Opinion ID: 70412
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Farcas

Text: 19 Appellee David Farcas was the superintendent of MCI in late 1990. Appellant alleges that Farcas acquiesced in the suspension of his recreational privileges and the other alleged wrongs in order to retaliate for Appellant's prior litigation and because of his race. Appellant also charges that Farcas refused to control the prison's insect population or provide Appellant with an adequate vegetarian diet. Farcas denies having any racist or retaliatory animus towards Appellant and maintains that his actions in approving Appellant's suspension were entirely proper. Farcas also relies on records indicating that the prison offered an adequate vegetarian diet and made regular efforts to control insects in the prison buildings. 20 As explained above, Appellant's allegations of racial bias and retaliatory animus state a claim under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. Appellant's additional claims regarding insect control and inadequate diet at MCI also state a valid constitutional claim. 5 When prisoners are denied the minimal civilized measure of life's necessities, the Eighth Amendment is violated. Wilson, 501 U.S. at 298, 111 S.Ct. at 2324 (quoting Rhodes v. Chapman, 452 U.S. 337, 346-47, 101 S.Ct. 2392, 2399, 69 L.Ed.2d 59 (1981)). 21 The district court was correct in granting summary judgment for Farcas. Like most of Appellant's case against McRae, his First and Fourteenth Amendment claims against Farcas failed because nothing suggests an affirmative causal connection between Farcas and any allegedly unconstitutional acts. See Swint, 51 F.3d at 999. Moreover, Appellant produced nothing to suggest a racist or retaliatory motive on the part of Farcas. Finally, Appellant's diet and insect-infestation claims also fail for lack of any evidence that conditions at MCI were anything but adequate. Appellees' evidence that MCI provided an adequate diet and regular insect control goes unchallenged. Under these circumstances, the district court properly concluded that no material issue of fact remained with respect to Appellant's claims against Farcas.