F I L E D
United States Court of Appeals
Tenth Circuit
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
APR 23 2003
TENTH CIRCUIT
PATRICK FISHER
Clerk
ROY DON ROBERTSON,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
No. 03-4010
v. (D. Utah)
(D.C. No. 2:00-CV-668-B)
GEORGE LEARY, Counselor; BOB
TREVENSEN, Counselor; KORY
BOND, DEAN LARSEN, and
CENTRAL UTAH ALCOHOL
TREATMENT CENTER,
Defendants - Appellees.
ORDER AND JUDGMENT *
Before EBEL, HENRY, and HARTZ, Circuit Judges.
After examining the brief and appellate record, this panel has determined
unanimously to decide this case on the brief without oral argument. See Fed. R.
*
This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the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 10th Cir. R. 36.3.
App. P. 34(a)(2)(c). The case is therefore ordered submitted without oral
argument.
Roy Robertson, a state prisoner proceeding pro se, appeals the district
court’s sua sponte dismissal for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be
granted of his complaint filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Mr. Robertson also
seeks to proceed in forma pauperis. On May 19, 2000, Mr. Robertson was
discharged from the Central Utah Alcohol Treatment Center after 80 days. The
release summary indicates that, while at the treatment center, Mr. Robertson had
received a prescription for opiate-based medications and was taking medications
without supervision. While he was in the center, the facility sent progress reports
to the state probation office in addition to the Utah district court. 1
In his complaint, Mr. Richardson contended that (1) his counselors mentally
abused and inadequately treated him, (2) he was treated unfairly and in a
discriminatory manner while in the treatment center, (3) his counselors divulged
personal information about him to a probation officer, and (4) defendant Larsen
took Mr. Robertson’s food stamps on two occasions, and (5) his counselors were
in breach of contract. The district court dismissed Mr. Robertson’s complaint for
failure to state a claim, and gave Mr. Robertson thirty days to amend his
1
The record does not indicate if and when the Utah state court referred
Mr. Richardson to the treatment center.
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complaint to state facts to cure this failure. Mr. Robertson amended his complaint
on the first four claims, and omitted the last claim for breach of contract. Upon
reviewing Mr. Robertson’s amended complaint, the district court determined that
Mr. Robertson “failed to allege facts which salvage any of his claims.” Rec. doc.
20 (Dist. Ct. Order filed Sept. 27, 2002), at 2, and dismissed the complaint.
We agree with the district court that each of the first two contentions,
inadequate and discriminatory treatment, fails to allege facts that might state a
claim for relief and we therefore affirm the decision on these claims for
substantially the reasons set forth by the district court in its orders dated
September 27, 2002 and July 31, 2002, see Rec. docs. 20 and 18. As to the
disclosure of personal information regarding his participation in the counseling
program, Mr. Robertson appears to have signed a release allowing for the
disclosure of this information to the state court and probation officer.
Finally, although the district court did not address the claim of the alleged
conversion of his food stamps in its September 27, 2002 order, which appeared in
Mr. Robertson’s amended complaint, this claim fails as well, however, because
Mr. Robertson has an adequate post-deprivation remedy under state law. See
Hudson v. Palmer, 468 U.S. 517, 533 (1984) (“For intentional . . . deprivations of
property by state employees, the state’s action is not complete until and unless it
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provides or refuses to provide a suitable postdeprivation remedy.”); see Utah
Code Ann. § 63-30-4(3)(a).
Accordingly we AFFIRM the decision of the district court and deny Mr.
Robertson’s motion to proceed in forma pauperis.
Entered for the Court,
Robert H. Henry
Circuit Judge
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