Court Opinion

ID: 9387797
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-04-19 00:00:25.878805+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:18:15.544870
License: Public Domain

Case: 22-10576        Document: 00516716171             Page: 1      Date Filed: 04/18/2023

             United States Court of Appeals
                  for the Fifth Circuit
                                     ____________
                                                                              United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                       Fifth Circuit
                                      No. 22-10576
                                    Summary Calendar                                 FILED
                                    ____________                                 April 18, 2023
                                                                                Lyle W. Cayce
   Robert F. Hallman,                                                                Clerk

                                                                   Plaintiff—Appellant,

                                            versus

   Sheriff Bill Waybourn, Tarrant County Sheriff’s Department;
   Maintenance Department; Officer FNU Gruudy, Jailer;
   Tarrant County, Texas; Chief FNU Reyez, Tarrant County
   Sheriff Department; Tarrant County Sheriff’s Department,
   Grievance Division; Officer FNU Bernal, Jailer; Officer
   FNU Jackson, Jailer; All Officers Who Authorized
   Toilets to be Shut Off on 3/24/2022 to 3/26/2022,

                                              Defendants—Appellees.
                     ______________________________

                     Appeal from the United States District Court
                         for the Northern District of Texas
                               USDC No. 4:22-CV-339
                     ______________________________

   Before Stewart, Dennis, and Willett, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam: *

         _____________________
         *
             This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 22-10576        Document: 00516716171          Page: 2     Date Filed: 04/18/2023

                                      No. 22-10576

          Robert F. Hallman, while housed at the Tarrant County Jail, filed a 42
   U.S.C. § 1983 civil rights action. On appeal, he challenges the district court’s
   dismissal of his action under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1) for failure to state a
   claim upon which relief may be granted. Following de novo review, see
   Carlucci v. Chapa, 884 F.3d 534, 537 (5th Cir. 2018), we AFFIRM.
          In his appellate brief, Hallman argues as follows: Sheriff Bill
   Waybourn and Chief Reyes failed to supervise their subordinates, and there
   is a pattern of institutional abuse at the jail; Officer Jackson used a racial slur,
   antagonized him on one occasion by turning on his cell light and leaving it on,
   and denied him due process after searching for a tablet in his cell; Officer
   Bernal verbally harassed him with threats of a sexual nature; and the jail
   grievance division did not follow the protocol set forth in the Texas
   Administrative Code and failed to investigate his grievances properly.
   Additionally, Hallman contends that the officers who authorized shutting off
   the water to the toilets in his jail pod for three days violated his constitutional
   rights and acted with deliberate indifference to his health and safety. By his
   failure to brief, Hallman has abandoned any other claims. See Yohey v. Collins,
   985 F.2d 222, 224-25 (5th Cir. 1993).
          We discern no error in the dismissal of Hallman’s claims against
   Sheriff Waybourn and Chief Reyes. See Goodman v. Harris Cnty., 571 F.3d
   388, 395 (5th Cir. 2009). Likewise, we discern no error in the dismissal of
   Hallman’s claims against Officers Jackson and Bernal.              See 42 U.S.C.
   § 1997e(e); Hare v. City of Corinth, 74 F.3d 633, 636, 650 (5th Cir. 1996) (en
   banc). As for Hallman’s claims against the grievance department, he has
   abandoned any challenge to the district court’s ruling that the department is
   not a legal entity that can be sued. See Yohey, 985 F.2d at 224-25. Finally,
   the district court properly dismissed Hallman’s claims concerning the jail
   toilets. See Hare, 74 F.3d at 636, 643; see also Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S.
   825, 847 (1994).

                                            2
Case: 22-10576     Document: 00516716171           Page: 3   Date Filed: 04/18/2023

                                    No. 22-10576

          Our affirmance of the district court’s dismissal of Hallman’s § 1983
   complaint counts as a strike under 28 U.S.C. §1915(g). See Adepegba v.
   Hammons, 103 F.3d 383, 387 (5th Cir. 1996), abrogated in part on other grounds
   by Coleman v. Tollefson, 575 U.S. 532, 534-40 (2015). Hallman has previously
   accumulated one strike. See Hallman v. Gordon, 4:17-CV-408-Y, 2019 WL
   2995906, 6 (N.D. Tex. July 9, 2019) (unpublished), aff’d, 822 F. App’x 308,
   309 (5th Cir. 2020); see also Adepegba, 103 F.3d at 387.          Hallman is
   WARNED that, if he accumulates three strikes, he will be barred from
   proceeding in forma pauperis in any civil action or appeal filed while he is
   incarcerated or detained in any facility unless he “is under imminent danger
   of serious physical injury.” § 1915(g).

                                         3