F I L E D
United States Court of Appeals
for the Tenth Circuit
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
April 3, 1997
FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT PATRICK FISHER
Clerk
RAYMOND H. LADD, )
)
Plaintiff-Appellant, )
)
v. ) No. 95-3326
) (D.C. No. 92-CV-3205)
GARY STOTTS, ROBERT D. HANNIGAN, ) (Dist. of Kan.)
MICHAEL NELSON, WILLIAM L. )
CUMMINGS, CARL CUSHINBERRY, D.V. )
HENDRY, (NFN) HINSHAW, (NFN) )
CONNELL, J.P. NELSON, (NFN) HOSHAW, )
(NFN) HUNGERFORD, (NFN) HUGGINS, )
(NFN) MILLER, (NFN) (NMI) MOORE, and )
(NFN) UNDERWOOD, )
)
Defendants-Appellees. )
ORDER AND JUDGMENT*
Before TACHA, BARRETT, and BALDOCK Circuit Judges.
After examining the briefs and the appellate record, this panel has determined
unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist the determination of this appeal.
*
This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines of
law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. The court generally disfavors the
citation of orders and judgments; nevertheless, an order and judgment may be cited under
the terms and conditions of Tenth Cir. R. 36.3.
See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a); Tenth Cir. R. 34.1.9. The case is therefore ordered submitted
without oral argument.
Raymond H. Ladd (Ladd), appearing pro se and having been granted leave to proceed
in forma pauperis, appeals the district court’s Memorandum and Order of September 28,
1995, granting Defendants’/Appellees’ motion for summary judgment and denying all relief
requested by him.
On June 2, 1992, Ladd filed this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983
alleging, inter alia, that he was denied Due Process during the grievance process related to
a disciplinary action against him and subjected to cruel and unusual punishment when he was
placed in strip cell confinement while on a hunger strike. Ladd claims stem from events
which occurred on February 11, 1992,1 at a disciplinary hearing for another inmate in which
Ladd was serving as substitute counsel. The disciplinary hearing became heated when Ladd
disagreed with a decision by Captain Hinshaw (Hinshaw), the chairperson of the disciplinary
hearing board. As a result, Hinshaw ordered Ladd to leave the hearing. Ladd initially
refused to leave, but left when hearing officers prepared to physically remove him from the
room. Later that day, Ladd filed a grievance against Hinshaw claiming Hinshaw threatened
and intimidated him.
1
The district court refers to this date as “February 11, 1995,” however, the
Martinez report and Ladd’s complaint establish that the events actually occurred in 1992.
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The next day, February 12, 1992, Hinshaw filed a disciplinary action against Ladd for
being loud and argumentative at the disciplinary hearing. In response, Ladd filed at least two
grievances claiming his removal as inmate counsel and the filing of the disciplinary action
against him were in retaliation for grievances and lawsuits filed against Hinshaw. Thereafter,
Ladd was found guilty of insubordination and sentenced to fourteen days of disciplinary
segregation and thirty days restriction. On the day Ladd was found guilty, he declared he was
on a hunger strike. The next day, prison officials ordered him to strip cell confinement. By
Ladd’s own account he was released from strip cell confinement approximately thirty hours
later.
On September 28, 1995, the district court granted Defendants’/Appellees’ motion for
summary judgment. (ROA, Vol. I, Tab 35). In so doing, the district court found that, to the
extent Ladd claims the disciplinary action against him denied him due process or constituted
conspiratorial retaliation and/or discrimination, the claims lacked merit. The court found
that: it was undisputed that Ladd was disruptive in the disciplinary proceeding in which he
appeared as substitute counsel; there was sufficient evidence to support the disciplinary
finding that he was guilty of insubordination; Ladd’s beliefs that his conduct did not violate
institutional rules and was justified by his duty to advocate were not legally founded; and
Ladd’s claims of retaliation and/or discrimination were conclusory and far-reaching. The
district court rejected Ladd’s claims that his placement in strip cell confinement was
unwarranted and racially motivated. The court found that Ladd was placed in strip cell
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confinement to prevent further disruption which was not unreasonable and did not constitute
an unexpected hardship as to give rise to a protected liberty interest in not being so confined.
Finally, the district court found that Ladd failed to show that he was denied basic human
needs or that the prison official acted with deliberate indifference by placing him in strip cell
confinement so as to amount to a violation of the Eighth Amendment.
On appeal, Ladd reiterates the claims he made in the district court asserting that the
district court had no right to dismiss his complaint. We review the grant or denial of
summary judgment de novo, applying the same standard used by the district court pursuant
to Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c). Summary judgment is appropriate if the pleadings, depositions,
answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with affidavits, if any, show that
there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to
judgment as a matter of law. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 325 (1986); Deepwater
Invs., Ltd v. Jackson Hole Ski Corp., 938 F.2d 1105, 1110 (10th Cir. 1991).
After careful review of the record, we AFFIRM substantially for the reasons stated
in the district court’s Memorandum and Order of September 28, 1995.
The mandate shall issue forthwith.
AFFIRMED.
Entered for the Court:
James E. Barrett,
Senior United States
Circuit Judge
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