BARBARA A. McAULIFFE, Magistrate Judge.
Plaintiff Michael Anthony Todd, a state prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis, filed this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 on June 21, 2012. This action currently proceeds on Plaintiff's First Amendment, Establishment Clause and equal protection claims against Defendants Smith-Robicheaux (sued as "Smith"), Mayo, Musselman, and Ruiz (collectively "Defendants") as set forth in the second amended complaint.
Currently before the Court are the following motions: (1) Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment, filed on November 6, 2017; (2) Defendants' motion for a fourteen-day extension of time to file an opposition and cross-motion for summary judgment filed on January 11, 2018; (3) Defendants' opposition and cross-motion for summary judgment filed on January 25, 2018; and (4) Defendants' motion for a fourteen-day extension of time to file a reply to Plaintiff's opposition to Defendants' cross-motion for summary judgment. (ECF Nos. 93, 98, 99 and 105.) Plaintiff opposed Defendants' cross-motion for summary judgment on February 21, 2018.
For the reasons that follow, the Court recommends that Defendants' motions for extensions of time be granted, Defendants' motion for summary judgment be granted in part on qualified immunity grounds and Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment be denied.
On December 13, 2017, Defendants filed a motion requesting an extension of time to respond to Plaintiff's motion for summary and to file a cross-motion for summary judgment. (ECF No. 94.) The Court granted the request on December 18, 2017. (ECF No. 95.) Plaintiff opposed the request for an extension of time and requested reconsideration by the District Court judge. (ECF Nos. 96, 97.) On July 18, 2018, the District Court judge denied Plaintiff's request for reconsideration. (ECF No. 109.)
On January 11, 2018, during pendency of the request for reconsideration, Defendants filed a motion for a fourteen-day extension of time to respond to Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment and to file a cross-motion for summary judgment. Defendants explained that additional time was needed to prepare the motion for summary judgment in part because the case was more complex than counsel originally believed and additional declarations were necessary. (ECF No. 98.) On January 25, 2018, Defendants filed their cross-motion for summary judgment. (ECF No. 99.) Plaintiff opposed the motion for a second extension of time on January 30, 2018, and filed his opposition to Defendants' cross-motion for summary judgment on February 21, 2018. (ECF Nos. 103, 104.)
Good cause appearing, and in light of both the public policy favoring resolution of the matter on the merits and the fully briefed motions for summary judgment, Defendants' motion for a fourteen-day extension of time to respond to Plaintiff's motion and to file a cross-motion for summary judgment is GRANTED nunc pro tunc.
As indicated above, Defendants filed their cross-motion for summary judgment on January 25, 2018, and Plaintiff opposed the motion on February 21, 2018. (ECF Nos. 99, 104.) On February 22, 2018, Defendants filed a motion for a fourteen-day extension of time to reply to Plaintiff's opposition. Defendants' counsel explained that additional time was needed to complete the reply due to a then-pending trial in another matter. (ECF No. 105.) Plaintiff did not oppose the motion and Defendants filed their reply in support of their motion for summary judgment on March 12, 2018. (ECF No. 105.) Good cause appearing, and in the absence of any objection, Defendants' motion for a fourteen-day extension of time to file a reply in support of their motion for summary judgment is GRANTED nunc pro tunc.
Plaintiff is currently housed at California State Prison, Los Angeles County. However, the events in the second amended complaint are alleged to have occurred while Plaintiff was housed at California State Prison, Corcoran.
Plaintiff alleges that he is both a member and minister of the "Ecclesia Creatoris" religious organization, which promotes the Creativity religion. Plaintiff asserts that he "sincerely believes in the tenets of Creativity and holds Creativity to be his religion." (Doc. 43, p. 4.) Upon becoming a member, Plaintiff pledged not only "undying loyalty to the White Race," but also to "promote the best interests of the White Race." (
On January 24, 2011, Defendants Mayo and Musselman searched Plaintiff's cell because they, and Defendant Ruiz, noticed flyers taped to the wall of the cell. The flyers were seized and Defendant Ruiz confiscated the material as gang-related, noting the racist nature of the materials. Plaintiff asserted to Defendant Ruiz that the flyers were religious in nature and did not advocate violence or illegal behavior. However, Defendant Ruiz became belligerent and refused to give Plaintiff a receipt for the confiscated material.
On the same date, Plaintiff filed an inmate appeal relating to Defendant Ruiz's confiscation of his religious material. The appeal was returned with instructions to provide a description of the confiscated material. Plaintiff resubmitted the appeal. He contends that during adjudication of the appeal, Defendant Ruiz provided falsified information and interfered with the appeal process. The appeal was not processed at the Third Level because the time limits had elapsed.
Plaintiff alleges that Creativity requires a fruitarian diet, which consists of raw organic whole food (fruits, vegetables, nuts and some grains), along with clean, pure, unpolluted water (or filtered or distilled water as a last resort) or freshly-squeezed juice from organic fruits and vegetables. Plaintiff contends that Defendants have denied him the ability to practice this diet, informing him that it is not offered by CSP-Corcoran and is not a CDCR-approved religious diet. Although Defendants have offered to place him on a vegetarian diet or the Halal diet, these diets do not meet his dietary needs. Defendants also have refused to place Plaintiff on the Kosher diet because it is only available to Jewish inmates. Plaintiff contends that denying him his religious diet while providing other inmates with their religious diets is discrimination and a violation of his rights.
On February 4, 2010, Plaintiff submitted a request for interview form to Defendant Smith-Robicheaux requesting an organic raw food/fruitarian diet in accordance with the tenets of his Creativity religion. R. Indermill responded to the request, stating that he had attempted to contact members of Plaintiff's faith group to get details regarding the diet and that he would not consider Plaintiff for a religious diet until he heard back from them.
Plaintiff later learned that R. Indermill had contacted the Creativity Prison Ministries regarding the dietary requirements of the Creativity religion and a representative had responded on July 1, 2008.
On February 18, 2010, Plaintiff submitted a request for interview to R. Indermill stating that he had evidence that Creativity Prison Ministries had responded to R. Indermill's inquiry. R. Indermill did not respond to the request for interview.
On July 4, 2010, Plaintiff submitted an inmate appeal to the religious supervisor, Defendant Smith-Robicheaux regarding the denial of his religious diet and R. Indermill's actions preventing him from a receiving a religious diet.
On October 21, 2010, Plaintiff was interviewed by B. Albitre at the informal level of review. B. Albitre ignored Plaintiff's complaint against R. Indermill and only addressed the dietary issue. B. Albitre informed Plaintiff that the requested diet was not approved at CSP-Corcoran and he could not grant the request for a non-approved diet. However, B. Albitre placed Plaintiff on the vegetarian diet as a temporary measure while Plaintiff continued his appeal. Plaintiff asserts that the vegetarian diet is the religious alternative diet given to non-Jewish and non-Muslim inmates. B. Albitre interviewed Plaintiff a second time during the appeal process and again denied the request for a fruitarian diet. Defendant Smith-Robicheaux reviewed and approved the denial.
Based on Defendants' refusal to provide the fruitarian diet, Plaintiff attempted to be placed on the Kosher diet as a suitable alternative. Plaintiff alleges, however, that only Jewish inmates are allowed to be placed on the Kosher diet, and the Halal diet is only offered to non-Muslim inmates if the applicant refuses the vegetarian diet and continues to pursue a religious diet. Plaintiff alleges that by being denied the Kosher diet, he is being denied the religious alternative diet that provides some foods that are close to being acceptable.
On September 19, 2011, Plaintiff asked B. Albitre to be switched from the vegetarian diet to the Kosher diet because he believed that the Kosher diet was a more suitable alternative. B. Albitre responded on September 23, 2011, by sending Plaintiff a request form to be removed from the religious diet program.
On September 25, 2011, Plaintiff sent the request to Defendant Smith-Robicheaux for supervisor review, explaining that he wanted to switch diets, not be removed from the program. Defendant Smith-Robicheaux responded on September 27, 2011, explaining that only a Rabbi could approve a request for a Kosher diet.
On November 2, 2011, Plaintiff submitted an inmate appeal alleging religious discrimination and favoritism towards Jewish inmates. On December 22, 2011, B. Albitre denied the appeal at the First Level, stating that he could not approve a request for a Kosher diet. This denial was reviewed and approved by Defendant Smith-Robicheaux.
On April 17, 2012, Plaintiff submitted a request for interview to Rabbi Carron. On May 17, 2012, Rabbi Carron denied the request for a Kosher diet because Plaintiff was not Jewish, and a Rabbi cannot approve non-Jews for the Kosher diet.
Next, Plaintiff alleges that Defendants have burdened the practice of his religion by placing Holy Books of Creativity on the list of books banned at CSP in an effort to keep inmates from learning about, and practicing, Creativity. He contends that enforcement of this ban "can and will" interfere with his ability to fully and properly practice his religion. Defendants allow the Holy Books of many other religions to enter CSP, and freely distribute Holy Books of traditional religions.
On August 11, 2010, Plaintiff submitted a request for religious accommodation to the warden, but the request was ignored. Plaintiff submitted another appeal on March 22, 2011, relating to the general denial of his right to practice his religion. Plaintiff was told that he could request religious recognition through the Community Resource Manager, i.e., Defendant Smith-Robicheaux.
On May 19, 2011, and June 20, 2011, Plaintiff submitted requests for interviews to Defendant Smith-Robicheaux, requesting that his religion be recognized and approved at CSP. The requests were never acknowledged.
On July 3, 2011, Plaintiff submitted an inmate appeal relating to his attempts to have his religion recognized.
Plaintiff submitted a request for interview to B. Albitre on July 5, 2011, and explained the situation. B. Albitre did not respond to the request.
Plaintiff was eventually able to file the appeal, and he was interviewed by B. Albitre on August 29, 2011. He told Plaintiff that he was not authorized to approve a religion himself, but would present the issue to the Religious Review Committee for discussion. B. Albitre demanded that Plaintiff provide the name of an outside representative. Plaintiff provided him with information for a minister in Riverside, California.
On August 29, 2011, B. Albitre denied the appeal, falsely claiming that Plaintiff was provided with an opportunity to provide evidence, but that he only provided contact information. B. Albitre also stated that he contacted the outside representative many times, but did not receive a response. B. Albitre was therefore forced to perform research on the internet, where he found that the religion was "racially motivated" and did not provide any religious qualities. (ECF No. 43, at 27). The denial was reviewed and approved by Defendant Smith-Robicheaux.
On September 23, 2011, Plaintiff submitted the appeal for Second Level review. The appeal was denied on October 20, 2011.
On October 26, 2011, Plaintiff submitted the appeal for Third Level review and attached evidence. The appeal was denied on January 13, 2012.
Summary judgment is appropriate when the pleadings, disclosure materials, discovery, and any affidavits provided establish 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). A material fact is one that may affect the outcome of the case under the applicable law.
The party seeking summary judgment "always bears the initial responsibility of informing the district court of the basis for its motion, and identifying those portions of the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact."
If the movant satisfies its initial burden, the nonmoving party must go beyond the allegations in its pleadings to "show a genuine issue of material fact by presenting affirmative evidence from which a jury could find in [its] favor."
In resolving a summary judgment motion, "the court does not make credibility determinations or weigh conflicting evidence."
Plaintiff contends that he is entitled to summary judgment because the undisputed facts demonstrate that defendants denied him rights that are afforded to similarly situated prisoners. Plaintiff asserts that during his incarceration he maintains the right to freely practice his religion, the right to be free from religious discrimination, the right to be provided with a religious diet, and the right to receive and maintain religious literature and books even if those materials contain racist views. Plaintiff asserts that these rights were all clearly established and were provided to inmates "with more traditional religious views, or view that were pro-black and anti-white." (ECF No. 93 at p. 7.) Additionally, Plaintiff claims that he was singled out for disparate treatment because his "religion contains views that are pro-white" and he was targeted for harassment by defendants for exercising his right to free speech "by displaying flyers relating to his religious beliefs in the privacy of his cell." (
Defendants counter that Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment should be denied because he did not submit a Statement of Undisputed Facts in compliance with Local Rule 260.
Defendants argue that Creativity is not a religion, but a racial hate group that is not entitled to First Amendment protections, Defendants had legitimate penological reasons for denying Plaintiff books, posters and the diet of his choice, the Equal Protection Clause does not require identical treatment, and Defendants did not discriminate against Plaintiff based on his beliefs. Defendants also argue that they are entitled to qualified immunity from liability on Plaintiff's claims because they did not violate clearly established constitutional law.
In opposition, Plaintiff forwards several arguments, including that Defendants have "defaulted in responding" to his motion for summary judgment and have refused to comply with his requests for discovery. Plaintiff also argues that there are issues of material fact in dispute and that Defendants are not entitled to qualified immunity because they violated his clearly established rights.
As discussed more fully, the Court finds that Defendants are entitled to qualified immunity on Plaintiff's claims in this action. Given that determination, and in the conservation of judicial resources, the Court finds it unnecessary to address the remainder of the arguments raised by the parties in their moving papers.
Qualified immunity shields government officials from civil damages unless their conduct violates "clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known."
An officer is entitled to qualified immunity unless (1) the facts that a plaintiff has alleged or shown state a violation of a constitutional right, and (2) the right was "clearly" established at the time of the alleged misconduct.
"[A] right is clearly established only if its contours are sufficiently clear that `a reasonable official would understand that what he is doing violates that right.' In other words, `existing precedent must have placed the statutory or constitutional question beyond debate.'"
Plaintiff argues that Defendants are not entitled to qualified immunity because the rights to freely practice his religion, to be provided with a religious diet, and to receive and maintain religious literature and books were clearly established. However, when considering a defendant's entitlement to qualified immunity, the broad constitutional concepts proposed by Plaintiff are insufficient. The United States Supreme Court has "repeatedly told courts . . . not to define clearly established law at a high level of generality."
As Plaintiff admits, this matter arises from Defendants' purported failure to recognize Creativity as a religion. (ECF No. 93; ECF No. 104 at p. 12.) Thus, as the Court previously found in dismissing the remaining defendants on qualified immunity grounds, the dispositive inquiry is whether it was clearly established that Creativity invoked constitutionally cognizable religious interests, and that Defendants should have recognized Creativity as a religion and relatedly provided Plaintiff with religious meals and allowed him to retain his religious materials.
Neither the Supreme Court nor the Ninth Circuit has addressed the issue of whether Creativity qualifies as a constitutionally cognizable religion. Moreover, the Court has located no district court in this circuit that has recognized Creativity as a religion.
In the absence of binding precedent from the Supreme Court and the Ninth Circuit, the Court has considered other decisional law from the relevant time period, but has found no other circuits or district courts affirmatively recognizing Creativity as a religion when considering a First Amendment, Establishment Clause or equal protection claim, and many courts have viewed Creativity as a white supremacist organization.
Plaintiff has not directed this Court to any decisional law finding Creativity to be a religion in the First Amendment or Equal Protection context. The Court finds that at the time of the incidents giving rise to this action between 2008 and 2012, Creativity was not clearly established as a religion. As a result, no reasonable correctional official would have understood that his or her actions violated Plaintiff's constitutional rights. Therefore, the Court will recommend that Defendants' cross-motion for summary judgment be granted on qualified immunity grounds. Given this recommendation, and as indicated above, it is unnecessary to reach of the merits of the underlying action or address the remaining issues raised in the cross-motions for summary judgment filed by the parties.
Based on the foregoing, the Court HEREBY RECOMMENDS that: Defendants' motion for summary, filed on January 25, 2018, be GRANTED IN PART on qualified immunity grounds; Plaintiff's cross-motion for summary judgment be DENIED; and Summary judgment be entered in favor of Defendants Smith-Robicheaux (sued as "Smith"), Mayo, Musselman, and Ruiz and against Plaintiff Michael Anthony Todd.
These Findings and Recommendations will be submitted to the United States District Judge assigned to the case, pursuant to the provisions of Title 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1). Within
IT IS SO ORDERED.
