Filed Date: Aug. 4, 1998
Closed Date: July 18, 2013
Clearinghouse coding complete
The case began on August 4, 1998, when a state prisoner filed the complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia. The plaintiff was paraplegic and used a wheelchair; he was incarcerated at the Georgia State Prison (GSP) in Reidsville, Georgia. The defendants were the State of Georgia and various officials, entities, and subdivisions of the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDOC), including the GSP and Augusta State Medical Prison (ASMP), the Hearing Officer for the Office of Inmate Discipline at GSP, and the Commissioner of the GDOC.
The complaint alleged that the defendants violated Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 12131-12134; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Rehabilitation Act or RA), 29 U.S.C. § 794; the Eighth Amendment (suing under 42 U.S.C. § 1983); and Fourteenth Amendment rights to equal protection of the law by not accommodating the plaintiff's needs as a handicapped individual and discriminating him because of his disability. He had been housed in disciplinary isolation in the K-Building, which was designated a high maximum security section of the prison. He alleged that he had been denied the opportunity to bathe or shower and to have yard call, church privileges, cold food, wheelchair accessible space (especially because K-Building cells were smaller than regular prison building cells), medical care and treatment, law library access, and legal materials. The plaintiff was pro se when he filed the complaint, but was later was represented by private counsel. He sought declaratory and injunctive relief, and monetary damages. The case was first assigned to Judge B. Avant Edenfield, then later reassigned to Magistrate Judge James E. Graham.
The history of this case spans 15 years, from its filing in 1998 to settlement in 2010 and appeal attempts in 2013. The case involves many defendants, several of whom throughout 15 years were terminated (in their official and/or individual capacities) from the case at different points in the timeline. It also involved multiple appeals, which led to certain claims against some of the defendants to be reversed and remanded by the Court of Appeals to be redetermined by the district court. In addition, it is worth noting that toward the end of the case in 2010, the United States participated as Amicus Curiae in support of the plaintiff. Miller v. King, 2004 WL 2290751 (11th Cir.) (supplemental brief for the U.S. as intervenor). See generally Miller v. King, 384 F.3d 1248 C.A.11 (Ga.) 2004) (explaining the background of the lawsuit).
During the course of the case's history, the plaintiff tried multiple times to get the court to prohibit what he alleged were discriminatory acts by the Defendants. Initially, the plaintiff filed a motion for Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) and preliminary injunction in September 1998. Judge Edenfield denied this motion on December 16, 1998.
The plaintiff's efforts continued into January 1999, when the plaintiff tried again to enjoin the defendants by moving for a protective order and, again, a preliminary injunction. Magistrate Judge James E. Graham suggested in his March 1999 Report & Recommendation (R&R) that Judge Edenfield deny both motions. On April 9, 1999, Judge Edenfield adopted the R&R and denied both of the plaintiff's motions. Miller v. King, 384 F.3d 1248, 1257 (C.A.11 (Ga.) 2004) (summarizing the details of the Report and Recommendations and its adoption by Judge Edenfield). The plaintiff appealed this denial on April 20, 1999, but on January 11, 2000, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (USCA) dismissed the appeal on the basis that it was frivolous.
Meanwhile, the defendants sought to dismiss the case: on August 4, 1999, they filed a motion for summary judgment. In January 2000, Magistrate Judge Graham recommended in his R&R that Judge Edenfield grant the motion for summary judgment on the claim of deliberate indifference against the former Warden of GSP and the claim of due process violations against the former Commissioner of the GDOC. On February 25, 2000, over the plaintiff's objections, Judge Edenfield adopted the Magistrate Judge's recommendations for the above two issues. However, he denied summary judgment for the State of Georgia, GDOC, and the Hearing Officer for the Office of Inmate Discipline at GSP. He did not explain the reasoning behind his decision. Miller v. King, 384 F.3d 1248, 1258 (C.A.11 (Ga.) 2004).
In July 2000, the Plaintiff filed a third motion for preliminary injunction and a second motion for protective order, but Judge Edenfield denied them the next month. The plaintiff appealed, but USCA denied the appeal. In November 2001, the case was reassigned to Magistrate Judge James E. Graham. The parties also commenced the discovery process around this time.
The discovery process and the case were moving along on schedule when the defendants attempted again to get the case dismissed by filing in December 2001 a supplemental motion for summary judgment. They asserted that:
- the State of Georgia and the Georgia Department of Corrections are immune from suit; and
- an individual employed by the Department of Corrections is not subject to liability under the ADA.
While the defendants' motion was pending, the plaintiff in January 2002 filed numerous motions: TRO, Preliminary Injunction (fourth time), protective order, subpoenas, a writ of habeas corpus, and a motion to compel the defendant to produce discovery for the plaintiff.
Magistrate Judge Graham resolved these motions throughout January and February 2002, mostly against the plaintiff. Judge Graham granted the defendants' December 2001 motion for summary judgment for certain defendants but only for some of the claims. He granted summary judgment for:
- the State of Georgia and the Georgia Department of Corrections on the claim that they violated the plaintiff's rights under Americans with Disabilities Act; and
- the Former Warden of GSP on the claim that he violated the plaintiff's rights under ADA (the only remaining claims against this defendant were retaliation and due process violations in prison disciplinary hearings).
While Judge Graham did not explain his reasons for denying all of the plaintiff's motions, he did note with respect to some motions that the allegations were irrelevant to the case.
A jury trial took place in February 2002, which yielded a verdict for the defendants on the 14th. The plaintiff filed a motion for judgment as a matter of law or for new trial, but Judge Graham denied his motion on June 6, 2002 because the plaintiff failed to show evidence that jury's finding was against the weight of evidence. The plaintiff appealed immediately.
On September 14, 2004, the Court of Appeals (Judges Frank M. Hull, James C. Hill, and Edward E. Carnes) generally affirmed the district court's grants of summary judgment in favor of the defendants (specifically, the ADA claims for monetary damages as to all defendants and as to all other claims against all defendants). However, it found that fact issues precluded summary judgment for a single defendant--the Warden of GSP. The USCA explained that the Eleventh Amendment does not prohibit a plaintiff from suing state officials in their official capacities for injunctive relief. Moreover, a plaintiff may sue an official in his/her individual capacity for monetary damages. Thus, USCA found that the Warden was a suable defendant for both monetary and injunctive relief. Miller v. King, 384 F.3d 1248, 1253–54, 1260 (C.A.11 (Ga.) 2004).
However, this decision was short-lived. After the Supreme Court decided United States v. Georgia, 546 U.S. 151, the Eleventh Circuit vacated in full its prior opinion from September 2004. In its new decision, the USCA affirmed the dismissal of all claims against all Defendants except for 1) the plaintiff's Eighth Amendment and ADA claims against the Warden; and 2) ADA claims against the State of Georgia and the Georgia Department of Corrections. For these two claims, the USCA concluded that the case should be remanded to the district court for the plaintiff to amend his complaint so that a claim-by-claim analysis could be undertaken. Miller v. King, 449 F.3d 1149, 1151 (C.A.11 (Ga.) 2006).
Soon after USCA's decision, on November 20, 2006, the plaintiff filed an amended complaint, in which he added many new individual defendants affiliated with the Georgia prison system. He also resubmitted a number of motions: for a preliminary injunction (fifth time) in December 2006 and (sixth time) in January 2007, and a protective order. However, Judge Graham dismissed all these motions on January 9, 2007.
After the plaintiff filed his amended complaint, the defendants persisted over the next few years to try to dismiss the case. Over time and little by little, Judge Graham dismissed many of the claims against the defendants. First, in February 2007, the Defendants submitted a pre-answer motion to dismiss. On July 24, 2007, Judge Graham granted the dismissal of:
- ADA or RA claims against the defendants in their individual capacities; and
- 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claims for damages against state defendants or individual defendants in their official capacities
He denied the motion in all other respects, most importantly the defendants' argument that the plaintiff's claims were barred by claim preclusion. The injunctive relief claims remained pending.
The case temporarily paused between summer 2007 and March 2008 because the parties and Judge Graham agreed to stay the case pending a comprehensive medical exam on the Plaintiff. Judge Graham lifted the stay on May 3, 2008.
The defendants' next attempt to dismiss the case occurred when the defendants tried again to argue that the Plaintiff's remaining arguments were moot because of claim preclusion. After the defendants filed a motion for partial summary judgment on this ground (that the plaintiff's § 1983, RA, and ADA claims were barred because he had already made them and lost), on September 21, 2009, Judge Graham ruled in favor of the defendants. He decided to dismiss many of the plaintiff's surviving claims, which included a denial of access to the courts claim. However, Judge Graham denied for the second time the defendants' claim preclusion argument. (The defendants later filed a motion for reconsideration of this order, but Judge Graham again denied the claim preclusion claim--see Miller v. King, 2009 WL 3805568 (S.D.Ga. Nov. 10, 2009).)
From this point forward, Judge Graham started to not only dismiss more of the Plaintiff's claims, but also Defendants from the lawsuit. In January 2010, per the parties' stipulation, Judge Graham dismissed ASMP and GSP as Defendants (because they were part of GDOC) while the claims against GDOC remained pending.
On July 6, 2010, Judge Graham dismissed all remaining claims against individual defendants. Furthermore, during that same month, Judge Graham ordered the termination of the following defendants as parties: the former Commissioner of the GDOC; the former Warden at GSP; and the State of Georgia. A few claims against a small set of Defendants remained pending:
- The claims brought under the ADA and Rehabilitation Act for damages against the GDOC; and
- All claims for injunctive relief against the GDOC and the remaining individual defendants (including the Warden of ASMP).
Despite the many dismissals, the plaintiff was able to negotiate a settlement of the remaining claims. On September 14, 2010, Judge Graham ordered that the case be administratively closed. He gave the parties 60 days to file a dismissal of judgment, and if the parties did not request that, the court was planning to dismiss the case with prejudice. The remaining defendants filed a motion to dismiss with prejudice on October 15, 2010. A proposed Settlement Agreement, included with the motion, stated the following important provisions. It included both monetary and injunctive relief. The Agreement were to be in effect until the plaintiff leaves the facility. The defendants agreed to:
- make a $50,000 payment to the plaintiff;
- make a $90,000 payment to the plaintiff's attorneys;
- improve the accessibility of the prison facilities to conform with the ADA;
- ensure that the plaintiff has the appropriate devices that would allow him to take showers and maintain hygiene;
- assist him with daily activities; and
- maintain a written medical Treatment Plan for the plaintiff.
In exchange, the plaintiff was to release the defendants from all pending claims in this suit.
Judge Graham approved the Settlement Agreement on November 1, 2010 and dismissed the case with prejudice.
However, the plaintiff attempted three times to reopen the case and set aside the judgment between June 2011 and June 2013. Judge Graham denied the request each time, in part because the plaintiff's motions were largely unrelated to the issues in this case. In March 2013, the plaintiff tried to appeal the district court's decision, but the USCA dismissed the request. The plaintiff has not attempted to reopen the case or take other action to enforce the settlement agreement since 2013.
Summary Authors
Lisa Koo (6/9/2019)
For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/5026578/parties/miller-v-king/
Graham, James E. (Georgia)
Ashe, Robert L. III (Georgia)
Bramlett, Jeffrey O. (Georgia)
Curry, Stephen E. (Georgia)
Bagenstos, Samuel R. (District of Columbia)
Graham, James E. (Georgia)
Hull, Frank M. (Georgia)
Bagenstos, Samuel R. (District of Columbia)
Harrington, Sarah E. (District of Columbia)
Holder, Eric H. Jr. (District of Columbia)
Kennebrew, Delora L. (District of Columbia)
Lynch, William Francis (District of Columbia)
Perez, Thomas E. (District of Columbia)
Phillips, Dirk Christian (District of Columbia)
See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/5026578/miller-v-king/
Last updated April 4, 2024, 3:03 a.m.
State / Territory: Georgia
Case Type(s):
Special Collection(s):
Key Dates
Filing Date: Aug. 4, 1998
Closing Date: July 18, 2013
Case Ongoing: Perhaps, but long-dormant
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
A wheelchair-bound inmate confined at Georgia State Prison in Reidsville, Georgia.
Plaintiff Type(s):
Public Interest Lawyer: No
Filed Pro Se: Yes
Class Action Sought: No
Class Action Outcome: Not sought
Defendants
Georgia Department of Corrections, None
Defendant Type(s):
Case Details
Causes of Action:
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 12111 et seq.
Section 504 (Rehabilitation Act), 29 U.S.C. § 701
Constitutional Clause(s):
Available Documents:
Injunctive (or Injunctive-like) Relief
Outcome
Prevailing Party: Plaintiff
Nature of Relief:
Injunction / Injunctive-like Settlement
Source of Relief:
Form of Settlement:
Amount Defendant Pays: 140000
Order Duration: 2010 - None
Content of Injunction:
Issues
General:
Food service / nutrition / hydration
Sanitation / living conditions
Jails, Prisons, Detention Centers, and Other Institutions:
Solitary confinement/Supermax (conditions or process)
Disability and Disability Rights:
Discrimination-basis:
Disability (inc. reasonable accommodations)
Affected Sex or Gender:
Medical/Mental Health:
Type of Facility: