Opinion ID: 153855
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Alleged Retaliatory Acts

Text: 16 Plaintiff claims that the defendants took retaliatory actions against him for bringing suits against the prison and restricted him from petitioning the government for redress of his grievances in violation of the First Amendment. Plaintiff specifically alleged that the defendants forced him to choose between hygiene items and pursuing grievances and legal actions, seized his legal materials and transferred him into administrative segregation in retaliation for bringing suit against prison officials, and threatened him with further retaliation if he did not stop complaining. Defendants have not specifically disputed these allegations. The district court granted defendants summary judgment because it found they had qualified immunity because plaintiff failed to allege with sufficient specificity the parameters of the constitutional violation asserted. See Jantz v. Muci, 976 F.2d 623, 627 (10th Cir.1992), cert. denied, 508 U.S. 952, 113 S.Ct. 2445, 124 L.Ed.2d 662 (1993). Defendants do not have qualified immunity in this case, however, because it is well established that prison officials must provide inmates access to the courts, Bounds, 430 U.S. at 828, 97 S.Ct. at 1498, and prison officials may not harass or retaliate against an inmate for exercising his right of access to the courts. Smith v. Maschner, 899 F.2d 940, 947-48 (10th Cir.1990); see also U.S. Const. amend. I (protecting the right of the people to petition the Government for a redress of grievances); Hudson v. Palmer, 468 U.S. 517, 523, 104 S.Ct. 3194, 3198, 82 L.Ed.2d 393 (1984) (stating that prisoners have the constitutional right to petition the Government for redress of their grievances, which includes a reasonable right of access to the courts). Plaintiff alleged in his complaint: 17 Between July 17, 1992 and July 26, 1992 Plaintiff had a pre-trial conference by telephone with the Honorable United States District Court in the office of his Case Manager, Mrs. Rennae Murphy. Between April 1992 and July 21, 1992 the defendants had kept the facility on total lockdown most of that time, declaring state of emergencies that at least twice didn't even exist. Between July 13, 1992 and July 27, 1992 the defendants, particularly Mr. Mark McKinna, totally denied Plaintiff access to the Law Library. Be-- [sic] of this Plaintiff was unprepared for the pre-trial conference. 18 .... 19 When the pre-trial conference ended, Plaintiff told Mrs. Rennae Murphy that he'd been without toothpaste since the total lockdown began July 13, 1992. plaintiff [sic] told her he had no money to purchase toothpaste and that during total facility lockdowns, inmates were suppose [sic] to receive toothpaste and razors. Additionally, Plaintiff was entitled under A.R. 850-14, as an indigent inmate, to receive toothpaste and razors. Mrs. Rennae Murphy denied Plaintiff's request stating, You shouldn't be suing people, in reference to Civil Action Number 91-N-965, which involved the pre-trial conference, depriving Plaintiff of hygiene items given other similarly situated inmates by the Case Manager. 20 .... 21 Mrs. Rennae Murphy's denial was to punish Plaintiff for having the pending lawsuit and her denial impinged and violated Plaintiff's First Amendment right to Petition the Government for Redress of Grievances. Const. Amend. I. 22 .... 23 After Mrs. Rennae Murphy denied Plaintiff toothpaste and razors, Plaintiff requested grievance forms because he simply had no money and it appeared he would be segregated for a while without money or toothpaste and razors. Mrs. Rennae Murphy refused to give Plaintiff grievance forms, that are freely given to other similarly situated inmates who wish to exercise the grievance procedure.... 24 .... 25 Ms. Betty Fulton refused Plaintiff hygiene items, telling Plaintiff that if he wasn't suing police officers ... and spending so much money on legal postage, that Plaintiff would be able to afford toothpaste and razors.... Ms. Betty Fulton stated Plaintiff should not be suing people, .... 26 Plaintiff's Amended Complaint at 29-30. Plaintiff further alleged: 27 [T]he Administration and security officers were coming to Plaintiff's cell under the guise of cell searches with the intent and purpose to harass and intimidate, actually making threats to Plaintiff to stop complaining and not to file civil action against Case Manager Betty Fulton, Mailroom Officers, Mrs. Blasingame and Ms. Cook, Robert Furlong and Delayne Toronowski [sic], reading, photocopying and confiscating legal work and throwing it all over the cell. That Security Officer Solomon had admitted he was harassing and retaliating against me, that he was under orders to do so, .... 28 .... 29 On approximately July 21, 1993 these defendants [Mr. Draper, Mr. Richard Mischiera, Mr. C. Jarvis and Mr. Sokol] began taking physical actions carrying out their conspiracy to retaliate against Plaintiff for exercising his First Amendment rights, by taking Plaintiff off permanent party status in Living Unit One and transferring Plaintiff specifically to Unit Six, specifically to the case load of Case Manager Linda Toronowski [sic], wife of Delayne Toronowski, defendant in Case Number 93-Z-1727. The defendants did this to carry out their conspiracy to retaliate against Plaintiff specifically through Case Manager Linda Toronowski [sic]. 30 .... 31 Additionally, Sargent Rocha and T. Smelser confiscated Plaintiff's [legal] notes.... When Plaintiff asked Sargent Rocha and T. Smelser why they were searching Plaintiff, T. Smelser told Plaintiff they were doing so on orders of Captain Bauer and that Plaintiff had better start minding his own business.... 32 Then on April 23, 1993, ... Sargent Draper and Sargent Maher came to Plaintiff's cell and read Plaintiff's legal work and confiscated all the legal materials and federal law books.... 33 Plaintiff's Amended Complaint at 38, 42-43, 48. The qualified immunity afforded in Jantz does not apply in this case because the jurisprudence prohibiting retaliatory acts against prisoners for reporting grievances is well-established. Plaintiff's allegations regarding the retaliatory acts--which are uncontroverted by the defendants--are very specific and raise a genuine issue of material fact. Thus, we must reverse and remand on this issue because the district court was incorrect in holding that defendants were entitled to qualified immunity on the First Amendment retaliation claim.