George Brown, Jr. v. Gary Kempker , 55 F. App'x 388 ( 2002 )


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  •                      United States Court of Appeals
    FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT
    ___________
    No. 02-2785
    ___________
    George Brown, Jr.,                      *
    *
    Appellant,                 *
    * Appeal from the United States
    v.                                * District Court for the Western
    * District of Missouri.
    Gary Kempker,                           *
    *         [UNPUBLISHED]
    Appellee.                  *
    ___________
    Submitted: November 4, 2002
    Filed: December 24, 2002
    ___________
    Before WOLLMAN, MORRIS SHEPPARD ARNOLD, and MELLOY, Circuit
    Judges.
    ___________
    PER CURIAM.
    Missouri inmate George Brown, Jr., appeals the district court’s pre-service
    dismissal of his 
    42 U.S.C. § 1983
     lawsuit. Mr. Brown also moves for in forma
    pauperis (IFP) status on appeal. The district court found that Mr. Brown’s appeal was
    not taken in good faith but ordered deductions from his prisoner account to pay the
    appellate filing fee in installments; thus, we deny Mr. Brown’s motion as moot. See
    Henderson v. Norris, 
    129 F.3d 481
    , 484 (8th Cir. 1997) (per curiam) (Fed. R. App.
    P. 24(a)(5) motion to proceed IFP on appeal triggers appellant’s responsibility to pay
    full appellate filing fee by installment method).
    Mr. Brown alleged that Gary Kempker, Director of the Missouri Department
    of Corrections (MDOC), was deducting from his institutional offender account all of
    his monthly income for outstanding state debts and, contrary to MDOC policy, was
    not leaving him a balance of at least $7.50. He claimed that this practice was cruel
    and unusual punishment, that it violated the Equal Protection Clause, and that the
    deductions were being made in retaliation for his filing lawsuits.
    Having carefully reviewed the record, we conclude dismissal of Mr. Brown’s
    equal protection and Eighth Amendment claims was proper. Mr. Brown did not
    allege that he belongs to a suspect class, or that any other inmate owed as much in
    state court costs (for which prisoner account deductions were authorized). Thus, he
    failed to state an equal protection claim. See Village of Willowbrook v. Olech, 
    528 U.S. 562
    , 564 (2000) (per curiam) (to proceed with equal protection claim, plaintiff
    who is not member of suspect class must allege that he “has been intentionally treated
    differently from others similarly situated and that there is no rational basis for the
    difference in treatment”). Mr. Brown also failed to state an Eighth Amendment
    claim: although he asserted that he was unable to purchase “necessities,” he did not
    allege that prison officials had denied any request from him for those necessities. Cf.
    Scott v. Carpenter, 24 Fed. App. 645, 648 (8th Cir. 2001) (unpublished per curiam)
    (prisoners can be expected to bear some responsibility for their own hygiene, and
    officials did not deprive disabled prisoner of his basic needs where he rarely
    requested showers or warm water for sponge baths).
    We believe that Mr. Brown sufficiently stated a retaliation claim, however, and
    that this claim warrants remand for service of process. Accordingly, we affirm in part
    and remand for further proceedings on the retaliation claim. See 8th Cir. R. 47A(a).
    -2-
    A true copy.
    Attest:
    CLERK, U.S. COURT OF APPEALS, EIGHTH CIRCUIT.
    -3-
    

Document Info

Docket Number: 02-2785

Citation Numbers: 55 F. App'x 388

Judges: Wollman, Arnold, Melloy

Filed Date: 12/24/2002

Precedential Status: Non-Precedential

Modified Date: 11/6/2024