Source: https://casetext.com/case/bryant-v-maffucci
Timestamp: 2019-03-19 06:07:57
Document Index: 505021869

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 125', '§ 1983', '§ 1983', '§ 1983', '§ 1983', '§ 1983', '§ 1983', '§ 125']

Bryant v. Maffucci, 923 F.2d 979 | Casetext
923 F.2d 979 (2d Cir. 1991)
Bryantv.Maffucci
United States Court of Appeals, Second CircuitJan 17, 1991
Jeff H. Galloway, New York City (Hughes Hubbard Reed, New York City, of counsel), for plaintiff-appellant.
She appeals a judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Conner, J.) entered on January 26, 1990, reported at 729 F.Supp. 319 (S.D.N.Y. 1990), granting summary judgment in favor of appellees, Westchester Department of Correction Commissioner John J. Maffucci, Senior Assistant Warden Dawn Thackeray, Assistant Warden Yvonne Powell, Warden Norwood Jackson, and Medical Director of Westchester County Medical Center's Correctional Health Services, Dr. Edward Allan, who held their positions at the times relevant to this appeal. From the grant of summary judgment dismissing her claims, appellant has brought this appeal. We affirm.
The next day — August 1 — a sonogram was administered to her at the Westchester County Medical Center, the medical arm of the Correctional Facility. The sonogram indicated Bryant was in the 21st week of her pregnancy. This conclusion was based on an abdominal circumference fetal age of 21.9. weeks, a head circumference of 20.4 weeks, and a bi-parietal diameter and femur length fetal age of 21 weeks. Appellant explained to an attending nurse she wished to terminate her pregnancy, and was told to put her request in writing. The attending hospital clinician marked Bryant's medical form "EMERGENCY" because New York State prohibits abortions beyond the fetal age of 24 weeks. See N.Y.Pen.Law § 125.05 (McKinney 1990).
Warden Thackeray remembered Bryant speaking to her on one of her tours in early August 1985. Thackeray checked with the nursing staff and found out they were aware of her request and that staff was in touch with Kings County to set up a preabortion physical. Knowing that Bryant was over 12 weeks, in fact 21 weeks, the warden said that this knowledge made her — out of concern for Bryant and her condition — make sure that steps were being taken to ensure that she obtained her abortion. After the warden talked to the medical staff and was assured the process was going forward, she reported this information to Bryant the same day she learned it. When Bryant's mother on August 14 called to express concern, Thackeray said she would check into it — which she did by contacting the nurse while appellant's mother was still on the telephone — and then related to the mother that an appointment was in the process of being made and that if the mother had further concerns she should please contact Dr. Allan, as head of Correctional Health Services. Appellant had daily contact with prenatal care. In fact, as the warden noted, all inmates attempt to have daily contact, if possible, with the medical office.
When Bryant was asked if she personally delivered the August 2 letter to Warden Thackeray she replied: "You know, I'm not really sure. One of the letters I stuck under Warden Thackeray's door." Bryant states that she gave the identical letter to one of the nurses to give to Dr. Allan, and was later told it was given to him. Warden Thackeray admitted that she the August 2 letter later, but had no idea where it came from and thinks that she may have seen the one sent over to her office from medical.
On October 7, 1985 Bryant commenced the instant civil rights action, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, pro se against Commissioner Maffucci, Senior Assistant Warden Thackeray, Assistant Warden Powell, Warden Jackson, and Dr. Allan. After defendants' answer was filed, the New York City law firm of Hughes, Hubbard Reed, Esqs. was appointed as appellant's counsel. Hughes, Hubbard filed an amended § 1983 compliant claiming that the state defendants both individually and in their official capacities violated Bryant's Eighth Amendment right against cruel and unusual punishment and her Fourteenth Amendment right to privacy. In their answer to the amended complaint, defendants denied these allegations and asserted numerous affirmative defenses, including qualified immunity. After depositions of Bryant and all the defendants, the defendants moved for summary judgment.
DISCUSSION [20] I. Standard of Review [21] A. Summary Judgment
In resolving the issues raised on this appeal, we turn first to the standard of review. The rules relating to disposition of appeals from grants of summary judgment are familiar, and need be stated only briefly. On appeal from a grant of summary judgment we review the record de novo to determine whether there are genuine issues of material fact requiring a trial. Burtnieks v. City of New York, 716 F.2d 982, 985 (2d Cir. 1983); Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). In assessing the record, all ambiguities and reasonable inferences are viewed in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party. United States v. Diebold, Inc., 369 U.S. 654, 655, 82 S.Ct. 993, 994, 8 L.Ed.2d 176 (1962) (per curiam). Summary judgment is appropriately granted when there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and when, based upon facts not in dispute, the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552-53, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). A dispute regarding a material fact is genuine "if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). Only when reasonable minds could not differ as to the import of the evidence is summary judgment proper. See id. at 250-51, 106 S.Ct. at 2511-12. Once the movant has established a prima facie case demonstrating the absence of a genuine issue of material fact, the nonmoving party must come forward with enough evidence to support a jury verdict in its favor, and the motion will not be defeated merely upon a "metaphysical doubt" concerning the facts, see Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 1355-56, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986), or on the basis of conjecture or surmise.
To state a viable § 1983 claim, plaintiff must show that officials were acting under color of state law and their actions deprived the plaintiff of a right guaranteed by the constitution or laws of the United States. See Parratt v. Taylor, 451 U.S. 527, 535, 101 S.Ct. 1908, 1912-13, 68 L.Ed.2d 420 (1980). An allegation of a wrong perhaps sufficient to state a remediable tort cause of action under state law does not automatically rise to the level of a constitutional deprivation simply because a defendant is the state or an agent of the state. Daniels v. Williams, 474 U.S. 327, 333, 106 S.Ct. 668, 670-71, 88 L.Ed.2d 662 (1986) (due process protections are not triggered by lack of due care by state officials); Davidson v. Cannon, 474 U.S. 344, 347-48, 106 S.Ct. 668, 670-71, 88 L.Ed.2d 677 (1986) (although negligence of prison official led to prisoner's serious injury, constitution requires no procedure to compensate injury arising from negligence); Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 105-06, 97 S.Ct. 285, 292, 50 L.Ed.2d 251 (1976) ("Medical malpractice does not become a constitutional violation merely because the victim is a prisoner.").
Bryant alleges that the defendant's actions deprived her of her Eighth Amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment and of her constitutional right to privacy. The district court accepted the framing of the first issue as an Eighth Amendment claim, and applied the deliberate indifference standard applicable to § 1983 claims brought by convicted inmates. See Estelle, 429 U.S. at 105, 97 S.Ct. at 291-92.
At the time of her August 1985 incarceration appellant was not an inmate, but rather a pretrial detainee, whose constitutional claims are properly analyzed under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. See Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 535 n. 16, 99 S.Ct. 1861, 1872 n. 16, 60 L.Ed.2d 447 (1979); Ingraham v. Wright, 430 U.S. 651, 671 n. 40, 97 S.Ct. 1401, 1412 n. 40, 51 L.Ed.2d 711 (1977). Although a pretrial detainee's due process rights to adequate medical treatment are at least as great as the Eighth Amendment protections available to prison inmates, see Revere v. Massachusetts General Hospital, 463 U.S. 239, 244, 103 S.Ct. 2979, 2983, 77 L.Ed.2d 605 (1983), the Supreme Court has left unresolved what standard applies. It remains unsettled, in other words, whether a pretrial detainee must meet the "deliberate indifference" standard of Estelle or show "gross negligence" or "recklessness" or prove conduct not amounting to intentional acts, but that is more than simple negligence to state a claim of a constitutional deprivation under the Due Process Clause. See Daniels, 474 U.S. at 334 n. 3, 106 S.Ct. at 666 n. 3 (refusing to consider whether "something less than intentional conduct, such as recklessness or `gross negligence,' is enough to trigger the protections of the Due Process Clause"); cf. City of Canton v. Harris, 489 U.S. 378, 109 S.Ct. 1197, 1204 n. 8, 103 L.Ed.2d 412 (1989) (noting that question remains unresolved).
The district court also ruled that Estelle's deliberate indifference standard applied to privacy claims under the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause. While it is true that we applied a deliberate indifference standard to a § 1983 claim when a state agency placed a foster child in an abusive foster home, Doe v. Dept. of Soc. Servs., 649 F.2d 134, 143 (2d Cir. 1981) (noting that gross negligence and deliberate indifference though not coextensive are closely related), our research has found no federal court ruling on what standard is to be applied to the denial of the right to terminate an incarcerated detainee's pregnancy.
We recognize that the existence or the degree of negligence developed by the facts of a case ordinarily present a question of fact for the jury. See Hathaway v. Coughlin, 841 F.2d 48, 50-51 (2d Cir. 1988); Gill v. Mooney, 824 F.2d 192, 196 (2d Cir. 1987); Archer v. Dutcher, 733 F.2d 14, 17 (2d Cir. 1984); West v. Keve, 571 F.2d 158, 162 (3rd Cir. 1978). But when the facts, viewed in the light most favorable to the moving party, fail to state a legal claim under applicable law, summary judgment dismissing the claim is appropriate. See Estelle, 429 U.S. at 107, 97 S.Ct. at 292-93 (finding that even construing complaint liberally, defendants' actions were at most a claim for medical malpractice).
Examining the evidence in this record, appellant presented proof of two incidents that might theoretically impose liability on defendants Powell, Thackeray, and Allan. The first is the six-day delay in delivery of appellant's letter to Dr. Allan; the second is the scheduling of appellant's abortion for August 19. Bryant contends that Dr. Allan did not act on her letter until August 8, and that he either received the letter several days before August 8 and delayed acting on it, or he received the letter on August 8 and scheduled the abortion after the expiration. of the legal time limit for such procedure. In either event, appellant believes she is entitled to a credibility determination by a jury with respect to the doctor's testimony. The evidence reveals an August 8 notation of receipt on appellant's letter, and Bryant has produced no proof to suggest that Dr. Allan in fact received the letter before that date. Resolution of the doctor's credibility is not called for by appellant's conjectures as to what she thinks may have happened.
Even though the delay and the date for scheduling the hospital appointment issues were not tried, it was unnecessary to submit them to a jury because they presented no issues of material fact within the meaning of Rule 56. See United States v. One Tintoretto Painting, 691 F.2d 603 (2d Cir. 1983). We recognize caution must be exercised in granting summary judgment where state of mind is at issue, as here, see Quarles v. General Motors Corporation, 758 F.2d 839, 840 (2d Cir. 1985). But here there was full discovery of all the defendants. Despite that gathering of the pertinent facts, no proof has been proffered by appellant that would tend to show more than a negligent deprivation of her due process rights.
In order to sustain this claim, more must be shown than a single incident in which a plaintiff was denied a constitutional right. See City of Oklahoma City v. Tuttle, 471 U.S. 808, 823-24, 105 S.Ct. 2427, 2436-37, 85 L.Ed.2d 791 (1985); see also Todaro v. Ward, 565 F.2d 48, 53 (2d Cir. 1977). Here the district court outlined the Facility's procedure for pregnant females:
As a routine procedure, pregnant female inmates were given sonograms . . . shortly after entering the Facility. . . . If a pregnant inmate, during the time of plaintiff's incarceration, wished to obtain an abortion while incarcerated at the [Facility], she had to make a formal request in writing to Dr. Allan and Warden Thackeray in accordance with the procedure to request medical care or the request could be made on a separate piece of paper and given to the nursing staff or directly to Dr. Allan. . . .
Once a request was received, an examination to determine the gestation period would be conducted to determine where the abortion was to be performed. . . . [T]he abortion would be paid for by the Westchester Department of Correction. . . .
No permission from the Department of Correction was needed for an inmate to receive an abortion. . . . The Department of Correction provided the safe and secure transportation of the inmate to and from the facility where the abortion was to be performed.
The district court found this procedure "did not evidence deliberate indifference to plaintiff's constitutional rights" and "[e]ven if there were an error in the chain that led to the denial of plaintiff's abortion, it was an isolated instance which does not rise to the level of a constitutional violation." Id. at 327. We agree. Because the Facility's stated procedure did not require pregnant inmates to receive permission either from the Department of Correction or from the court to obtain a nontherapeutic abortion, it is distinguishable from the procedure found violative of § 1983 in Monmouth County Corr. Inst. Inmates v. Lanzaro, 834 F.2d 326 (3rd Cir.), cert. denied, 486 U.S. 1006, 108 S.Ct. 1731, 100 L.Ed.2d 195 (1987).
[49] JON O. NEWMAN, Circuit Judge, dissenting:
11. On that day, a second sonogram indicated a fetal age of 24 week, beyond the limit of permitted abortions in New York. See N.Y. Pen.Law § 125.05 (McKinney 1987).
I think it is clear that a jury could reasonably find that prison officials were reckless in their disregard of Bryant's rights. In the right first place, it was reckless for prison officials not to act on the second day of her confinement to arrange for a prompt abortion. The sonogram taken that day indicated a fetus of probably 21 weeks, and one measurement placed the age at nearly 22 weeks. The same considerations that prompted the "EMERGENCY" marking on Bryant's medical form, no doubt influenced by the inevitable risk of some error in all medical measurement, could reasonably be found to require immediate scheduling of an abortion so that it could be performed safely within the State's 24-week limit.
A jury could reasonably find that Warden Thackery acted recklessly in shunting Bryant aside to deal with Warden Powell. Though a warden need not respond to all inmate grievances in hallway conversations, the request of a woman then thought to be 22 weeks pregnant for an abortion is not minor quarrel about trivial conditions like the quality of prison food.
The Supreme Court has recognized that "time is likely to be of the essence in an abortion decision." H.L. v. Matheson, 450 U.S. 398, 412, 101 S.Ct. 1164, 1172, 67 L.Ed.2d 388 (1981). In disregard of that obvious truth, the majority treats the 20-day delay in the case as no more than simple negligence. The six-day delay in delivering Bryant's written communications within the jail is viewed as merely "inefficient." Yet Bryant was repeatedly renewing her request for an abortion with personal pleas during that interval and prison officials were failing to act. The claim is not about slow delivery of prison mail; it is about reckless disregard of a woman's repeated request to exercise a constitutional right. The officials' acceptance of the eventual August 19 date is characterized by the majority as the permissible reliance on an unfortunate misdiagnosis. Perhaps a jury, properly instructed, could draw that inference, but it is surely not the only reasonable way to assess what occurred. Just as reasonable — more so, in my view — is the inference that with a diagnostic technique known to be inexact and with one measurement of that technique already placing the August 19 date beyond the State's 24-week limit, it was plainly reckless not to call other area hospitals and arrange for an abortion on a date that was in fact the earliest possible date when the abortion could have been performed, not just a date that Dr. Allen can be said to have believed was the earliest date available at the one hospital where inquiry was made.
In the District Court, Bryant's claims was rejected because the District Judge applied to her substantive due process claim of denial of an abortion the "deliberate indifference" standard appropriate to an Eighth Amendment claim for inadequate medical care in prison. See Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 104, 97 S.Ct. 285, 291, 50 L.Ed.2d 251 (1976). In this Court, the majority does not embrace the District Court's reasoning, apparently recognizing that the "deliberate indifference" standard applicable to prisoners' medical claims is too rigorous a standard to be applied to the claim of a pregnant prisoner asserting her constitutional right to an abortion. See Monmouth County Correctional Institutional Inmates v. Lanzaro, 834 F.2d 326 (3d Cir. 1987), cert. denied, 486 U.S. 1006, 108 S.Ct. 1731, 100 L.Ed.2d 195 (1988) (recognizing that prison officials violate a prisoner's right to an abortion by interposing roadblocks not justified by their reasonable relation to legitimate penological interests).