Click Back Button to Return to Publication
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SEVENTH CIRCUIT
QUORDALIS V. SANDERS,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
PHILLIP A.
KINGSTON, et al.,
Defendant-Appellees.
No. 02-2541
53 Fed. Appx. 781
November 27, 2002 *, Submitted
See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
December 20, 2002, Decided
NOTICE: RULES OF THE SEVENTH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS MAY LIMIT CITATION TO UNPUBLISHED OPINIONS. PLEASE REFER TO THE RULES OF THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THIS CIRCUIT.
Wisconsin
inmate Quordalis V. Sanders brought suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that
he suffered cruel and unusual punishment due to overcrowding at Columbia
Correctional Institution (CCI). The district court dismissed the suit sua
sponte for failure to state a claim against the [*783] named
defendants, see 28 U.S.C. § 1915A, but in analyzing the complaint did not
consider Sanders' allegation that, as a result of the overcrowded conditions,
he was unconstitutionally exposed to second-hand smoke. We affirm in part, vacate in part, and remand the case for
further proceedings.
Sanders is
currently housed at the Green Bay Correctional Institution, but this lawsuit
arises out of events that occurred during his incarceration at CCI. In April
2002, Sanders submitted a grievance to CCI officials complaining that he was in disciplinary segregation assigned
to a one-person cell with another inmate. Sanders contended that if he was
double-celled then he was entitled to a bunk for his mattress, a privacy
curtain to screen himself from his cellmate while using the bathroom in their
cell, and a stand for his television. In his grievance Sanders also commented
that his request to be paired with a nonsmoker had gone unanswered. Prison
officials dismissed his grievance, explaining that overcrowding at the prison
required that inmates be double-celled and that such decisions were not made at
the institution level. Sanders pursued an administrative appeal without success
and then turned to federal court. In his complaint Sanders repeated his
contention that housing him in a single cell with another inmate and no bunk,
privacy curtain, or television stand violated the Eighth Amendment, but he also alleged specifically that,
because his request for a non-smoking roommate had been ignored, his health was
being endangered from second-hand smoke. The district court, reasoning that CCI
officials already had told Sanders that the decision to double-cell inmates in
response to overcrowding had not been made at the institution level, dismissed
Sanders' complaint during the screening process on the ground that he did not
state a claim against any of the named defendants.
We review de novo a § 1915A dismissal and accept as true the
facts alleged in the complaint, drawing all inferences in the plaintiff's
favor. See Wynn v. Southward, 251
F.3d 588, 591-92 (7th Cir. 2001). The district court properly dismissed
Sanders' complaint "only if 'it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff
can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to
relief.'" Alvarado v. Litscher, 267 F.3d 648, 651 (7th Cir. 2001) (quoting
Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 2 L. Ed. 2d 80, 78 S. Ct. 99 (1957)).
Moreover, since Sanders appeals pro se we construe his complaint liberally and
hold it to a less stringent standard than we would formal pleadings drafted by
lawyers. See Alvarado, 267 F.3d at
651.
We agree
that the district court properly dismissed Sanders' complaint to the extent that
it alleges unconstitutional overcrowding, though our reasoning differs from the
district court. Sanders' contention--that doubling him in a single cell without
giving him a bunk for his mattress, a privacy curtain, and a television stand
violates the Eighth Amendment--falls far short of the "extreme
deprivation" required to satisfy the objective component of an Eighth
Amendment conditions-of-confinement claim. See Delaney v. DeTella, 256 F.3d 679, 683 (7th Cir. 2001). Prison
conditions violate the Constitution only where they "deprive inmates of
the minimal civilized measure of life's necessities." See Rhodes v. Chapman, 452 U.S. 337, 347, 69
L. Ed. 2d 59, 101 S. Ct. 2392 (1981). We know of no case holding that the Eighth Amendment
requires elevated beds for prisoners, and Sanders does not cite one.
See Mann v. Smith, 796 F.2d 79, 85
(5th Cir. 1986) (Eighth Amendment does not require elevated beds for
prisoners); Hamm v. DeKalb Cty., 774 F.2d 1567, 1575 (11th Cir. 1985) (same). Similarly, the Eighth [*784]
Amendment protects inmates only from conditions of confinement that
result from intentional punishment by a prison official and not from those that
exist solely as a result of a legitimate institutional concern. See Peckham v. Wis. Dep't of Corr., 141 F.3d
694, 697 (7th Cir. 1998). Because the need to watch prisoners closely is a
legitimate institutional concern, a prisoner is entitled to little if any
privacy, even when using the bathroom or taking a shower. See Johnson v. Phelan, 69 F.3d 144, 146 (7th
Cir. 1995). Finally, Sanders' contention that he was entitled to a stand for
his television is frivolous.
We add,
however, that Sanders' overcrowding claim should not have been dismissed merely
because he failed to name the proper parties, even if that is what he did.
We have previously stated that a pro se plaintiff should be permitted to amend
his complaint to name the proper parties where doing so could allow the
plaintiff to state a meritorious claim. See, e.g., Donald v. Cook County Sheriff's Dep't, 95 F.3d 548, 555 &
n. 3 (7th Cir. 1996) (collecting cases). In this instance, however,
Sanders pleaded himself out of court by
complaining only of conditions that would not rise to the level of a
constitutional violation, see Tierney
v. Vahle, 304 F.3d 734, 740 (7th Cir. 2002), so it was unnecessary to give him
an opportunity to amend his complaint to name the appropriate defendants,
see Donald, 95 F.3d at 555.
We also
note that the dismissal of Sander's entire complaint was premature because the
district court failed to evaluate whether Sanders stated a claim that he was
exposed to second-hand smoke in violation of the Eighth Amendment. In order to
state a cause of action under § 1983, a plaintiff must allege that he was
deprived of a federal right by someone acting under color of state law. See Gomez v. Toledo, 446 U.S. 635, 640, 64 L.
Ed. 2d 572, 100 S. Ct. 1920 (1980); Alvarado, 267 F.3d at 651. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure
8(a)(2) requires only that these elements be put forth in a "short and
plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to
relief." Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) can constitute an
Eighth Amendment violation if a prison official, acting with deliberate indifference, exposes a prisoner to levels of
ETS that could pose an unreasonable risk of serious damage to his future
health. See Helling v. McKinney, 509
U.S. 25, 35, 125 L. Ed. 2d 22, 113 S. Ct. 2475 (1993); Alvarado, 267 F.3d at
652. Sanders states that he was exposed to ETS from April 12, 2002 to May 29,
2002, in violation of the Eighth Amendment and that prison officials at CCI
exhibited deliberate indifference toward the risk that this exposure
constituted a threat to his future health. Thus his complaint states a claim
that the district court should have considered. See also Higgs v. Carver, 286 F.3d 437, 439 (7th
Cir. 2002) (complaint need only specify the "bare minimum facts"
necessary to put the defendant on notice of the claim so that he can file an
answer). Since Sanders states a claim regarding his exposure to ETS, he may be
permitted to amend his complaint to name the defendants who were deliberately
indifferent to that exposure. See Donald,
95 F.3d at 555 & n. 3.
Sanders'
complaint did not state a claim that the overcrowded conditions at CCI resulted
in an Eighth Amendment violation, but in dismissing his entire complaint the district court failed to evaluate
Sanders' claim that he was exposed to second-hand smoke in violation of the
Eighth Amendment. Accordingly the judgment of the district court is
AFFIRMED in part and VACATED in part, and the case is REMANDED for further
proceedings consistent with this order.
* This court granted the
appellees' motion for non-involvement, and accordingly this appeal has been submitted
without the filing of a brief by the appellees. After an examination of appellant's
brief and the record, we have concluded that oral argument is unnecessary.
Thus, the appeal is submitted on the appellant's brief and the record.