Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ared-5_19-cv-00155/USCOURTS-ared-5_19-cv-00155-3/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Cole
Defendant
Kendrick Story
Plaintiff
Walker
Defendant

Document Text:

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

EASTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS 

PINE BLUFF DIVISION 

KENDRICK STORY 

ADC #109934 PLAINTIFF 

v. No. 5:19-cv-155-DPM 

WALKER, Sergeant, Cummins Unit; 

and COLE, CO, Cummins Unit 

ORDER 

DEFENDANTS 

The Court adopts Magistrate Judge Kearney's unopposed 

recommendation, Doc. 39. FED. R. CIV. P. 72(b) (1983 addition to 

advisory committee notes). "[N]ot every overflowed toilet in a prison 

amounts to a constitutional violation." Smith v. Copeland, 87 F.3d 265, 

268 (8th Cir. 1996). Instead, the duration of unsanitary conditions is 

critical. Here, the six-hour exposure to water and sewage because of 

an overflow is not sufficient to amount to an Eighth Amendment 

violation. And though the Court credits Story's allegation that his 

water was turned off for three days after the overflow, he hasn't met 

proof with proof to show that Walker and Cole were responsible for 

that deprivation. Defendants' motion for summary judgment, Doc. 31, 

is therefore granted; and Story's cross-motion, Doc. 34, is denied. 

Story's complaint will be dismissed with prejudice. 

Case 5:19-cv-00155-DPM Document 40 Filed 04/16/20 Page 1 of 2
So Ordered. 

D .P. Marshall fr. 

United States District Judge 

-2-

Case 5:19-cv-00155-DPM Document 40 Filed 04/16/20 Page 2 of 2