Court Opinion

ID: 9840682
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-19 20:00:38.200135+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:01:27.736042
License: Public Domain

CLD-196                                                    NOT PRECEDENTIAL

                     UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                          FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
                               ___________

                                   No. 23-1726
                                   ___________

                               ISAIAH RANSOME,
                                          Appellant

                                         v.

   STEVEN LONGSTRETH, Unit Manager, at SCI Greene; Ms. SHETKA, E Block
Counselor, Lieutenant at SCI Greene; T. JOHNSON, Correctional Officer at SCI Greene;
 T. LEWIS, Correctional Officer at SCI Greene; Mr. V. SANTOYO, Lieutenant at SCI
   Greene; Mr. HOWELLS, Lieutenant at SCI Greene; Mr. Tallot, Lieutenant at SCI
 Greene; MICHAEL ZAKEN, Superintendent at SCI Greene; Ms. D. VARNER, Chief
  Grievance Office at Secretary’s Office of Inmate Grievances and Appeal, Pa. DOC-
 Mechanicsburg, Pa.; KERI MOORE, Designated Grievance Respondent at Secretary’s
   Office of Inmate Grievances and Appeals, Pa. DOC-Mechanicsburg, Pa.; TRACY
SHAWLEY, Former Grievance Coordinator/Superintendent’s Secretary Unit Manager at
                                      SCI Greene
                     ____________________________________

                   On Appeal from the United States District Court
                      for the Western District of Pennsylvania
                       (D.C. Civil Action No. 2-22-cv-00128)
                    District Judge: Honorable Arthur J. Schwab
                    ____________________________________

      Submitted for Possible Dismissal Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B) or
        Summary Action Pursuant to Third Circuit LAR 27.4 and I.O.P. 10.6
                                  August 17, 2023
          Before: SHWARTZ, MATEY, and FREEMAN, Circuit Judges

                        (Opinion filed: September 19, 2023)
                                          _________

                                          OPINION *
                                          _________

PER CURIAM

          Pro se appellant Isaiah Ransome, proceeding in forma pauperis, alleged that the

requirement to participate in two similar prison educational programs violated his

constitutional rights. He further alleged that two of the Defendants engaged in a

conspiracy designed to deceive him into attending these programs, and that one of them

threatened him, saying that if he did not participate, then he would not be eligible for a

transfer to his preferred institution. Ransome also claimed that a search of his cell—

along with the confiscation, damage, and destruction of his property—violated his

constitutional rights, including his right to equal protection and his right to access the

courts.

          The Defendants filed a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. Adopting the

report and recommendation of a Magistrate Judge, the District Court dismissed most

claims with prejudice, but allowed Ransome to file an amended complaint only as to his

First Amendment access to the courts claim. He did not do so within the time permitted,

*
 This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not
constitute binding precedent.

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and the District Court dismissed the remaining claim with prejudice. After being

permitted an extension of time to file an appeal, Ransome filed a notice of appeal.

       We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We exercise plenary review

over a district court’s grant of a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. See St.

Luke’s Health Network, Inc. v. Lancaster Gen. Hosp., 967 F.3d 295, 299 (3d Cir. 2020).

We may affirm on any basis supported by the record, see Murray v. Bledsoe, 650 F.3d

246, 247 (3d Cir. 2011) (per curiam), and we may take summary action when no

substantial issue is presented on appeal. See 3d Cir. L.A.R. 27.4; 3d Cir. I.O.P. 10.6.

       First, we agree with the District Court that Ransome’s constitutional rights were

not violated by the requirement that he complete two similar programs. The “Due

Process Clause standing alone confers no liberty interest in freedom from state action

taken ‘within the sentence imposed.’” Sandin v. Conner, 515 U.S. 472, 480 (1995)

(quoting Hewitt v. Helms, 459 U.S. 460, 468 (1983)). As the District Court correctly

concluded, prison program requirements are among “the ordinary incidents of prison life”

and there is no liberty interest implicated by being required to complete them. See id. at

484 (noting that state-created liberty interests protected by the Due Process Clause “will

be generally limited to freedom from restraint which . . . imposes atypical and significant

hardship on the inmate in relation to the ordinary incidents of prison life”).

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       To the extent that he challenged his placement in one prison over another, the

District Court was correct when it determined that Ransome’s liberty interest was not

implicated by the prison authorities’ decision to assign him to one institution over

another. See Meachum v. Fano, 427 U.S. 215, 224–25 (1976) (“The initial decision to

assign the convict to a particular institution is not subject to audit under the Due Process

Clause . . . Neither, in our view, does the Due Process Clause in and of itself protect a

duly convicted prisoner against transfer from one institution to another within the state

prison system. Confinement in any of the State's institutions is within the normal limits

or range of custody which the conviction has authorized the State to impose.”). And

Ransome’s conspiracy claim lacked sufficient particularity to establish a viable claim.

       Regarding the allegations related to the search of his cell, Ransome did not state a

claim upon which relief could be granted. Although he claimed that he is a “class of one”

for the purpose of his equal protection claim because a grey trash can was placed only in

his cell, he did not allege that other similarly situated inmates—i.e., inmates undergoing a

cell search on suspicion of possessing contraband following an alert from a dog—were

treated differently. See Hill v. Borough of Kutztown, 455 F.3d 225, 239 (3d Cir. 2006)

(explaining that, to state a claim under a “class of one” theory, a plaintiff must allege that

(1) a defendant treated him differently from others similarly situated, (2) the defendant

did so deliberately, and (3) there was no rational basis for the difference in treatment).

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Also, as the District Court noted, on the face of the complaint, there was a rational basis

for any different treatment arising from the incident, namely, the trash can was placed in

Ransome’s cell to dispose of any suspected contraband that might be discovered during

the search.

       Ransome’s procedural due process claim relating to the intentional or negligent

deprivation of his property fares no better. To succeed here, he would need to show that

he lacked an adequate post-deprivation remedy. See Hudson v. Palmer, 468 U.S. 517,

533 (1984). As the District Court correctly concluded, it was plain from the face of the

complaint that an adequate post-deprivation remedy existed, namely the prison grievance

process. Additionally, Ransome’s allegations regarding violations of the prison’s

administrative grievance policy do not amount to a constitutional violation. See Massey

v. Helman, 259 F.3d 641, 647 (7th Cir. 2001) (“[T]he prisoner’s right to petition the

government for redress is the right of access to the courts, a right that is not compromised

by the prison’s refusal to entertain his grievance.”); Flick v. Alba, 932 F.2d 728, 729 (8th

Cir. 1991) (per curiam) (holding that prisoners do not have a constitutionally protected

right to a prison grievance process).

       To the extent that Ransome also invoked the Fourth Amendment to challenge the

seizure of his property, he did not state a claim because “the Fourth Amendment

proscription against unreasonable searches does not apply within the confines of the

                                             5
prison cell” and this reasoning also “appl[ies] with controlling force to seizures.” See

Hudson, 468 U.S. at 526, 528 n.8. Any claim under the Eighth Amendment also falls

short. The destruction of Ransome’s documents and photos and damage to his typewriter

do not rise to the level of an Eighth Amendment violation because they are not

“objectively, sufficiently serious” so as to “result in the denial of the minimal civilized

measure of life’s necessities.” See Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 834 (1994)

(cleaned up).

       Lastly, regarding the alleged confiscation of his legal documents, Ransome did not

state a claim for a violation of his right to access the court because he did not identify a

lost, meritorious opportunity and therefore did not allege an actual injury. See Lewis v.

Casey, 518 U.S. 343, 352–53 (1996) (holding that an inmate must allege an actual injury

in order to bring a claim for the denial of access to the court). And, although the District

Court gave him an opportunity to amend, he did not do so.

       For the reasons stated above, we conclude that no substantial question is presented

on appeal. Accordingly, we will affirm the District Court’s judgment.

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