Washington v. Minnesota Dept. of Corrections' Supervisor Officials

Background

Monroe Bernard Washington, a prisoner representing himself, sued Minnesota Correctional Facility-Oak Park Heights, Minnesota Correctional Facility-Stillwater, and several named officials under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. He alleged retaliation, denial of access to the courts, unconstitutional conditions of confinement, failure to protect, and denial of religious freedom under the First Amendment and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. He also sought an order placing him in administrative segregation and transferring him back to Minnesota.

A magistrate judge recommended granting the defendants’ motion to dismiss and denying Washington’s request for an emergency injunction. Washington objected. The district court reviewed the parts of the recommendation to which he made timely objections independently and reviewed his general objection to the religious-freedom recommendation for clear error.

Reasons for Dismissal

The court agreed that Washington had not alleged enough facts to support his retaliation claim because he did not identify a defendant involved in his transfer to Maryland or facts showing a retaliatory motive. His access-to-the-courts claim failed because he did not allege that the defendants intended to restrict his court access or that any delay actually hindered his litigation.

The court also concluded that Washington had not identified objectively harsh conditions or shown that the Minnesota defendants knew about and disregarded a serious risk of harm. His failure-to-protect allegations did not show that any defendant was deliberately indifferent to a substantial risk of serious harm. His religious-freedom allegations were described as conclusory and insufficient to state a claim.

Claims Against Sgt. Hilleren

Counsel had appeared for every listed defendant except Sgt. Hilleren. The record contained no proof that Hilleren had been served, and the waiver-of-service request was returned unexecuted. More than 90 days had passed since the action began, and Washington had not shown good cause for failing to complete service. The court dismissed the action as to Hilleren under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(m).

Emergency Injunction

The court denied Washington’s request for an emergency injunction because the related claims were not included in his complaint. The court also stated that dismissal of the claims for failure to state a claim would independently require denial of the requested injunction.

Disposition

The court accepted the magistrate judge’s report and recommendation, overruled Washington’s objections, granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss, and denied the request for an emergency injunction. The action was dismissed with prejudice as to Minnesota Correctional Facility-Oak Park Heights, Minnesota Correctional Facility-Stillwater, Lieutenant Jason Hills, Sergeant Glenn Lisowy, Andy Dubois, Lieutenant David Spets, Sergeant Terra O’Connor, and Lieutenant Shane Jones. The action was dismissed without prejudice as to Sergeant Hilleren.