Court Opinion

ID: 9465183
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 00:38:17.15194+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:39:01.318473
License: Public Domain

K. K. HALL, Circuit Judge,
dissenting:
I must dissent from the majority opinion which holds that a single, patently incredible threat made by a correctional officer to an inmate, and subsequent administrative re-assignment of the inmate to a different work detail, state a claim of constitutional magnitude.
I.
PLACING PETITIONER’S LIFE IN DANGER
The majority notes without discussing Hudspeth’s claim that his life has been placed in danger by virtue of his re-assignment to a road work gang supervised by two armed guards. Hudspeth has previously raised this claim, Hudspeth v. Bowles and Carey, C/A No. 76-909-AM (E.D.Va. December 8, 1976) (appeal dismissed by agreement of the parties by order of this court of January 20, 1977), in the context of a malpractice claim against two prison physicians who certified that he was physically able to perform his assigned task as waterboy for the road crew.
An operation some months before had left Hudspeth with 60% hearing loss in one ear. The gist of his complaint in the malpractice action was that he might not hear orders given by the armed guards assigned to the road work gang, and thus be shot for disobeying; the gist of his revised complaint in the case before us is that the guards may carry out the threat made by Officer Figgins. Either contention is patently frivolous.
It should be noted that armed guards are a regular feature of prison life; there is no reason for this court to assume that their presence at the road work site was in any way unusual or threatening to Hudspeth. In the judgment of two prison doctors, Hudspeth was capable of performing his assigned job. No constitutional violation results from a prisoner’s assignment to a particular job which he is capable of performing. Cf., Cassidy v. Superintendent, *1349City Prison Farm, Danville, Va., 392 F.Supp. 330 (W.D.Va.1975). And federal courts have no authority to interfere with the administration of a state prison unless paramount federal constitutional or statutory rights are violated. Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539, 94 S.Ct. 2963, 41 L.Ed.2d 935 (1974). Therefore I vigorously dissent from any implication in the majority opinion that Hudspeth has stated a viable claim of endangerment to his life.
II.
RIGHT OF ACCESS TO THE COURTS
The majority cites Lingo v. Boone, 402 F.Supp. 768, 775 (N.D.Calif.1975) for the proposition that a threat which is intended to impose a limitation upon a prisoner’s right of access to the courts is impermissible. I have no argument with this statement of the law; however, an examination of Lingo demonstrates that it has no application to the case before us.
First, the threats made by correctional officers in Lingo were real and substantial: punishment and harassment by guards, and denial of parole. In contrast, the statement made by Officer Figgins was patently absurd: assassination by order of the Virginia Courts, Second, the court in Lingo found that Lingo’s “litigious history . . . belie[d] his contention that his right of access to the courts ha[d] been obstructed,” and accordingly denied relief. 402 F.Supp. at 775-76. In the case before us, the district court found that Hudspeth had commenced three separate lawsuits against prison officials since the date on which the threat was made; each of these cases was appealed to this court. Hudspeth v. Blair, No. 77-1441 (4th Cir., Nov. 2,1977); Hudspeth v. Superintendent, Unit # 30, No. 77-8301 (pending before the court); Hudspeth v. Bowles and Carey, supra. In addition, he filed a petition for a writ of mandamus before the Supreme Court of Virginia. On these facts I cannot believe that Hudspeth can possibly make out a claim of deprivation of his right of access to the courts.
In similar vein, any constitutional claim against defendant Nesselrodt is frivolous. There is no allegation that Nesselrodt was in collusion with Figgins; his work reassignment of Hudspeth was made at least three weeks after the threat by Figgins, and after Hudspeth’s treating physicians had certified that he was physically able to perform the allotted task; and again, any fears Hudspeth may have harbored about the routine practice of having an armed guard at the work detail was at best subjective and unfounded.
III.
CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT
The majority also holds that Hudspeth may have stated a claim of cruel and unusual punishment. I cannot agree that the outrageous threat made to Hudspeth or his non-punitive re-assignment to a different work detail are “wanton infliction of unnecessary pain” or “inconsistent with contemporary standards of decency. . . . ” Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 105, 97 S.Ct. 285, 290, 291, 50 L.Ed.2d 251 (1976). Furthermore, this isolated incident is without the ambit of Woodhous v. Virginia, 487 F.2d 889 (4th Cir. 1973), relied upon by Hudspeth.
If Hudspeth was actually fearful for his life — which is frankly incredible to me— then his reaction was totally unreasonable. In the tense and often hostile environment of a prison, regrettable and even reprehensible statements will be made by correctional officers. An isolated incident such as this one may be grounds for discipline of the officer, but, absent some compelling circumstances not present here, the incident will not be grounds for a claim of constitutional magnitude. I fear the flood of litigation under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 which may result from the majority’s unwarranted solicitude of Hudspeth in this case.
In conclusion, even viewing the facts of this complaint under the standards of Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 92 S.Ct. 594, 30 L.Ed.2d 652 (1972), I believe that he “can prove no set of facts in support of his claim *1350which would entitle him to relief.” Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 102, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957). I feel compelled to note also that there is no indication in this record that Hudspeth’s life is “a dreary one of suffering,” and I expect that this gratuitous comment in the majority opinion will be cited to this court in numerous prisoner petitions in the future.
I would affirm the well-reasoned decision of the district court, and I must strongly dissent.