November 13, 2018, the Court advised Plaintiff that the Court intended to begin its review of and decide the motion. The Court also informed Plaintiff that if Plaintiff wanted to object to the motion, Plaintiff should file his response promptly. (Order, ECF No. 122.) The Court subsequently reiterated the Court's intention to review and decide the motion. (Order, ECF No. 125.) Plaintiff has not filed a response to the motion for summary judgment.

SUMMARY JUDGMENT RECORD

When presented with a summary judgment motion, a court ordinarily considers only the facts included in the parties' statements of material facts, which statements must be supported by citations to evidence of record. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(c) and District of Maine Local Rule 56(b) - (d) require the specific citation to record evidence. In addition, Local Rule 56 establishes the manner by which parties must present their factual statements and the evidence on which the statements depend. A party's pro se statusdoes not relieve the party of the obligation to comply with the court's procedural rules.³ Ruiz Rivera v. Riley, 209 F.3d 24, 27 - 28 & n. 2 (1st Cir. 2000); Marcello v. Maine, 489 F. Supp. 2d 70, 77 (D. Me. 2007).

By rule, a party seeking summary judgment must file, in addition to its summary judgment motion, a supporting statement of material facts setting forth each fact in a separately numbered paragraph, with each factual statement followed by a citation to evidence of record that supports the factual statement. D. Me. Loc. R. 56(b). A party opposing a motion for summary judgment must file an opposing statement in which it admits, denies, or qualifies the moving party's statements by reference to each numbered paragraph, with citations to supporting evidence, and in which it may set forth additional facts, in separately numbered paragraphs, with citation to supporting evidence. D. Me. Loc. R. 56(c). If an additional statement is introduced by the non-moving party, the moving party must file a reply statement in which it admits, denies, or qualifies the non-moving party's additional statements by reference to each numbered paragraph, with citations to supporting evidence. D. Me. Loc. R. 56(d).

"Facts contained in a supporting or opposing statement of material facts, if supported by record citations as required by this rule, shall be deemed admitted unless properly controverted." D. Me. Loc. R. 56(f). Additionally, "[t]he court may disregardany statement of fact not supported by a specific citation to record material properly considered on summary judgment." Id. Finally, "[t]he court shall have no independent duty to search or consider any part of the record not specifically referenced in the parties' separate statement of facts." Id.

Nevertheless, the factual assertions contained in the verified pleadings and affidavits filed by a pro se litigant generally will be considered in the review of a summary judgment motion. That is, where a pro se litigant has failed to comply strictly with the summary judgment rules, this Court has considered the sworn assertions of record. See Clarke v. Blais, 473 F. Supp. 2d 124, 128 - 30 (D. Me. 2007) ("The First Circuit has not addressed this notice debate directly, but has said, in the summary judgment context, that unrepresented plaintiffs' opposing affidavits and opposition papers are to be read 'liberally.'"...