Court Opinion

ID: 9941815
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-02-17 01:02:37.237127+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:47:04.044663
License: Public Domain

Case: 23-30259            Document: 53-1         Page: 1      Date Filed: 02/16/2024

           United States Court of Appeals
                for the Fifth Circuit
                                   ____________                              United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                      Fifth Circuit

                                    No. 23-30259
                                                                                     FILED
                                                                             February 16, 2024
                                  Summary Calendar
                                  ____________                                 Lyle W. Cayce
                                                                                    Clerk
William R. Abbott,

                                                                  Plaintiff—Appellant,

                                          versus

United States of America,

                                             Defendant—Appellee.
                   ______________________________

                   Appeal from the United States District Court
                      for the Western District of Louisiana
                            USDC No. 2:21-CV-3774
                   ______________________________

Before Higginbotham, Stewart, and Southwick, Circuit
Judges.
Per Curiam: *
       William R. Abbott, federal prisoner # 57819-083, filed a complaint
against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. §
2671 et seq., complaining he had been sexually harassed by his transgender
cellmate and another inmate. Abbott also alleged his reports of these acts had
been ignored, in violation of the Prison Rape Elimination Act (“PREA”), 34
       _____________________
       *
           This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.4.
Case: 23-30259        Document: 53-1       Page: 2    Date Filed: 02/16/2024

                                 No. 23-30259

U.S.C. § 30301 et seq. Abbott appealed the district court’s order and
judgment granting the United States’s motion for summary judgment.
       We review a district court’s grant of summary judgment de novo,
applying the same standards as the district court. Dillon v. Rogers, 596 F.3d
260, 266 (5th Cir. 2010). Summary judgment should be granted “if the
movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the
movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a).
       Abbott argues the district court deprived him of his Seventh
Amendment right to a trial by jury. That right does not prevent granting
summary judgment when no material facts are genuinely in dispute. See
Plaisance v. Phelps, 845 F.2d 107, 108 (5th Cir. 1988).
       Abbott next complains that prison employees failed to initiate and
follow the PREA administrative process in response to his complaints of
sexual harassment. The district court concluded that Abbott’s claims were
barred under 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(e), which requires a “showing of physical
injury or the commission of a sexual act.” See also 28 U.S.C. § 1346(b)(2).
       Abbott’s own allegations and the witness statements he submitted
confirm Abbott’s complaints are limited to alleged mental and emotional
injuries and do not create a factual issue as to whether Abbott sustained a
physical injury. See Dillon, 596 F.3d at 266. His assertion that the court made
credibility determinations about those statements is unsupported by the
record.
       Abbott also asserts his claims relate to sexual acts, which are excluded
from the statutory bar. However, the conduct complained of by Abbott does
not meet the statutory definition. See 18 U.S.C. § 2246(2).
       The judgment is AFFIRMED. Abbott’s motion for oral argument
and for appointment of counsel is DENIED.

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