Ralph Smith, Jr. v. James Hood, III
Opinion
Ralph Arnold Smith brought suit under
I
In April 2012, Ralph Arnold Smith allegedly hired two people-Keaira Byrd and Derrick Lacy-to murder Lee Abraham, the attorney who had represented his ex-wife during their divorce proceedings.
See generally
Smith v. Chastain
, No. 3:14-v-334-WHB-RHW,
Smith asserted that he was suffering from a "major mental disease" that rendered him incompetent to stand trial. The Leflore County Chancery Court ordered an initial evaluation of Smith's competency, and he was admitted to the forensic unit at the Mississippi State Hospital for evaluation. After holding multiple hearings on Smith's competency, the Chancery Court ordered the State to initiate involuntary civil commitment proceedings. The Chancery Court held two commitment hearings in December 2014 and January 2015 at which five doctors testified. Finding that Smith was suffering from a psychotic mental disorder, the Chancery Court ordered that he be involuntarily civilly committed as an inpatient to the State Hospital. 1
Smith brought this
Defendants filed motions to dismiss all of Smith's claims under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6), asserting that his claims were barred by
Heck v. Humphrey
,
II
This court reviews the district court's dismissal of Smith's claims under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6) de novo.
See, e.g.
,
In re Katrina Canal Breaches Litig.
,
III
The district court dismissed Smith's ADA claims against DMH as barred by the Eleventh Amendment.
6
Though the district court did not explicitly engage with the framework established in
United States v. Georgia
,
(1) which aspects of the State's alleged conduct violated Title II; (2) to what extent such misconduct also violated the Fourteenth Amendment; and (3) insofar as such conduct violated Title II but did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment, whether Congress's purported abrogation of sovereign immunity in such contexts is nevertheless valid.
IV
The district court dismissed Smith's remaining § 1983 claims as barred by the "favorable termination rule" established in
Heck v. Humphrey
,
However, "if the district court determines that the plaintiff's action, even if successful, will not demonstrate the invalidity of any outstanding criminal judgment against the plaintiff, the action should be allowed to proceed in the absence of some other bar to the suit."
Heck
,
This circuit has thus far applied the
Heck
doctrine only to claims that implicate criminal convictions or sentences. In Smith's case, however, the district court concluded that there was "no reason not to" apply
Heck
to the civil commitment context, citing other courts that have done so.
See
Huftile v. Miccio-Fonseca
,
Though we note that the Ninth Circuit's and other courts' reasoning on this issue is persuasive, whether Heck extends to civil commitments is still a res nova question in this circuit. However, Smith's case is an *186 unusual one because the parties, including Smith, all assume that the Heck doctrine does apply in a civil commitment case. Smith, in a peculiar move on appeal, concedes that Heck should bar any claim that would challenge the validity of his underlying civil commitment. He argues only that some of his claims are viable because they are, allegedly, conceptually distinct from the commitment itself. As to some of these claims, however, we reject his argument that they are, in fact, distinct. Additionally, he fails to demonstrate a denial of a federal right with regards to other claims.
Though Smith alleges that he has brought conceptually distinct claims, some of his re-asserted arguments cannot, in fact, "coexist" with the existence vel non of his commitment. For instance, his claims that the defendants "pursued an involuntary inpatient civil commitment of Dr. Smith" and participated in civil commitment hearings to "wrongly and unlawfully seek the continuing vilification and incarceration of Dr. Smith" clearly challenge the legitimacy or length of his commitment itself. Similarly, Smith's claim that defendants failed to conduct periodic evaluations to determine whether continuing his commitment was justified is not distinct from the fact and duration of that commitment.
Smith also asserts that several other courses of conduct by defendants-placing him in the forensic unit at the State Hospital, failing to conduct a risk assessment, and allowing unlicensed State Hospital employees to provide psychological treatment-give rise to temporally and conceptually distinct § 1983 claims. However, it is not enough that these claims may be conceptually distinct; to plead a cognizable § 1983 claim, Smith must also allege a violation of his federal rights.
Cf.
Heck
,
Ultimately, we conclude that Smith raises only one § 1983 claim that is both conceptually distinct and asserts a denial of a constitutional right: his allegation that Defendants McMichael, Chastain, and Savoie confined him using leather and metal restraints in violation of his due process rights. "[L]iberty from bodily restraint always has been recognized as the core of the liberty protected by the Due Process Clause .... This interest survives criminal conviction and incarceration. Similarly, it must also survive involuntary commitment."
Youngberg v. Romeo
,
***
For these reasons, we AFFIRM IN PART as to the dismissal of the majority of Smith's claims. We VACATE and REMAND
*187
as to Smith's due process claim of unlawful bodily restraint against Defendants McMichael, Chastain, and Savoie. Additionally, we VACATE the district court's dismissal of Smith's pendant state law claim on this issue to permit the district court to choose whether to exercise supplemental jurisdiction.
See generally
In November 2016, Smith was ordered discharged from the State Hospital and placed on involuntary outpatient civil commitment. Though no longer an inpatient, he remains involuntarily civilly committed and subject to conditions including wearing an electronic monitoring device, not accessing the internet or print media without prior approval, and participating in intensive psychiatric treatment.
Though Smith's complaint also alleged violations of
Smith originally argued in his briefing on appeal that the district court erred by not entering default against defendant Abraham. Smith subsequently filed an unopposed motion to dismiss this issue, which we hereby grant.
Pursuant to Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 28(i), three of the private attorney defendants filed joinders to other defendants' briefs instead of independently arguing all of their defenses. Citing out-of-circuit precedent, Smith alleges that these three defendants have waived the right to adopt arguments in the other defendants' briefs because, in their Rule 28(i) letters, they "fail[ ] to explain how the co-appellees' arguments pertain to [them]." However, neither Rule 28 nor our case law requires appellees to explain in their filing why joinder is appropriate, simply requiring that the arguments adopted are "equally applicable" to both parties.
See
United States v. Harris
,
Smith contends that the district court erred by not accepting as true his allegation that his commitment was unlawful. However, this allegation is a legal conclusion entitled to no presumption of correctness.
See
Taylor v. Books A Million, Inc.
,
We note that the ADA cannot be assessed against an individual,
see
Hay v. Thaler
,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Ralph Arnold SMITH, Jr., Plaintiff - Appellant v. James M. HOOD, III, in His Individual Capacity; Albert Lee Abraham, Jr., Individually; Cynthia T. Eubank, in Her Individual Capacity; Stanley Alexander, in His Individual Capacity; Onetta Whitley, in Her Individual Capacity; Ralph E. Chapman, Individually; H. Scott Spragins, Individually; Medical Doctor Reb McMichael, in His Individual Capacity; Luke Savoie, in His Individual Capacity; Medical Doctor Paul Scott McGinnis, in His Individual Capacity; James G. Chastain, in His Individual Capacity; The Mississippi Department of Mental Health ; John Does 1-20, Whose Names and Identities Are Unknown at This Time; Lawrence John Tucker, Jr., Individually, Also Known as Lucky, Defendants - Appellees
- Cited By
- 40 cases
- Status
- Published