GEORGE MACKIE v. LISA MITCHELL & Others. ( 2023 )

NOTICE: Summary decisions issued by the Appeals Court pursuant to M.A.C. Rule
23.0, as appearing in 97 Mass. App. Ct. 1017 (2020) (formerly known as rule 1:28,
as amended by 73 Mass. App. Ct. 1001 [2009]), are primarily directed to the parties
and, therefore, may not fully address the facts of the case or the panel's
decisional rationale. Moreover, such decisions are not circulated to the entire
court and, therefore, represent only the views of the panel that decided the case.
A summary decision pursuant to rule 23.0 or rule 1:28 issued after February 25,
2008, may be cited for its persuasive value but, because of the limitations noted
above, not as binding precedent. See Chace v. Curran, 71 Mass. App. Ct. 258, 260
n.4 (2008).
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
APPEALS COURT
22-P-169
GEORGE MACKIE
vs.
LISA MITCHELL 1 & others. 2
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER PURSUANT TO RULE 23.0
The plaintiff, George Mackie, was confined to the
Massachusetts Treatment Center (MTC) 3 from July 24, 2018, until
1 Individually and as former Superintendent of the Massachusetts
Treatment Center.
2 Carol Mici, individually and as Commissioner of Correction;
Charles D. Baker, individually and as former Governor of the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts; David Duarte, individually and as
Superintendent of the Massachusetts Treatment Center; Joann
Lynds, individually and as Deputy Superintendent of the
Massachusetts Treatment Center.
3 Because the plaintiff's claims rest on his assertion that the
MTC is functionally equivalent to a State correctional
institution, he contends that the MTC should be referred to as
the Nemansket Correctional Center, pursuant to G. L. c. 123A,
§ 2. In a 1998 opinion, the Supreme Judicial Court explained
why the center continues to be referred to as the MTC despite
legislation deeming it the Nemansket Correctional Center:
"On January 14, 1994, the Legislature transferred control
of the [MTC] from the Department of Mental Health to the
Department of Correction and renamed it the Nemansket
Correctional Center. . . . The Commissioner of Correction
March 23, 2022. Prior to his release from the MTC, the
plaintiff filed a complaint in the Superior Court against then-
Governor Charles D. Baker and other State officials, asserting
that the conditions of his confinement violated various State
and Federal constitutional provisions, statutes, and
regulations. 4 A Superior Court judge dismissed the complaint
pursuant to Mass. R. Civ. P. 12 (b) (6), 365 Mass. 754 (1974),
in a handwritten endorsement referencing the legal grounds
articulated in the defendants' memoranda of law. The plaintiff
appealed. Shortly after his appeal was entered in this court,
the plaintiff was released from the MTC. Accordingly, most of
his claims are now moot, and as to them the appeal is dismissed.
As explained below, as to the plaintiff's claims that are not
moot, we affirm the judgment dismissing the complaint.
Background. In August 2009, the plaintiff was convicted of
two counts of rape and sentenced to concurrent eight- to ten-
has determined that the [MTC] should continue to be
referred to as the Massachusetts Treatment Center,
apparently in deference to members of the Native American
community who objected to the use of the name Nemansket to
describe a center for sexually dangerous persons."
Wyatt, petitioner, 428 Mass. 347, 348 n.1 (1998).
4 The complaint is unclear whether defendant Mitchell was sued in
her capacity as the former Superintendent of the MTC or only in
her individual capacity. For purposes of this decision, we
treat the complaint as though all of the defendants were sued in
their official and individual capacities.
2
year prison terms. This court affirmed the judgment in an
unpublished decision. Commonwealth v. Mackie, 85 Mass. App. Ct.
1104 (2014).
On June 19, 2018, the Commonwealth filed a petition
pursuant to G. L. c. 123A, § 12 (b), alleging that the plaintiff
was a sexually dangerous person (SDP) who should be committed to
the MTC for an indeterminate period. The following day, a
Superior Court judge issued an order of temporary commitment
pending a determination of probable cause. See G. L. c. 123A,
§ 12 (e). As a result, when the plaintiff's criminal sentences
expired on July 24, 2018, the Department of Correction (DOC)
transferred him to the MTC.
On July 23, 2019, after a hearing, a Superior Court judge
found probable cause to believe that the plaintiff was an SDP
and continued his temporary commitment pending trial. On March
2, 2020, a jury unanimously found that the plaintiff was an SDP,
and he was committed to the MTC for a period of one day to life.
The plaintiff appealed, and on July 29, 2021, this court
vacated the Superior Court judgment, set aside the verdict, and
remanded the case for further proceedings. See Commonwealth v.
Mackie, 100 Mass. App. Ct. 78, 91 (2021). On March 22, 2022,
the Commonwealth moved to dismiss its SDP petition against the
plaintiff. The motion was allowed, and the plaintiff was
released from the MTC on March 23, 2022.
3
Mackie filed this action on June 6, 2019, while he was
still confined at the MTC awaiting trial to determine whether he
was an SDP. In his complaint, the plaintiff alleged that the
conditions of his civil confinement at the MTC were no different
than the conditions imposed on individuals who are sentenced to
a term of incarceration following a criminal conviction. 5 The
plaintiff averred that the imposition of such conditions
violated his rights, including, among other things, those
secured to him under the First, Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth
Amendments of the United States Constitution; various provisions
of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights; and DOC regulations,
policies, and provisions of the General Laws "which deny the
Plaintiff his right to a less restrictive environment."
Discussion. 1. Mootness. Given the plaintiff's release
from the MTC on March 23, 2022, we first address the question of
mootness. "[L]itigation is considered moot when the party who
claimed to be aggrieved ceases to have a personal stake in its
outcome." Troila v. Department of Correction, 490 Mass. 1013,
1014 (2022), quoting Lynn v. Murrell, 489 Mass. 579, 582 (2022).
"A party no longer has a personal stake in a case where a court
can order no further effective relief" (quotations omitted).
5 The complaint cites, inter alia, the plaintiff's inability to
download certain music and books onto his tablet, restrictions
on his mail, phone calls, and visitors, and the fact that he was
subject to random strip searches.
4
Troila, supra. Because the plaintiff is no longer confined at
the MTC, his claims for declaratory and injunctive relief are
moot. See Pidge v. Superintendent, Mass. Correctional Inst.,
Cedar Junction, 32 Mass. App. Ct. 14, 19-20 (1992).
Although a court may exercise its discretion to decide a
moot case where the issues are "capable of repetition, yet
evading review," Harmon v. Commissioner of Correction, 487 Mass.
470, 472 (2021), we decline to do so here. The reason lies in
the potential duration of confinement for SDPs, which can extend
for the entirety of an individual's natural life. See G. L.
c. 123A, § 14 (d). See also DiMasi v. Secretary of the
Commonwealth, 491 Mass. 186, 190 (2023), quoting First Nat'l
Bank of Boston v. Haufler, 377 Mass. 209, 211 (1979) ("An issue
apt to evade review is one which tends to arise only in
circumstances that create a substantial likelihood of mootness
prior to completion of the appellate process"). Indeed, there
have been numerous actions challenging the conditions of
confinement for persons deemed sexually dangerous. See, e.g.,
Dutil, petitioner, 437 Mass. 9, 20 (2002). Therefore, there is
no reason to conclude that if similar claims arise, they will
evade review.
The lack of equitable relief available to the plaintiff
also moots the plaintiff's claims insofar as they are asserted
against the defendants in their official capacities. See
5
O'Malley v. Sheriff of Worcester County, 415 Mass. 132, 140
(1993) (recovery from State officials sued in official capacity
limited to equitable relief). See also Doe, Sex Offender
Registry Bd. No. 474362 v. Sex Offender Registry Bd., 94 Mass.
App. Ct. 52, 64 (2018) ("the Commonwealth and its officers are
generally immune from suits for damages for actions taken as
State officers, unless the Legislature has acted expressly to
abrogate that immunity").
2. Dismissal of remaining claims. Because the plaintiff's
release from the MTC did not moot his claims for monetary
damages against defendants acting in their individual
capacities, we now turn to the plaintiff's challenge to the
dismissal of those claims. See Jiles v. Department of
Correction, 55 Mass. App. Ct. 658, 661 n.5 (2002) ("A release
from a challenged condition of confinement . . . does not render
a case moot where the complaint includes claims of
constitutional and statutory violations under the Federal and
State civil rights acts, and the complaint, in addition to
injunctive and declaratory relief, also includes . . . a demand
for damages").
"We review the allowance of a motion to dismiss de novo,
'accept[ing] as true the allegations in the complaint and
draw[ing] every reasonable inference in favor of the
plaintiff.'" John Moriarty & Assocs. v. Zurich Am. Ins. Co.,
6
102 Mass. App. Ct. 474, 479 (2023), quoting Dartmouth v. Greater
New Bedford Regional Vocational Tech. High Sch. Dist., 461 Mass.
366, 374 (2012). Dismissal under Mass. R. Civ. P. 12 (b) (6) is
proper where a reading of the complaint establishes beyond doubt
that the facts alleged do not support a cause of action that the
law recognizes, such that the plaintiff's claim is legally
insufficient. See Nguyen v. William Joiner Ctr. for the Study
of War & Social Consequences, 450 Mass. 291, 295-296 (2007).
Here, we conclude that the plaintiff's claims were properly
dismissed because the complaint failed to assert any facts
plausibly suggesting that any individual defendant caused or
contributed to any alleged constitutional violation or
wrongdoing. See Foster v. Commissioner of Correction, 484 Mass.
1059, 1061 (2020) (dismissing claims against Governor where
plaintiffs failed to allege Governor "had any direct,
affirmative involvement in causing the challenged prison
conditions"). See also Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 676
(2009) ("a plaintiff must plead that each Government-official
defendant, through the official's own individual actions, has
violated the Constitution"). In the absence of any allegations
connecting the defendants to the alleged violations of the
plaintiff's rights, the motion judge correctly concluded that
the plaintiff failed to state a claim upon which relief may be
granted.
7
Last, the plaintiff's claim that the motion judge was
required to issue findings is without merit. Pursuant to Mass.
R. Civ. P. 52 (a), as amended, 423 Mass. 1408 (1996),
"[f]indings of fact and conclusions of law are unnecessary on
decisions of motions under Rule[] 12." Because the plaintiff's
motion was dismissed pursuant to Mass. R. Civ. P. 12 (b) (6), no
findings of fact were required. 6
So much of the plaintiff's
appeal as concerns (1) his
claims for injunctive and
declaratory relief; and (2)
all claims to the extent
those claims are asserted
against State officials
acting in their official
capacities, is dismissed as
moot. In all other
respects, the judgment is
affirmed.
By the Court (Blake, Grant &
Smyth, JJ. 7),
Clerk
Entered: August 23, 2023.
6 Given our conclusion, and to the extent that the plaintiff's
claims are not moot, because the motion to dismiss was properly
allowed we need not address the plaintiff's argument that he was
prejudiced by the failure to rule on his outstanding motions
during the proceedings below.
7 The panelists are listed in order of seniority.
8