The opinion
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA
ASHEVILLE DIVISION
CIVIL CASE NO. 1:19-cv-00224-MR
COREY DELON GREENE, )
)
Plaintiff, )
)
vs. ) ORDER
)
)
KENNETH LASSITER, et al., )
)
Defendants. )
___________________________ )
THIS MATTER is before the Court on the Plaintiff’s recent filing
captioned “Issues Receiving Documents” [Doc. 114], which the Court
construes as a motion to require Plaintiff’s correctional facility to make copies
for him.
Pro se Plaintiff Corey Delon Greene (“Plaintiff”) is a prisoner of the
State of North Carolina, currently incarcerated at New Hanover Correctional
Center in Wilmington, North Carolina. On July 18, 2019, Plaintiff filed this
action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Defendants Kenneth Lassiter,
Tim Moose, Todd Ishee, Sarah Cobb, Betty Brown, and Chris Rich claiming
his rights under the First Amendment and the Religious Land Use and
Institutionalized Persons Act (“RLUIPA”), 42 U.S.C. § 2000cc-1, were
violated while he was incarcerated at Avery/Mitchell Correctional Institution
in Spruce Pine, North Carolina, because Defendants refused to recognize
the Nation of Gods and Earth (“NGE”) as a religion and classified NGE as a
Security Risk Group (SRG) for over 20 years. [Doc. 1]. The Court granted
summary judgment for Defendants [Doc. 83] and the Fourth Circuit vacated
the Court’s entry of summary judgment and remanded for further
proceedings. Greene v. Lassiter, No. 22-6273, 2023 WL 8618519 (4th Cir.
Dec. 13, 2023). On April 4, 2024, the Court ordered Defendants to file any
supplements to their summary judgment materials within 30 days and for
Plaintiff to file a response thereto within 30 days of service of Defendants’
materials. [Doc. 111].
Now before the Court is Plaintiff’s motion to order Plaintiff’s correctional
facility to make copies for him. [Doc. 114]. As grounds, Plaintiff states he is
“accumulating documents” by mail from “friends, family, etc.” to compose his
summary judgment response, but the North Carolina Department of
Corrections only allows such mail to be viewed electronically. [Id. at 2]. As
such, Plaintiff “cannot access the documents to compose his motion.” [Id.].
The Court will deny Plaintiff’s motion. This Court has no authority to
require Plaintiff’s correctional facility to make copies for him. The Court notes
that it seems unlikely that documents provided by Plaintiff’s family and
friends would be appropriate evidence on summary judgment in any event.
[See Doc. 74 (noting that summary judgment evidence must be presented to
the Court “in a form which would otherwise be admissible at trial, i.e., in the
form of affidavits and unsworn declarations’).
ORDER
IT IS, THEREFORE, ORDERED that Plaintiff's Motion [Doc. 114] is
DENIED.
IT 1S SO ORDERED.
Signed: April 22, 2024
Martifi Reidinger ey
Chief United States District Judge “AES