# Garrison v. Balderrama

> District Court, W.D. Tennessee · December 20, 2022

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/10441233

## Case

- **Court:** District Court, W.D. Tennessee
- **Decided:** December 20, 2022
- **Opinion:** 100trialcourt
- **Cited by:** 0 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

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## Opinion text

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE
WESTERN DIVISION

ELIJAH ISMAIL MUHAMMAD )
GARRISON, )
)
Plaintiff, )
)
vs. ) No. 21-1147-SHM-tmp
)
LISA BALDERRAMA, MADISON )
COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT, and )
MADISON COUNTY, TENNESSEE, )
)
Defendants. )
)

ORDER DISMISSING SECOND AMENDED COMPLAINT (ECF NO 13) WITH
PREJUDICE;
DENYING LEAVE TO AMEND;
CERTIFYING THAT AN APPEAL WOULD NOT BE TAKEN IN GOOD FAITH;
NOTIFYING GARRISON OF THE APPELLATE FILING FEE;
NOTIFYING GARRISON OF THE COURT’S STRIKE RECOMMENDATION UNDER
28 U.S.C. § 1915(g);
AND CLOSING THE CASE

Before the Court is the second amended complaint filed by pro se Plaintiff Elijah Ismail
Muhammad Garrison. (ECF No. 13 (the “SAC”).) For the reasons explained below, (1) the SAC
is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE for failure to state a claim to relief, (2) leave to amend is
DENIED, and (3) this case is CLOSED.
I. BACKGROUND
On October 1, 2021, Garrison filed a pro se civil complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983
(ECF No. 1) and a motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis (ECF No. 2).1 On October 4,

1 When Garrison filed the initial complaint, he was confined at the Madison County Jail
(the “MCJ”) in Jackson, Tennessee. (ECF No. 1 at PageID 2.) On December 16, 2021, Garrison
2021, the Court granted leave to proceed in forma pauperis and assessed the three hundred and
fifty dollars ($350.00) civil filing fee pursuant to the Prison Litigation Reform Act, 28 U.S.C. §§
1915, et seq. (the “PLRA”). (ECF No. 4.) On October 18, 2021, Garrison filed a motion to amend
the complaint. (ECF No. 5.) On March 22, 2022, the Court (1) granted the motion to amend, (2)
dismissed the Consolidated Amended Complaint (ECF Nos. 1 & 5) for failure to state a claim to
relief, and (3) granted leave to amend within twenty-one (21) days of the date of the March 22,
2022 Order. (ECF No. 12.) The Consolidated Amended Complaint sued three Defendants: (1)

Lisa Balderrama, a Lieutenant with the Madison County Sheriff’s Department; (2) the Madison
County Sheriff’s Department; and (3) Madison County, Tennessee (the “County”). (ECF No. 1 at
PageID 2.)
On April 7, 2022, Garrison timely filed the SAC (ECF No. 13), which is before the Court
for screening under the PLRA.
The SAC sues the County as the sole Defendant. (ECF No. 13 at PageID 51 & 57.) The
SAC seeks: (1) an order compelling the County to respond to Garrison’s written discovery request
attached to the SAC (id. at PageID 58-60; ECF No. 13-1 at PageID 65); and (2) three hundred and
sixty thousand dollars ($360,000.00) in punitive damages. (ECF No. 13 at PageID 59-60.)
II. ANALYSIS

A. The SAC’s Factual Allegations
The SAC alleges that the County prohibited Garrison from receiving a “Moorish Circle 7”
book (the “Book”) that he had ordered from an outside vendor during his confinement at the MCJ.
(ECF No. 13 at PageID 52.) Garrison had joined The Moorish Science Temple of America religion
two (2) months before ordering the Book. (Id.) Balderrama told Garrison that, because the Book

notified the Court that he had been transferred to the Bledsoe County Correctional Complex (the
“BCCX”) in Pikeville, Tennessee. (ECF No. 9.)
contained pictures, the Book violated the MCJ’s “criteria” for inmate mail and Garrison could not
have it. (Id. at PageID 53; see also id. at PageID 61-62 (September 22, 2021 MCJ Grievance Form
with Balderamma’s response saying “Your book contains pictures … You cannot have it due to
the pictures. You are more than welcome to have religious book[s] mailed in from Amazon or
Books A Million that meet our criteria”).)2 Garrison alleges that “the denial of [the] [B]ook
resulted in the [P]laintiff not being able to possess the proper knowledge on how to worship his
new faith.” (Id. at PageID 54 (alleging that the County’s “rules, regulations, criteria, customs, and

policies deprived [Garrison] from reading, learning and studying his new religion[’s] literature
ideology, beliefs, and practices for six (6) months”).)3 The SAC alleges that the County deprived
Garrison of his First Amendment rights. (Id. at PageID 56 (alleging that the County’s “customs
and regulation” that prohibit “inmates [from] receiv[ing] books with pictures resulted in
[Garrison’s] First Amendment right to Free Exercise of religion being violated”).) The SAC does
not cite to a particular custom, regulation, rule, criterion, or policy of the County that violated
Garrison’s First Amendment rights. (See ECF No. 13.)
B. Claim Of Violation Of Garrison’s First Amendment Rights
Inmates retain some First Amendment rights, such as the right to communicate with others
through the mail, the right of access to the courts, and right to free exercise of religion. Inmates’

First Amendment rights are subject to restrictions and regulations “reasonably related to legitimate

2 The SAC does not allege the source from which Garrison ordered the Book. (See ECF
No. 13.) The plausible inference from the record is that Garrison did not order it from Amazon,
Books A Million, or Barnes & Noble. (See ECF No. 13 at PageID 62 (Balderrama’s response to
Garrison’s grievance about the Book said, inter alia, that Garrison could “have a religious book
mailed in from Amazon or Books A Million that meet[s] our criteria”).)

3 The plausible inference from the record is that, because (1) Balderrama’s grievance
response referred to the MCJ’s “criteria,” see ECF No. 5 at PageID 18, and (2) Garrison ultimately
received the Book, see ECF No. 1 at PageID 3, the MCJ’s correctional staff conducted security
review of the Book before providing it to Garrison. (See also ECF No. 12 at PageID 46.)
penological interests.” Turner v. Safley, 482 U.S. 78, 89 (1987). Restrictions on prisoner’s First
Amendment rights are presumed reasonable because they are necessary to protect prisoners and
correctional facility personnel. “[T]he core functions of prison administration [are] maintaining
safety and internal security.” Id. at 92. See also Thornburgh v. Abbott, 490 U.S. 401, 414 (1989)
(prison security is central to all other correctional goals); Meadows v. Hopkins, 713 F.2d 206, 209-
10 (6th Cir. 1983). When considering claims under the First Amendment, courts “‘balance the
prisoners’ constitutionally protected interest in the free exercise of their religious beliefs against

the state’s legitimate interests in operating its prisons.’” Hayes v. Tennessee, 424 F. App’x 546,
549 (6th Cir. 2011) (quoting Walker v. Mintzes, 771 F.2d 920, 929 (6th Cir. 1985)). “[W]hen a
prison regulation impinges on inmates’ constitutional rights, the regulation is valid if it is
reasonably related to legitimate penological interests” and is not “an ‘exaggerated response’ to
prison concerns.” Turner, 482 U.S. at 89-90. The Supreme Court has held that regulations of
incoming correspondence to prisoners are valid if they are “reasonably related to legitimate
penological interests.” Thornburgh, 490 U.S. at 421.
Prison authorities are afforded broad discretion in designing and selecting methods of
maintaining security. Turner, 482 U.S. at 92; Thornburgh, 490 U.S. at 416. Decisions about
prisons’ mail regulations are individualized, based upon the conditions prevailing at a particular

institution at a particular time. Thornburgh, 490 U.S. at 416-17. “[I]t is rational for [a jail] to
exclude [mail] materials that, although not necessarily ‘likely’ to lead to violence, are determined
by the warden to create an intolerable risk of disorder under the conditions of a particular prison at
a particular time.” Id. at 417 (emphasis added). Where mail is of a class potentially detrimental
to order and security, the likelihood that such material will circulate within the prison raises the
prospect of a “ripple effect”, which requires courts to defer to the “informed discretion of
corrections officials.” Thornburgh, 490 U.S. at 418 (citing Turner 482 U.S. at 90, 92).
Prison officials, when making decisions about exclusionary rules for categories of mail, need not
demonstrate an actual danger to support the reasonableness of the officials’ determinations.
Officials’ exclusionary determinations are reasonable when a potential danger could exist without
the restrictions of a challenged prison regulation. See Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 551 n. 32
(1979); Jones v. North Carolina Prisoners' Union, 433 U.S. 119, 133 n. 9 (1977). Prohibition of
prisoners’ receipt of hardback books -- unless mailed directly from publishers, book clubs, or
bookstores -- does not violate First Amendment rights, but is a rational response to an obvious

security problem. Bell, 441 U.S. at 550. The Sixth Circuit has extended the holding in Bell to
softcover books and newspapers, when based on security interests and applied in a content-neutral
manner. Ward v. Washtenaw Cnty. Sheriff's Dep’t, 881 F.2d 325, 329 (6th Cir. 1989).
The Madison County Sheriff’s Office Inmate Mail and Mail Regulations policy states, in
pertinent part: “The Following Items are not allowed to be received via the Mail: … Books may
be sent by a mainstream publisher or bookstores only (i.e., Amazon, Books A Million, Barnes and
Noble). These books must be in new condition. Inmates will be limited to one (1) book in their
possession at any given time. All books must be soft back -- no hard cover publications are
allowed. No personal package of any type will be accepted.” (See
https://www.madisoncountysheriffal.org/jail-information (the “MCSO Mail Policy”).)

The MCSO Mail Policy sets forth with specificity the types of mail that inmates may not
receive while confined at the MCJ. Mail that facilitates, or possibly presents a risk of lawlessness,
violence, or rebellion among MCJ inmates is deemed a threat to institutional security. (See id.)
Mail that contains, inter alia, pictures is forbidden as a threat to institutional security. (See id.)
Regulations such as the MCSO Mail Policy are “expressly aimed at protecting prison security, a
legitimate purpose that is beyond question.” See Thompson v. Campbell, No. 00-1351, 2002 WL
32375450, at *4 (W.D. Tenn. Apr. 5, 2002) (citing Pell v. Procunier, 417 U.S. 817, 823 (1974)).
“[W]here prison administrators draw distinctions between publications solely on the basis of their
potential implications for prison security, the regulations are neutral in the technical sense
expressed in Turner, 482 U.S. at 90.” Thompson, 2002 WL 32375450, at *4.
Even if the Court assumes the SAC alleges that (1) The Moorish Science Temple of
America is within Garrison’s own “scheme of things” and (2) his belief is sincerely held (see Kent
v. Johnson, 821 F.2d 1220, 1224-25 (6th Cir. 1987) and ECF No. 13 at PageID 52-53), the SAC
does not state facts demonstrating that the MCSO Mail Policy unconstitutionally infringed on

Garrison’s practice or belief. See Kent, 821 F.2d at 1224-25. The MCSO Mail Policy’s prohibition
of books from outside sources with pictures -- other than Amazon, Books A Million, and Barnes
and Noble -- satisfies the Turner neutrality test. The MCSO Mail Policy is “neutral” because it
“draw[s] distinctions between [materials] solely on the basis of their potential implications for
prison security.” See Thornburgh, 490 U.S. at 415-16; see also, Beard v. Banks, 548 U.S. 521,
530-33 (2006) (although inmates have a limited First Amendment right to possess reading
material, a regulation that restricts certain reading materials and photographs available to an inmate
is not constitutionally deficient as long as it is “reasonably related to the deterrence of bad behavior
and the maintenance of order and security in a prison”); Goss v. Stirling, No. 6:18-3245, 2020 WL
7055697, at *5 (D.S.C. Dec. 2, 2020) (the defendant-jail’s correspondence policy that prohibited

inmates from receiving photographs and books “was reasonably related to the legitimate
penological interest of inmate security”). The MCSO Mail Policy “further[s] an important or
substantial governmental interest unrelated to the suppression of expression.” See Turner Broad.
Sys., Inc. v. Fed. Commc’n Comm’n, 512 U.S. 622, 662 (1994).
The SAC does not allege facts demonstrating that the MCSO Mail Policy violates
Garrison’s First Amendment rights. Garrison’s factual allegations instead demonstrate a rule that
is content neutral and reasonably related to legitimate penological interests, see Turner, 482 U.S.
at 89-90 -- not an unconstitutional municipal policy that inflicted injury on Garrison. See Monell
v. Dep’t of Soc. Serv., 436 U.S. 658, 691-92 (1978); Alkire v. Irving, 330 F.3d 802, 815 (6th Cir.
2003).
The SAC alleges, at most, an “isolated or sporadic government action [that] is de minimis
and does not constitute a ‘substantial burden’” on religious exercise. See Greenberg v. Hill, No.
2:07–cv–1076, 2009 WL 890521, at *6 (S.D. Ohio Mar. 31, 2009). Garrison was deprived of the
Book for six (6) months while MCJ staff screened it pursuant to the MCSO Mail Policy. (ECF

No. 13 at PageID 53-54.) Garrison eventually received the Book. (ECF No. 1 at PageID 3.)
Garrison does not allege that he was unable to pray, worship, or read religious materials other than
the Book from March 2021 through September 2021. (See ECF Nos. 1 & 13.)
For the reasons explained above, the Court DISMISSES the SAC (ECF No. 13) WITH
PREJUDICE in its entirety for failure to state a claim to relief.
III. AMENDMENT UNDER THE PLRA
The Sixth Circuit has held that a district court may allow a prisoner to amend his complaint
to avoid a sua sponte dismissal under the PLRA. Lucas v. Chalk, 785 F. App’x 288, 291 (6th Cir.
2019) (citing LaFountain v. Harry, 716 F.3d 944, 951 (6th Cir. 2013) (“[W]e hold, like every other
circuit to have reached the issue, that under Rule 15(a) a district court can allow a plaintiff to

amend his complaint even when the complaint is subject to dismissal under the PLRA”)); see also
Brown v. R.I., 511 F. App’x 4, 5 (1st Cir. 2013) (per curiam) (“Ordinarily, before dismissal for
failure to state a claim is ordered, some form of notice and an opportunity to cure the deficiencies
in the complaint must be afforded”). Leave to amend is not required where a deficiency cannot be
cured. Gonzalez-Gonzalez v. United States, 257 F.3d 31, 37 (1st Cir. 2001) (“This does not mean,
of course, that every sua sponte dismissal entered without prior notice to the plaintiff automatically
must be reversed. If it is crystal clear that ... amending the complaint would be futile, then a sua
sponte dismissal may stand.”); Curley v. Perry, 246 F.3d 1278, 1284 (10th Cir. 2001) (“We agree
with the majority view that sua sponte dismissal of a meritless complaint that cannot be salvaged
by amendment comports with due process and does not infringe the right of access to the courts”).
The Court has granted Garrison leave to amend. (See ECF No. 12.) Garrison’s amended pleading
fails to state a claim to relief. (ECF No. 13.) The Court DENIES leave to amend because further
amendment would be futile.
IV. APPELLATE ISSUES

Pursuant to Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 24(a) and 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3), it is
CERTIFIED that any appeal in this matter by Garrison would not be taken in good faith. If
Garrison chooses to file a notice of appeal, he must either pay the entire five hundred and five
dollar ($505.00) appellate filing fee or submit a new in forma pauperis affidavit and a current,
certified copy of his inmate trust account statement for the last six months, in compliance with 28
U.S.C. §§ 1915(a)-(b).
V. NOTICE OF STRIKE RECOMMENDATION
The “three strikes” provision of 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g) prevents a court from granting in
forma pauperis status to a prisoner who “has, on 3 or more prior occasions, while incarcerated ...
brought an action or appeal in a court of the United States that was dismissed on the grounds that

it is frivolous, malicious, or fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted.” 28 U.S.C. §
1915(g). For § 1915(g) analysis of Garrison’s future filings, if any, the Court recommends that
the dismissal of this case be treated as a strike pursuant to § 1915(g). See Simons v. Washington,
996 F.3d 350 (6th Cir. 2021).
VI. CONCLUSION
For the reasons explained above:
A. The SAC (ECF No. 13) DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE in its entirety for failure
to state a claim on which relief can be granted, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(e)(2) and 1915A(b).
Leave to amend is DENIED;
B. This case is DISMISSED in its entirety. The Court recommends that the dismissal
be treated as a strike pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g). See Simons, 996 F.3d 350;
C. The Court CERTIFIES that an appeal would not be taken in good faith; and
D. The Court DENIES leave to proceed in forma pauperis on appeal. If Garrison

appeals, he must pay the full $505 appellate filing fee or move for leave to appeal in forma pauperis
with a supporting affidavit in the Sixth Circuit. Fed. R. App. P. 24(a)(5).
The Clerk is directed to prepare a judgment.

IT IS SO ORDERED, this 20th day of December, 2022.

Samuel H. Mays, Jr.
SAMUEL H. MAYS, JR.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/10441233. Public record. Not legal advice.