Phillips v. Price

BILLY RON PHILLIPS, Plaintiff, v. EMILY PRICE, et al., Defendants.

CIVIL No. 5:19-185-JMH

United States District Court, E.D. Kentucky, Central Division, Lexington

August 13, 2021

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

Joseph M. Hood, Senior U.S. District Judge

This matter is before the Court for consideration of a Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings filed by Defendants Brad Adams Mendalyn Cochran, Johnathan R. Grate, Ronnie Hanes, and Emily Price (collectively, “Defendants”), each of whom are sued in their individual and official capacities. [R. 32] Plaintiff Billy Ron Phillips has filed a response objecting to Defendants' motion. [R. 36] Also pending is a “Motion for Summary Judgment on Liability” filed by Plaintiff [R. 33], to which Defendants have filed a response. [R. 34] Neither party has filed a reply to the responses filed opposing their respective motions and the time for doing so has expired. Thus, both motions are ripe and ready for review.

I. Defendants' Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings

As an initial matter, Plaintiff's sole objection to Defendants' motion is that it is procedurally improper as the Court already rejected Defendants' attempt to file a second motion to dismiss prior to filing an Answer. [R. 36] It is true that Defendants' second pre-Answer motion to dismiss filed pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) was prohibited by Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(g)(2). [R. 30]. However Defendants have now filed an Answer to the Complaint. [R. 31] Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(c) specifically provides that “[a]fter the pleadings are closed ... a party may move for judgment on the pleadings.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(c). See also Swart v. Pitcher, 9 F.3d 109 (table), 1993 WL 406802 at *3 (6th Cir. 1993) (“While defendants could still raise [an affirmative defense] in their answer, in a motion for judgment on the pleadings, in a summary judgment motion, or at trial, they could not raise the defense in a second pre-answer motion to dismiss.”). Thus, Plaintiff's objection to Defendants' motion for judgment on the pleadings is without merit.

A motion for judgment on the pleadings under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(c) is reviewed under the same standards as a motion to dismiss filed pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). Hindel v. Husted, 875

F.3d 344, 346 (6th Cir. 2017). Thus, as with a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, to survive a Rule 12(c) motion for judgment on the pleadings, a complaint must allege “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) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)). See also Hindel, 875 F.3d at 346-47 (“To survive a Rule 12(c) motion, ‘a complaint must contain direct or inferential allegations respecting all material elements under some viable legal theory.'”) (quoting Commercial Money Ctr., Inc. v. Ill. Union Ins Co., 508 F.3d 327, 336 (6th Cir. 2007)).

When considering a motion for judgment on the pleadings, the Court views the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff and accepts as true all ‘well-pleaded facts' in the complaint. D'Ambrosio v. Marino, 747 F.3d 378, 383 (6th Cir. 2014). The pleading standard for a civil complaint set forth by Fed.R.Civ.P. 8 “does not require detailed factual allegations, but it demands more than an unadorned the-defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me accusation.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). In addition, “a plaintiff's obligation to provide the ‘grounds' of his ‘entitle[ment] to relief' requires more than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of a cause of action's elements will not do.” Twombly, 550 U.S. At 555 (2007).

Because Plaintiff is proceeding without the benefit of an attorney, the Court reads his complaint to include all fairly and reasonably inferred claims. Davis v. Prison Health Servs., 679 F.3d 433, 437-38 (6th Cir. 2012). Even so, the Court “need not accept as true legal conclusions or unwarranted factual inferences.” Moderwell v. Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 997 F.3d 653, 659 (6th Cir. 2021) (quotations omitted). A Rule 12(c) motion for judgment on the pleadings “is granted when no material issue of fact exists and the party making the motion is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Id. (quotations omitted).

A. Plaintiff's Complaint

Plaintiff filed his complaint against prison officials regarding the revocation of his right to visit his brother, Donald Phillips, who is currently incarcerated at the Northpoint Training Center (“NTC”) located in Burgin, Kentucky. [R. 1] Plaintiff alleges that, on February 17, 2019, he and his teenage daughter visited his brother at NTC. After parking his vehicle in the visitor parking area, Plaintiff and his daughter proceeded to an administration building, where they left their personal items in a locker, passed through a metal detector, and were frisked-searched by Defendant Emily Price.

After their visit with Plaintiff's brother, Plaintiff and his daughter returned to the administration building to retrieve his car keys, where he was confronted by Price and two unidentified male guards. One of the guards told Plaintiff that Price thought that he smelled like marijuana, and, while the other guard did not agree with this assessment, he asked Plaintiff if he would consent to a search of his vehicle.^[1] Plaintiff refused. Price then issued a “Visit Refusal or Termination Form, ” which imposed a temporary suspension on Plaintiff's visitation privileges for refusing to consent to a vehicle search. This temporary suspension also required written approval by the Warden (or a designee) for future visits. [R. 1 at p. 5; R. 1-1 at p. 2]

Plaintiff appealed this decision to Defendant Brad Adams, who then forwarded it to Defendant Cochran. According to Plaintiff, in response to this appeal, Cochran not only approved the actions already taken, but “expanded and exasperated them” by making the “temporary ban” on Plaintiff's right to visit his brother permanent. [R. 1 at p. 5; R. 1-1 at p. 5, 6] Thus, Plaintiff claims that the permanent suspension was imposed by Defendants in retaliation for his exercise of his constitutional rights to refuse to consent to a search and to appeal his initial temporary suspension. [R. 1 at p. 5-6]

Based on these allegations, Plaintiff's complaint brings claims for violations of his First, Fourth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights and, as relief, requests declaratory and injunctive relief reinstating Plaintiff's visitation privileges, as well as monetary damages for the intentional violation of his constitutional rights. [R. 1 at p. 6]

In their motion for judgment on the pleadings, Defendants seek dismissal of Plaintiff's First and Fourth Amendment claims.^[2]Specifically, Defendants argue that: (1) Plaintiff's official capacity claims must be dismissed on sovereign immunity grounds; (2) Plaintiff's First Amendment “freedom of association” claim fails as a matter of law; (3) Plaintiff fails to state a claim for violation of his Fourth Amendment rights; and (4) Plaintiff fails to state a claim for First Amendment retaliation. For the reasons set forth below, Defendants' motion will be granted in part and denied in part.

B. Sovereign Immunity Does Not Preclude Plaintiff's Claims for Injunctive Relief

In their motion for judgment on the pleadings, Defendants argue that Plaintiff may not pursue claims against them in their respective official capacities, as such claims are barred by the doctrine of sovereign immunity. [R. 32 at p. 2] Defendants are correct that an official capacity claim against a state officer is actually a claim directly against the state agency which employs them. Lambert v. Hartman, 517 F.3d 433, 439-40 (6th Cir. 2008); Alkire v. Irving, 330 F.3d 802, 810 (6th Cir. 2003) (“While personal-capacity suits seek to impose personal liability upon a government official for actions he takes under color of state law, individuals sued in their official capacities stand in the shoes of the entity they represent.”) (internal quotation marks omitted). Defendants are also correct that, to the extent that Plaintiff seeks monetary damages against the Defendants in their official capacities, an agency of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is not subject to suit for damages under § 1983 in federal court, both because a state agency is not a “person” subject to liability under § 1983, and because the Eleventh Amendment deprives federal district courts of subject matter jurisdiction over a claim for money damages against a state and its agencies. Gibbons v. Kentucky Dept. of Corrections, No. 3:07-cv-P697-S, 2008 WL 4127847, at *1 (W.D. Ky. Sept. 4, 2008); Scott v. Kentucky Department of Corrections, No. 08-cv-104-HRW, 2008 WL 4083002, at *2 (E.D. Ky. Aug. 29, 2008) (“[T]he Eleventh Amendment has also been interpreted to extend immunity to State employees sued for damages in their official capacities.”).

However it does not follow that Plaintiff's “official capacity” claims must be dismissed in their entirety, as Plaintiff's complaint specifically seeks declaratory and injunctive relief in the form of an order directing that Plaintiff's visitation privileges be reinstated. [R. 1 at p. 6] While the Eleventh Amendment bars suits against the States and their respective entities, an exception exists for claims of prospective injunctive relief. See, e.g., Will v. Michigan Dept. of State Police, 491 U.S. 58, 71 n. 10 (1989) (“Of course a state official in his or her official capacity, when sued for injunctive relief, would be a person under § 1983 because ‘official-capacity actions for prospective relief are not treated as actions against the State.'”) (citing Kentucky v. Graham, 473 U.S. 159, 167, n. 14 (1985); Ex parte Young, 209 U.S. 123, 159-160 (1908)); Cady v. Arenac...