Opinion
3:04-CV-0473-D.
May 20, 2004
FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION OF THE UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
Pursuant to the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 636(b), and an order of the court in implementation thereof, this case has been referred to the United States Magistrate Judge. The findings, conclusions and recommendation of the Magistrate Judge, as evidenced by his signature thereto, are as follows:
FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS:
Type of Case: This is a civil rights complaint brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
Parties: At the time of filing this action Plaintiff was incarcerated at the Johnson County Jail in Cleburne, Texas. He is presently incarcerated at the Ramsey Unit in Rosharon, Texas.
Defendants are Johnson County Sheriff Bob Alford and Captain Thomas Craig. The court has not issued process in this case.
Statement of Case: The complaint seeks to compel the Johnson County Jail to meet minimum requirements of adequate access to the courts by either providing an adequate law library or assistance from trained inmates. The complaint also seeks to compel the jail to provide a grievance system which complies with state law.
Findings and Conclusions: The court has permitted Plaintiff to proceed in forma pauperis. His complaint is, thus, subject to screening under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A, which imposes a screening responsibility on the district court. Section 1915A reads in pertinent part as follows:
The court shall review . . . as soon as practicable after docketing, a complaint in a civil action in which a prisoner seeks redress from a governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity [and] [o]n review, the court shall identify cognizable claims or dismiss the complaint, or any portion of the complaint, if the complaint (1) is frivolous, malicious, or fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted; or (2) seeks monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief."28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a) and (b) (emphasis added). See also 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B).
Plaintiff is no longer incarcerated at the Johnson County Jail. His transfers to TDCJ-CID renders his claims for declaratory and injunctive relief moot as to all Defendants. See Herman v. Holiday, 238 F.3d 660, 665 (5th Cir. 2001) (even if inmate was able to establish constitutional violation, his transfer to another prisoner rendered moot his claim for declaratory and injunctive relief) (citing Cooper v. Sheriff, Lubbock County, Tex., 929 F.2d 1078, 1084 (5th Cir. 1991)); Beck v. Lynaugh, 842 F.2d 759, 762 (5th Cir. 1988) (prisoners who were no longer in Retrieve Unit could not seek injunctive relief against conditions of confinement there). Any suggestion of relief based on the possibility of a transfer back to the Johnson County Jail is too speculative to warrant relief. See Herman, 238 F.3d at 665 (citing Bailey v. Southerland, 821 F.2d 277, 279 (5th Cir. 1987)). Therefore, the complaint should be dismissed as being moot. RECOMMENDATION:
For the foregoing reasons, it is recommended that the District Court dismiss Plaintiff's complaint without prejudice as being moot.
A copy of this recommendation will be mailed to Plaintiff at the Ramsey Unit, 1100 FM 655, Rosharon, Texas 77583.
NOTICE
In the event that you wish to object to this recommendation, you are hereby notified that you must file your written objections within ten days after being served with a copy of this recommendation. Pursuant to Douglass v. United Servs. Auto Ass'n, 79 F.3d 1415 (5th Cir. 1996) (en banc), a party's failure to file written objections to these proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law within such ten-day period may bar a de novo determination by the district judge of any finding of fact or conclusion of law and shall bar such party, except upon grounds of plain error, from attacking on appeal the unobjected to proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law accepted by the district court.