Iseley v. Dragovich
Iseley v. Dragovich
Opinion of the Court
OPINION
Appellant, Charles Iseley, a prisoner, appeals from an order of the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania granting summary judgment in the defendants’ favor on his civil rights claims.
I.
In 2000, Iseley filed a complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, which was amended, alleging that prison officials from SCI-Mahanoy and SCI-Coal Township, certain
As to Iseley’s Eighth Amendment claims of deliberate indifference to his medical needs, the District Court found that Ise-ley’s nearsightedness, dental pain, asthma, and Hepatitis C condition constituted serious medical needs under the Eighth Amendment, but that malocclusion, the dental condition of an imperfect bite, was not. Assuming that the defendants knew the substantial risks of serious harm posed to Iseley as a result of his serious medical conditions, the District Court held that no reasonable juror could find that the defendants failed to take reasonable measures to abate those risks. Specifically, the District Court found that the defendants acted reasonably in providing Iseley with corrective lenses to treat his nearsightedness instead of doing ocular surgery, and in treating his dental pain with cavity fillings and root canal work instead of orthodontics.
As for treatment of Iseley’s Hepatitis C condition, the District Court addressed the
Finally, the District Court held that Ise-ley’s Eighth Amendment rights were not violated by the implementation of a policy that effectively prohibited him from keeping his asthma inhaler in his cell while he was housed in the RHU at SCI-Mahanoy. At the time, no inmate in the RHU was allowed to self-medicate without the specific recommendation from a medical professional. In the case of inhalers, in particular, the prison sought to prevent inmates from using them to hide contraband. The District Court found that Iseley, a mild asthmatic in 1999, could obtain his inhaler from the officer on the pod simply by pushing the intercom button in his cell.
II.
The District Court had jurisdiction over this matter by virtue of 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331. We have appellate jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and exercise plenary review over an order granting summary judgment. See Public Interest Research Group of N.J., Inc. v. Powell Duffryn Terminals, Inc., 913 F.2d 64 (3d Cir. 1990). As is well understood, summary judgment is granted when “no genuine issue [exists] as to any material fact and [when] the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). We will view the facts in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party and we will draw all inferences in that party’s favor. See Reitz v. County of Bucks, 125 F.3d 139, 143 (3d Cir. 1997). We may affirm on grounds other than that relied on by the District Court. See Narin v. Lower Merion School District, 206 F.3d 323, 333 n. 8 (3d Cir. 2000).
As to Iseley’s Eighth Amendment claims pertaining to the alleged denial of
Nor were the defendants deliberately indifferent to Iseley’s serious medical needs when they denied him participation in the Hepatitis C protocol in 2000. The Hepatitis C treatment called for in the protocol takes one year to complete. The rationale for implementing the minimum sentence rule as part of the protocol is spelled out in the DOC’s memo of February 8, 2000. See MA 127a-129a. Apparently, it is more detrimental to an inmate’s health to discontinue or interrupt treatment prior to its completion, than it is to defer treatment until after his release. Thus, implementing the minimum sentence rule as a prerequisite to participation in the Hepatitis C protocol served a legitimate penological goal. We hasten to add that Iseley succeeded in overturning the application of the minimum sentence rule in his case through the prison’s grievance process. In August, 2000, the Department of Corrections determined that Iseley would be eligible for the Hepatitis C protocol after all because it was unlikely that he would be released on parole based on his bad conduct record. Iseley’s claim that the application of the minimum sentence rule violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment lacks merit, as well. Iseley has not shown that others similarly situated were treated differently.
Iseley next contends that the District Court failed to decide his claim that the defendants denied him medical care in retaliation for having filed grievances and lawsuits against prison officials and employees. The District Court did not address the retaliation claim. We find the claim to be meritless. In Rauser v. Horn, 241 F.3d 330 (3d Cir. 2001), this Court held that in order to prevail on a retaliation claim, a prisoner must prove that the conduct that led to the alleged retaliation was constitutionally protected, that he suffered some “adverse action” at the hands of prison officials, and that exercise of the constitutional right was a substantial or motivating factor in the challenged action. See id., at 333-34. Prison officials may still prevail by proving that they would have made the same decision absent the protected conduct for reasons that are reasonably related to a legitimate penological interest. Id. at 334.
Assuming arguendo that Iseley met his initial burden under Rauser regarding the retaliatory denial of medical care, for all of the reasons set forth above and in the District Court’s opinion, the defendants have shown that they would have arrived at the same decision regarding appropriate treatment for Iseley’s dental problems, his nearsightedness, and for Hepatitis C condition in 1999, 2000 and 2001. As has already been discussed, these decisions were reasonably related to legitimate pe-
Finally, Iseley claims that he did not have an adequate opportunity to engage in discovery prior to the District Court’s decision granting summary judgment and the District Court erred by failing to consider his new responses to defendants’ summary judgment motions which were filed a few days after the District Court entered judgment in the defendants’ favor. Both claims lack merit. First, Iseley had more than ample time, at least two years, to conduct meaningful discovery. Second, the District Court did consider Iseley’s comprehensive response opposing summary judgment filed in March 2002. The defendants’ motions for summary judgment, filed on December 30, 2002, were verbatim reiterations of the defendants’ earlier filed summary judgment motions. Our review of Iseley’s earlier briefs opposing summary judgment and of his most recent submissions reveals that the earlier documents were more responsive to the issues raised in the defendants’ motions for summary judgment, and that the new documents filed on April 7, 2003, added no new material facts or new meritorious arguments. Thus, Iseley was not prejudiced by the fact that the District Court did not have the opportunity to review Iseley’s untimely response to the defendants’ renewed summary judgment motions before it ruled on April 3, 2003.
Accordingly, we shall affirm the District Court’s judgment. Iseley’s “Second Motion for New Evidence,” and his motion “to Supplement Reply Brief with New Evidence” are denied.
. Iseley moved for preliminary injunction claiming that the defendants wrongfully denied him Hepatitis C treatment in February, 2001 because he refused to undergo a psychological evaluation and declined to sign the necessary consent form. The District Court’s decision denying Iseley’s motion for preliminary injunction is located at 236 F.Supp.2d 472, 475-76 (E.D.Pa. Dec. 10, 2002).
. We decline to remand Iseley's reconsideration motion for a decision on its merits because doing so would be futile. Iseley raised the same claims in that motion as he has raised on appeal. For reasons more fully discussed below, we find these arguments to be meritless.
. Iseley’s argument that District Court should never have decided his psychological evaluation/consent form claim at summary judgment because he raised it only in the preliminary injunction motion, and not in his Amended Complaint, is meritless. The District Court impliedly liberally construed Ise-ley's pro se amended complaint as including the new claim when it addressed injunctive relief. Thus, the claim was properly before the District Court on its merits, and we will affirm for the same reasons set forth by the District Court. See D. Ct. Op. at 10-20. We note that had Iseley not refused to be evaluated and to sign the consent form in February 2001, presumably he would have been receiving treatment by now. It appears that the main impediment to Iseley’s treatment is his pervasive distrust of the prison system. Iseley firmly believes that if he agrees to the psychological evaluation and signs the consent form, depending on the results, he will be forced to undergo unwanted mental health treatment. He also believes that if he complies with the prison’s most recent demands, the prison will just find some other excuse for excluding him from receiving Hepatitis C treatment. The record does not provide any rational basis for these fears. In fact, both Iseley and the Department of Corrections (“DOC”) stand to benefit from Iseley’s participation in the protocol. For its part, the DOC instituted the Hepatitis C protocol to prevent the "devastating human and cost implications” of allowing the disease to progress unchecked. See DOC Bureau of Health Services Memorandum dated February 8, 2000, at MA 129a. The medical and health benefit to Iseley is self-evident.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Charles ISELEY, Sr. v. Martin DRAGOVICH Martin Horn Carol Dotter Robert Bitner Marva Cerullo Renato Diaz Laszlo Kiraly CPS Inc John Doe ABC Inc. XYZ Inc. Dental Inc Lt. Henrickson Jane Doe Frank Gillis Kandis Dascani Moe, Dr. Wilma Sewell Jane Dando Brad Lorah Jane Himman Corrections Physician Services Inc. Susan, Nurse William Sewell Charles Iseley
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- 7 cases
- Status
- Published