Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-arwd-5_06-cv-05207/USCOURTS-arwd-5_06-cv-05207-3/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Christopher Don Blount
Plaintiff
Foster
Defendant
Hunter Petray
Defendant
S. Vinetta
Defendant

Document Text:

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

WESTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS

FAYETTEVILLE DIVISION

CHRISTOPHER DON BLOUNT PLAINTIFF

v. Civil No. 06-5207

S. VINETTA, DEPUTY FOSTER, and

CAPT. HUNTER PETRAY DEFENDANTS

O R D E R

Now on this 10th day of March, 2008, come on for

consideration the Report And Recommendation Of The Magistrate

Judge (document #29), and plaintiff's Objections thereto (document

#30), and from said documents, and the supporting documentation,

the Court finds and orders as follows:

1. Plaintiff complains that while incarcerated in the

Benton County Detention Center ("BCDC"), his religious freedom was

unconstitutionally curtailed; he was subjected to excessive force

by Deputies Vinetta and Foster; and he did not receive his

prescribed medications.

Defendants moved for summary judgment on all claims.

Plaintiff's response to this motion was developed by a

questionnaire prepared by the Magistrate Judge and his staff to

assist plaintiff in focusing his claims and stating the evidence

he had in support thereof. Upon receipt of that questionnaire,

the Magistrate Judge issued his Report And Recommendation.

2. The Magistrate Judge reported that there was no

substantial burden on plaintiff's religious beliefs when his Book

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of Mormon was taken away from him for several hours, and that he

has no standing to assert religious claims on behalf of other

prisoners.

The Magistrate Judge further reported that plaintiff had not

filed grievances clearly stating his claims for use of excessive

force, as required by the Prison Litigation Reform Act, and that

verbal abuse is not actionable under 42 U.S.C. §1983.

The Magistrate Judge reported that plaintiff's grievances

with regard to not getting his medication were promptly remedied.

Finally, the Magistrate Judge reported that there was no

basis to impose vicarious liability because plaintiff's only claim

in that regard was that the jail violated its own policy, which is

insufficient to establish a §1983 violation.

For these reasons, the Magistrate Judge recommended that

defendants' Motion For Summary Judgment be granted.

3. Plaintiff objects to the ruling with regard to his

religious freedom claim, stating that his case involves not one

incident, but many, and asking "[c]an take [sic] my Book of Mormon

as a punitive response[?]" 

A review of the documents in the file does not support his

assertion that there was more than one incident when his religious

books were taken from him, and he has no standing to assert the

rights of other inmates, which he did assert repeatedly by way of

grievances.

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With regard to the question posed, i.e., whether the jail

could take away his religious book to punish him, the Court does

not condone the removal of a religious book as a means of

punishment, and has some doubt as to whether that would be a

legitimate means of punishment, as opposed to the furtherance of

a legitimate penal security interest. However, the allegation is

that the book was withheld for only a few hours. To be actionable,

a burden upon the exercise of religion must be substantial. Weir

v. Nix, 114 F.3d 817 (8th Cir. 1997). Withholding a religious

book for only a few hours does not constitute a substantial burden

on religious freedom, and will not, therefore, sustain a claim

under 42 U.S.C. §1983. This objection will, therefore, be

overruled.

4. Plaintiff also objects to the report that he has failed

to exhaust his administrative remedies with regard to claims of

excessive force, stating "[i]t is hard to prove my grievances

weren't answered when in fact they were never returned. . . .

Claims were exhausted to the fullest extent possible."

Considering the dozens of grievances included among the various

documents exhibited to motions in this case, the Court is not

persuaded that plaintiff lodged grievances that have "disappeared"

into the system. 

There are several allegations of hitting or kicking by

employees of the Benton County Detention Center contained in the

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various grievances and medical requests that were filled out by

plaintiff, but they do not involve defendants in this case. They

involve plaintiff allegedly being struck or kicked by individuals

identified as "Sgt. Shepp," "Sgt. Echols," and "Pvt Carlton."

These individuals are not defendants.

Nor does the file reflect any significant injury, even in

connection with the foregoing allegations. The file reflects that

plaintiff made a medical complaint on September 26, 2006, which

starts out "[a]fter the deputy's [sic] assaulted me, by hitting me

in the head and throwing" and then becomes illegible. He was seen

by the doctor on September 27, 2006, and found to have "[s]ome

mild tendonitis of his neck," for which Ibuprofen was prescribed,

in the same amount as he was already receiving for bursitis of his

shoulder unrelated to the "assault" complaint.

Because there is neither evidence to support plaintiff's

excessive force allegations, nor convincing explanation for the

lack thereof, plaintiff's objections to dismissal of this claim

will be overruled.

5. Finally, plaintiff objects that "[d]enial of medication

was not quickly remedied, nor was it corrected." The documents of

record do not bear this out, and this objection will also be

overruled.

 IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the Report And Recommendation Of

The Magistrate Judge is adopted in toto, and plaintiff's

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Objections thereto are overruled.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, for the reasons stated in the

Report And Recommendation Of The Magistrate Judge, defendants'

Motion For Summary Judgment (document #24) is granted, and

plaintiff's claims are dismissed with prejudice.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

 /s/ Jimm Larry Hendren 

JIMM LARRY HENDREN

UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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