Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca8-15-02416/USCOURTS-ca8-15-02416-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 555
Nature of Suit: Prisoner - Prison Condition
Cause of Action: 

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United States Court of Appeals

For the Eighth Circuit

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No. 15-2416

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Maurice Williams,

lllllllllllllllllllll Plaintiff - Appellant,

v.

City of St. Louis; Burton Barr, Chaplan, Individually and Officially; Richard Gray,

Director, Individually and Officially; Melvin Diggs, Correctional Officer,

Individually and Officially; Sydney Turner, Correctional Officer, Individually and

Officially; Len Crenshaw, Supt., Individually and Officially; Irene Mitchell,

Individually and Officially; Dale Glass, Commissioner, Individually and

Officially; Unknown Irving, Correctional Officer III, Individually and Officially,

lllllllllllllllllllll Defendants - Appellees.

____________

Appeal from United States District Court 

for the Eastern District of Missouri - St. Louis

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 Submitted: October 16, 2015

 Filed: December 21, 2015

[Unpublished]

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Before WOLLMAN, COLLOTON, and GRUENDER, Circuit Judges.

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PER CURIAM.

Appellate Case: 15-2416 Page: 1 Date Filed: 12/21/2015 Entry ID: 4348383 
Maurice Williams, an inmate at the St. Louis City Justice Center, appeals from

the district court’s 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B) dismissal of his action alleging 1

violations of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized

Persons Act (RLUIPA). Following de novo review, see Moore v. Sims, 200 F.3d

1170, 1171 (8th Cir. 2000) (per curiam), we grant Williams’s motion to proceed in

forma pauperis and summarily affirm.

We conclude that the district court properly dismissed Williams’s section 1983

claims against the city of St. Louis and the individual defendants in their official

capacities because he did not allege that any city policy or custom was responsible

for the violations of his rights. See Kentucky v. Graham, 473 U.S. 159, 165-66

(1985); Monell v. Dep’t of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658, 690-90 (1978).

We also agree that his section 1983 claims against the individual defendants

in their individual capacities failed. As to Williams’s claim that he was kept in

solitary confinement for 23-24 hours at a time for non-disciplinary reasons and was

served food at unsafe temperatures, he failed to allege facts indicating that his

confinement led to any substantial risk of harm or immediate danger to health, or that

defendants knew of and deliberately ignored the likelihood of harm. See Beaulieu v.

Ludeman, 690 F.3d 1017, 1044-45 (8th Cir. 2012); Wishon v. Gammon, 978 F.2d

446, 449 (8th Cir. 1992); Ervin v. Ciccone, 557 F.2d 1260, 1262-63 (8th Cir. 1977). 

As to his claim that he wassubjected to weekly strip searches, he failed to allege facts

indicating that the strip searches were exaggerated beyond what was necessary for

genuine security considerations, see Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 559-62 (1979);

Story v. Foote, 782 F.3d 968, 971-72 (8th Cir. 2015), or that defendants conducted

the searches with deliberate indifference to his health or safety, see Farmer v.

Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 834, 836 (1994).

The Honorable Judge Carol E. Jackson, United States District Judge for the

1

Eastern District of Missouri.

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Appellate Case: 15-2416 Page: 2 Date Filed: 12/21/2015 Entry ID: 4348383 
Finally, in his amended complaint, Williams made only a conclusory allegation

that he was denied a religious diet. We agree with the district court that the allegation

was insufficient to state a claim under RLUIPA that was plausible on its face, as

Williams did not establish a substantial burden on his religious beliefs. See Ashcroft

v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009); cf. 42 U.S.C. 2000cc-1(a); Van Wyhe v. Reisch,

581 F.3d 639, 655 (8th Cir. 2009); Murphy v. Mo. Dep’t of Corr., 372 F.3d 979, 988

(8th Cir. 2004). 

Accordingly, we affirm.

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Appellate Case: 15-2416 Page: 3 Date Filed: 12/21/2015 Entry ID: 4348383