RYA W. ZOBEL, District Judge.
The background of this case is set forth in detail in this Court's prior Memorandum and Orders.
Akande alleges that in February, 2011, while he was lodged at Wyatt, ICE agents, Wyatt officers, and U.S. Marshals illegally took all of his legal documents (about nine (9) Fed-Ex boxes) and, on April 7, 2011, mailed them to his contact home address in Connecticut without his knowledge or permission, and despite knowing that he was then detained at SCHC, that he was proceeding pro se, and that he needed those documents for his on-going cases.
Further, plaintiff claims that Fed-Ex delivered only
As further support, plaintiff cites Wyatt and ICE policies allowing a discharged inmate to pick up his own property from Wyatt/ICE within 30 days of release, in default whereof, the property will be destroyed. He states that Wyatt and ICE do not normally Fed-Ex a released inmate's property to his contact home address, and especially not within two weeks after release. Additionally, he argues that sending the wrong item (the Wyatt prison uniform) to his home in Connecticut is more evidence of the cover-up, particularly so because the uniform belongs to Wyatt and not to plaintiff.
On April 7, 2011, Akande's attorney in a separate action, Tina Schneider, sent a letter to SCHC/ICE and the U.S. Marshal Service requesting each to give plaintiff all of his legal documents so that he could meet a briefing deadline in the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He did not receive his legal documents and therefore missed that deadline. He sought an extension from that Court, but his request was denied.
In June, 2011, Akande's family mailed his boxes of legal documents to him at SCHC (using the same Fed-Ex boxes); however, agent Crutchfield sent all the boxes back to his family without giving Akande access to them. He responded with a grievance and was informed that ICE refused to accept the boxes because they were too large. He points out that his family used the same boxes as had Wyatt and ICE in sending the materials to him in the first place. Thereafter, the boxes of documents were sent to Attorney Schneider. On August 1, 2011, Ms. Schneider sent a letter to SCHC advising, as a "heads-up," that she was planning to send those boxes to Akande and asking SCHC to contact her if this posed a problem. All the boxes were delivered to SCHC by Fed-Ex, but again the defendants refused to hand them over to Akande. He claims that as a result, he lost some of his criminal, civil, immigration, and appellate court cases and motions. He charges that the defendants have obstructed justice, and he seeks $2 million for each day he remains imprisoned.
On January 3, 2012, this Court issued a Memorandum and Order (Docket No. 5) directing summonses to issue with respect to each defendant, but denying Akande's request for court-appointed counsel, expressing doubt as to the merits of his claims in that the defendants' knowledge of his whereabouts appeared to be a matter in dispute, and, because the claim of governmental cover-up (for prosecutorial misconduct in Connecticut in 2009) by Massachusetts and Rhode Island defendants —based solely on the misdirection of his boxes of legal materials — was tenuous at best.
On January 9, 2012, Akande filed a Motion to Amend Complaint, to include additional claims and defendants (i.e., agents of the United States Marshal Service) as "part of the prosecution team" that allegedly bribed jurors and fabricated and forged documentary evidence against him at his criminal trial. On January 26, 2012, this Court granted Akande's motion, but struck the proposed Amended Complaint for failure to plead plausible claims, and because the claims were barred by the favorable termination rule of
On February 13, 2012, Wyatt Detention Center (not the Warden) filed a Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim (Docket No. 16), which was followed by that of Superintendent of SCHC Horgan (Docket No. 20), both of which plaintiff opposed.
At the outset, this Court notes that the docket indicates there are five defendants to this action, including the Warden of the SCHC and Superintendent Horgan. In order to clarify the record, this Court deems that Superintendent Horgan has been substituted for defendant Warden of the Suffolk County House of Correction. The Clerk shall correct the docket accordingly.
Next, Superintendent Horgan has moved to dismiss pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) on the grounds, inter alia, that by asserting claims against the defendants collectively, and by failing to set forth any actions for which he could be held liable, Akande has failed to meet the minimum pleading requirements necessary to sustain a civil rights cause of action. Additionally, he argues that Akande's allegations show that the SCHC staff actually was attentive to his needs, citing to the reply from the grievance coordinator, a call placed by the prison case worker to Wyatt Detention Center on behalf of Akande, and a couple of follow-up calls placed by the case worker to the Wyatt Detention Center. Superintendent Horgan submits that Akande's claims are focused primarily on actions of Wyatt staff and ICE agents with respect to his legal materials, and, apart from an amorphous allegation of conspiracy, he sets forth no factual allegations that he or any SCHC employee participated in any wrongdoing, or that he was motivated by race or class-based animus.
In addition to the pleading deficiencies noted above, Superintendent Horgan argues that to the extent he is named in his official capacity as an employee of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, he is immune from suit for monetary damages pursuant to Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity.
Next, to the extent he is sued in his individual capacity, Superintendent Horgan asserts he is entitled to qualified immunity.
Akande opposes dismissal of his claims on the grounds that he has been denied access to his legal materials and therefore cannot submit documentary evidence to support his position. He further claims that his case has been prejudiced by ICE and SCHC Legal Services.
Finally, Akande contends that he has a right to unrestricted access to his friends and family by correspondence and by telephone, and that an SCHC mail supervisor did not hand his legal materials over to him as required. He seeks to add as defendants the SCHC mail room supervisor, the SCHC grievance coordinator, and the SCHC Legal Services Supervisor, and indicates that he intends to file a "corrected" Motion to Amend Complaint in order to assert these additional claims.
Without belaboring the matter, Akande has failed to state any plausible claims against `Superintended Horgan. His assertions that because of the grievances filed, Superintendent Horgan "must have known about it" and did nothing to rectify the situation are insufficient.
To survive a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim under Rule 12(b)(6), the factual allegations in a complaint must "possess enough heft" to set forth "a plausible entitlement to relief."
Here, Akande's conspiracy claims of a government cover-up by Superintendent Horgan (in conjunction with Wyatt and ICE) are wholly speculative. Furthermore, the facts he alleges — that caseworkers attempted to aid him in obtaining legal material — belie the claim that the Superintendent should have known that he was required to take corrective measures.
As a separate basis for dismissal of Superintendent Horgan from this action, sovereign immunity bars Akande's claims for damages against him in his official capacity, and, with respect to claims against him in his individual capacity, Superintendent Horgan is entitled to qualified immunity.
Accordingly, Superintendent Horgan's Motion to Dismiss (Docket No. 20) is
Finally, as noted above, Akande seeks to add several other SCHC employees as defendants in this action. He may
In light of this, the Motion to Dismiss (Docket No. 16) is
Accordingly, this Court will
Finally, as in his Opposition to Superintendent Horgan's Motion to Dismiss, Akande states in his Opposition to Wyatt's motion that he intends to file "corrections" to the Amended Complaint which this Court previously struck. He submits that this new corrected version will add more claims against Wyatt and therefore this Court should not dismiss the case. At this stage in the litigation, however, as a prudential matter, plaintiff shall not file any further amendments to add claims and parties. Accordingly, Akande may not continue, ad seriatim, to assert claims by way of notices or supplements to the record unless he first receives permission of this Court to do so, upon a duly-filed motion filed in accordance with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and this Court's Local Rules, and upon good cause shown.
In the motion for default judgment against the Director of ICE and ICE agent Crutchfield, plaintiff alleges that both the Director and Crutchfield were served by the United States Marshal Service ("USMS") in February, 2012, and their response was due in March. Defendants failure to file a response is, according to plaintiff, part of the defendants' pattern of [wrongful] behavior.
Akande's assertions do not accord with the record. First, with respect to Crutchfield, the Court record indicates that on February 6, 2012, the summons to Crutchfield was returned as unexecuted, with a notation that Crutchfield is not employed by the SCHC.
In any event, even were this Court to consider that service was made in accordance with the Rule, Akande has jumped too far ahead by seeking a default judgment before a notice of default has entered (a precursor to obtaining a default judgment). Finally, the Rules give Crutchfield 60 days to respond.
Second, the Director of ICE was not served until April 6, 2012.
The Motion for Default Judgment (Docket No. 36) is
Based on the foregoing, it is hereby Ordered that:
1. Superintendent Gerard Horgan is substituted for the Warden of SCHC;
2. Superintendent Gerard Horgan's Motion to Dismiss (Docket No. 20) is
3. Wyatt Detention Center's Motion to Dismiss (Docket No. 16) is
4. All claims against the Warden of Wyatt Detention Center are
5. Plaintiff's Motion for Default Judgment (Docket No. 36) is DENIED;
6. Plaintiff's request to include additional Defendants (Suffolk County House of Correction employees), contained in his Opposition, is
7. Plaintiff is
8. Plaintiff is
SO ORDERED.