5:25-cv-00063•WILLIAMS v. PRICE
Gesamter Gesetzestext
Page 1 of 18 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA PANAMA CITY DIVISION JAMES WILLIAMS, Plaintiff, v. Case No. 5:25-cv-63-MCR-MJF DANIEL PRICE, Defendant. / REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION Plaintiff is a prison inmate who alleges that Defendant Daniel Price rammed a golf cart into another cart that ran over Plaintiff’s leg and foot. Doc. 15. Defendant Daniel Price moves to dismiss the complaint based on failure to state a claim, failure to exhaust administrative remedies, and qualified immunity. Doc. 23. Williams opposes the motion. Doc. 25. The District Court should deny Price’s motion to dismiss. BACKGROUND Williams is an inmate of the Florida Department of Corrections (“FDC”) housed at the Blackwater River Correctional Facility. Williams’s third amended complaint names one Defendant: Daniel Price, a maintenance employee at the Calhoun Correctional Facility. Doc. 15. Case 5:25-cv-00063-MCR-MJF Document 26 Filed 03/24/26 Page 1 of 18
Page 2 of 18 Williams claims that Price violated the Eighth Amendment when Price intentionally drove a golf cart into a cart of chairs Williams was pulling on foot. As a result of Price ramming his golf cart into Williams’s cart, the cart of chairs ran over Williams’s right leg and foot causing severe pain and damage to a blood vessel. Id. at 4–7. Williams seeks compensatory and punitive damages. Id. at 7. Price moves to dismiss this civil action because: (1) Williams’s allegations fail to state an Eighth-Amendment violation; (2) Williams failed to properly exhaust available administrative remedies as required by 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a); and (3) Price is entitled to qualified immunity. Doc. 23. Williams opposes the motion on each point. Doc. 25. MOTION TO D ISMISS STANDARD Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) authorizes a defendant to move to dismiss a claim for “failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). For a claim to survive dismissal, the “complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)). “A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference Case 5:25-cv-00063-MCR-MJF Document 26 Filed 03/24/26 Page 2 of 18
Page 3 of 18 that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged,” rather than the mere possibility that the defendant acted unlawfully. Id. In applying the foregoing standard, courts accepts all well-pleaded factual allegations in the complaint as true and evaluates all reasonable inferences derived from those facts in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. See Hunnings v. Texaco, Inc., 29 F.3d 1480, 1483 (11th Cir. 1994). D ISCUSSION A. Williams States an Eighth-Amendment Violation Williams claims that Price’s ramming his golf cart into Williams’s cart “was done maliciously and sadistically and constituted cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment.” Doc. 15 at 7. Price argues that Williams fails to allege an excessive-force claim because “any force used against Plaintiff was accidental” and Williams “failed to allege that Defendant Price acted maliciously or sadistically.” Doc. 23 at 3. The appropriate standard is the Eighth Amendment’s deliberate- indifference standard because of the nature of the alleged constitutional violation. See Hudson v. McMillian, 503 U.S. 1, 5–7 (1992) (explaining how the nature of the constitutional violation affects which Eighth- Amendment standard applies); Whitley v. Albers, 475 U.S. 312, 320 Case 5:25-cv-00063-MCR-MJF Document 26 Filed 03/24/26 Page 3 of 18
Page 4 of 18 (1986) (the applicable Eighth-Amendment standard is determined with “due regard for differences in the kind of conduct against which an Eighth Amendment objection is lodged”). Price was not confronted with a prison disturbance or other situation that entailed competing administrative concerns, such as balancing a need to maintain order through force— against the risk of injury to Williams. Hudson, 503 U.S. at 5–7; Whitley, 475 U.S. at 320. Rather, Williams alleges a situation where Price exposed Williams to a confinement condition or circumstance that created a substantial risk of serious harm to Williams’s future health or safety. Helling v. McKinney, 509 U.S. 25, 35 (1993). Thus, the Eighth Amendment imposes a deliberate-indifference standard. See Wilson v. Seiter, 501 U.S. 294, 302–03 (1991); Helling, 509 U.S. at 35. Under either standard, however, Williams’s allegations state a plausible Eighth-Amendment violation. 1. The Excessive-Force Standard Under the Eighth Amendment, “[f]orce that is ‘applied in a good- faith effort to maintain or restore discipline’ is acceptable, while force that is inflicted ‘maliciously and sadistically to cause harm’ is prohibited.” Williams v. Radford, 64 F.4th 1185, 1196 (11th Cir. 2023) Case 5:25-cv-00063-MCR-MJF Document 26 Filed 03/24/26 Page 4 of 18
Page 5 of 18 (citing Wilkins v. Gaddy, 559 U.S. 34, 37 (2010)). A prisoner asserting an Eighth-Amendment excessive-force claim must prove two elements, one subjective and the other objective. Sconiers v. Lockhart, 946 F.3d 1256, 1265 (11th Cir. 2020). The prisoner must establish that the prison official “acted with a sufficiently culpable state of mind” and that the official’s conduct was “objectively harmful enough to establish a constitutional violation.” Hudson, 503 U.S. at 8. Courts use primarily five factors to evaluate the subjective element: “[1] the need for application of force, [2] the relationship between that need and the amount of force used, [3] the threat ‘reasonably perceived by the responsible officials,’ . . . [4] ‘any efforts made to temper the severity of a forceful response,’” and “[5] [t]he absence of serious injury.” Hudson, 503 U.S. at 7 (quoting Whitley, 475 U.S. at 321). Under the objective element, the use of force must be “harmful enough” or “sufficiently serious.” DeJesus v. Lewis, 14 F.4th 1182, 1195 (11th Cir. 2021). That is because the Eighth Amendment does not preclude de minimis uses of force. Id. at 1195. 2. The Deliberate-Indifferent Standard An Eighth-Amendment deliberate-indifference claim requires sufficient factual allegations on four elements: Case 5:25-cv-00063-MCR-MJF Document 26 Filed 03/24/26 Page 5 of 18
Page 6 of 18 1. the plaintiff suffered a deprivation that was “objectively, ‘sufficiently serious’”—one that posed a substantial risk of serious harm to the plaintiff; 2. the defendant was deliberately indifferent to the substantial risk of serious harm; 3. the plaintiff suffered an injury; and 4. the defendant’s deliberate indifference caused the plaintiff’s injury. Wade v. McDade, 106 F.4th 1251, 1255, 1262 (11th Cir. 2024) (quoting Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 834 (1994)); Chandler v. Crosby, 379 F.3d 1278, 1289 (11th Cir. 2004). The Supreme Court has set a high bar for the objective component of a claim challenging a condition of confinement. “The challenged condition must be ‘extreme’”: the prisoner must show, at the very least, “that a condition of his confinement ‘poses an unreasonable risk of serious damage to his future health’ or safety.” Chandler, 379 F.3d at 1289 (first quoting Hudson, 503 U.S. at 9; and then quoting Helling, 509 U.S. at 35). To satisfy the deliberate indifference element, a plaintiff must allege that the defendant “was actually, subjectively aware that his own conduct caused a substantial risk of serious harm to the plaintiff.” Wade, Case 5:25-cv-00063-MCR-MJF Document 26 Filed 03/24/26 Page 6 of 18
Page 7 of 18 106 F.4th at 1262 (quoting Farmer, 511 U.S. at 839). “[D]eliberate indifference describes a state of mind more blameworthy than negligence.” Farmer, 511 U.S. at 835. 3. Williams Alleges an Eighth-Amendment Violation Williams’s description of the incident alleges an Eighth- Amendment violation. Williams was inside the garage of the vocational building working as a vocational orderly. Williams was ordered by his supervisor to stack chairs onto a cart and take them to the education building. Doc. 15 at 5. Williams stacked the chairs onto the cart and began pulling the cart to the education building. Price drove out of the vocational building garage in a golf cart. Williams heard Price say, “Road rage!” Id. Williams turned around and saw Price staring at Williams. Williams turned back around and continued pulling the cart of chairs. Price then drove the golf cart parallel to Williams on the opposite side of the path. Then suddenly, Price swerved the golf cart and rammed it into Williams’s cart of chairs. The cart ran over Williams’s leg. Price then sped off while stating: “Road rage. I told you I was gonna get you nigger!” Id. at 5–6. Under Williams’s version of events, Price’s conduct was deliberate and intentional, not “accidental” as Price’s motion to dismiss suggests. Case 5:25-cv-00063-MCR-MJF Document 26 Filed 03/24/26 Page 7 of 18
Page 8 of 18 Doc. 23 at 3. Price’s alleged statement—“Road rage. I told you I was gonna get you nigger!”—further indicates that Price intentionally rammed the cart of chairs into Williams, not that this was an accident. Williams’s allegations also plausibly indicate that Price had no penological justification to ram the golf cart into Williams’s cart of chairs. Engaging in “road rage” with a prisoner-pedestrian who poses no threat and is simply following orders has no penological purpose. Williams’s allegations further indicate that Price exposed Williams to a substantial risk of serious harm, and that Price actually was aware that his conduct posed a substantial risk of serious harm to Williams. Again, Price’s alleged statements before and after the incident support this inference. For all of the reasons set forth above, Williams’s Eighth- Amendment claim has facial plausibility and survives Price’s motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. B. Williams Exhausetd His Administrative Remedies Price also argues that Williams failed to exhaust his administrative remedies because, although Williams filed an informal grievance which was approved, “[t]here are no allegations in the Third Amended Complaint that Plaintiff ever went through the formal grievance or Case 5:25-cv-00063-MCR-MJF Document 26 Filed 03/24/26 Page 8 of 18
Page 9 of 18 appeal process.” Doc. 23 at 6; see also Doc. 15 at 6 (Pl.’s allegation that informal grievance was approved); Doc. 25 at 1 (same). 1. The PLRA’s Exhaustion Requirement The Prison Litigation Reform Act (“PLRA”) provides that: “No action shall be brought with respect to prison conditions under section 1983 of this title, or any other Federal law, by a prisoner confined in any jail, prison, or other correctional facility until such administrative remedies as are available are exhausted.” 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a). This exhaustion requirement applies to all inmate suits that concern prison life. See Porter v. Nussle, 534 U.S. 516, 524 (2002). “[F]ailure to exhaust is an affirmative defense under the PLRA.” Jones v. Bock, 549 U.S. 199, 216 (2007). “[I]nmates are not required to specially plead or demonstrate exhaustion in their complaints.” Id. at 216. “[P]roper exhaustion of administrative remedies . . . means using all steps that the agency holds out, and doing so properly (so that the agency addresses the issues on the merits).” Woodford v. Ngo, 548 U.S. 81, 90 (2006) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). “To determine ‘proper exhaustion’ in prisoner civil rights actions, courts must look to the requirements of the ‘prison grievance system.’” Gipson v. Case 5:25-cv-00063-MCR-MJF Document 26 Filed 03/24/26 Page 9 of 18
Page 10 of 18 Renninger, 750 F. App’x 948, 951 (11th Cir. 2018) (quoting Woodford, 548 U.S. at 95). In other words, courts “look to the requirements of the applicable prison grievance system to determine the boundaries of proper exhaustion.” Sims v. Sec’y, Fla. Dep’t of Corr., 75 F.4th 1224, 1230 (11th Cir. 2023). Generally, the FDC’s administrative remedy program requires an inmate to begin the grievance process by submitting an informal grievance to the designated staff member, who forwards the informal grievance to the staff member responsible in the particular area of the problem. Fla. Admin. Code r. 33-103.005. “If that fails, the prisoner files a formal grievance with the institution’s warden or assistant warden.” Sims, 75 F.4th at 1230 (citing Fla. Admin. Code r. 33-103.006(1)). If the inmate is dissatisfied with the response to the formal grievance, he may file an appeal to the Office of Secretary. Sims, 75 F.4th at 1230 (citing Fla. Admin. Code r. 33-103.007(1)). 2. The Framework for Evaluating an Exhaustion Defense A failure to exhaust administrative remedies is an affirmative defense that the defendant bears the burden of proving. Jones, 549 U.S. at 216; Turner v. Burnside, 541 F.3d 1077, 1082 (11th Cir. 2008). Case 5:25-cv-00063-MCR-MJF Document 26 Filed 03/24/26 Page 10 of 18
Page 11 of 18 Addressing a motion to dismiss for failure to exhaust involves two steps. Turner, 541 F.3d at 1082. First, the court looks to the factual allegations in the defendant’s motion, and those in the plaintiff’s response. See id. at 1082. If they conflict, the court accepts the plaintiff’s version of the facts as true. “If, in that light, the defendant is entitled to have the complaint dismissed for failure to exhaust administrative remedies, it must be dismissed.” Id. at 1082. If the complaint is not subject to dismissal at the first step—where the plaintiff’s allegations are assumed to be true—“the court proceeds to make specific findings in order to resolve the disputed factual issues related to exhaustion.” Turner, 541 F.3d at 1082 (citing Bryant v. Rich, 530 F.3d 1368, 1373–74, 1376 (11th Cir. 2008)). Upon making findings on the disputed issues of fact, the court then decides whether, under those findings, the plaintiff has exhausted his available administrative remedies. “A district court may properly consider facts outside of the pleadings to resolve a factual dispute regarding exhaustion where the factual dispute does not decide the merits and the parties have a sufficient opportunity to develop the record.” Singleton v. Dep’t of Corr., 323 F. App’x 783, 785 (11th Cir. 2009) (citing Bryant, 530 F.3d at 1376)). Case 5:25-cv-00063-MCR-MJF Document 26 Filed 03/24/26 Page 11 of 18
Page 12 of 18 3. Application of the Turner Procedure The parties agree that Williams filed an informal grievance relating to Price’s conduct: informal grievance log #105-2401-0051. Doc. 15 at 6 ¶ 14; Doc. 23 at 6; Doc. 25 at 1. The parties also agree that informal grievance log #105-2401-0051 was approved. Doc. 15 at 6 ¶ 14; Doc. 23 at 6; Doc. 25 at 1. The question in this case—and where the parties disagree—is whether Williams’s informal grievance was sufficient to constitute exhaustion. Price asserts that Williams was required to appeal the approved grievance. Doc. 23 at 6. Williams counters that he was not required to appeal because his grievance was approved. Doc. 25 at 1. Williams adds that after he received the response approving the informal grievance, he was transferred to Blackwater River CF. Id. There, the grievance coordinator (R. Bethea) told Williams that Williams “could not use the response to advance to the next level.” Id. at 1–2. When the FDC addresses and approves an inmate’s informal grievance, to exhaust his administrative remedies, the inmate is not required to submit any further grievances regarding the relevant issue. Williams v. Dep’t of Corr., 678 F. App’x 877, 880–81 (11th Cir. 2017) (because inmate’s informal grievance was addressed and approved, Case 5:25-cv-00063-MCR-MJF Document 26 Filed 03/24/26 Page 12 of 18
Page 13 of 18 inmate was not required to submit any further grievances about the issue in question); Harvard v. Inch, 411 F. Supp. 3d 1220, 1248 (N.D. Fla. 2019) (Florida prisoner whose informal grievance was approved “did not need to appeal his grant in order to exhaust his administrative remedies”); cf. Whatley v. Smith, 898 F.3d 1072, 1085 n.60 (11th Cir. 2018) (“A grievance can be exhausted without being appealed all the way through the grievance resolution process.”). Price does not address—much less distinguish—these decisions. Price also does not identify any provision of the FDC’s inmate grievance procedure that requires an inmate to appeal the approval of an informal grievance. The only provision of the FDC’s grievance procedure that addresses approved grievances relates to approved formal grievances and provides instructions to staff. See, e.g., Fla. Admin. Code r. 33-103.016. Additionally, even if the FDC’s grievance procedure required Williams to appeal the approved grievance, the grievance coordinator (R. Bethea) informed Williams (erroneously or not) that he could not grieve the issue further. “An administrative remedy is not ‘available,’ and therefore need not be exhausted, if prison officials erroneously inform an inmate that the remedy does not exist or inaccurately describe the steps Case 5:25-cv-00063-MCR-MJF Document 26 Filed 03/24/26 Page 13 of 18
Page 14 of 18 he needs to take to pursue it.” See Pavey v. Conley, 663 F.3d 899, 906 (7th Cir. 2011); see also Geter v. Baldwin State Prison, 974 F.3d 1348, 1358 (11th Cir. 2020) (allegations that prison officials provided misleading assistance or advice could render the grievance process “unavailable”). The conclusion that Williams satisfied § 1997e(a)’s exhaustion requirement is consistent with the holdings of numerous courts that an inmate sufficiently exhausted his administrative remedies by filing a grievance that was marked “approved” by the FDC with confirmation that the incident was, or would be, referred to the inspector general for investigation. See Perea v. Smith, 2024 WL 559260, at *2–3 (N.D. Fla. Jan. 17, 2024) (rejecting defendants’ exhaustion argument in identical circumstances), adopted, 2024 WL 554153 (N.D. Fla. Feb. 12, 2024); Blake v. Carter, 2024 WL 4246679 (N.D. Fla. Aug. 8, 2024); Johnson v. Shuler, 2022 WL 17811970, at *4 (N.D. Fla. Nov. 18, 2022), adopted, 2022 WL 17811959 (N.D. Fla. Dec. 19, 2022); Luckey v. May, 2016 WL 1128426, at *9–10 (N.D. Fla. Feb. 17, 2016), adopted, 2016 WL 1169481 (N.D. Fla. Mar. 22, 2016); Tierney v. Hattaway, 2022 WL 18159995, at *2 (N.D. Fla. Dec. 9, 2022), adopted, 2023 WL 139132 (N.D. Fla. Jan. 9, 2023); see also Manago v. Glass, 2019 WL 1014440, at *7 (M.D. Fla. Mar. 4, 2019). Case 5:25-cv-00063-MCR-MJF Document 26 Filed 03/24/26 Page 14 of 18
Page 15 of 18 Because Price has not carried his burden of establishing that Williams failed to exhaust available administrative remedies, Price is not entitled to dismissal under 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a). C. Price Is Not Entitled to Qualified Immunity Price also argues that he is entitled to qualified immunity because “[a]ll actions taken by the Defendant Price” were “within his discretionary authority.” Doc. 23 at 8. Williams responds that Price violated a clearly established right. Doc. 25 at 2–3. 1. The Qualified Immunity Standard “Government officials enjoy qualified immunity from suit under § 1983 unless their conduct violates clearly established law.” Zorn v. Linton, ___ U.S. ___, 2026 WL 795469, at *2 (U.S. Mar. 23, 2026) (citing Rivas-Villegas v. Cortesluna, 595 U.S. 1, 5 (2021)). “For a constitutional right to be clearly established, its contours must be sufficiently clear that a reasonable official would understand that what he is doing violates that right. This is not to say that an official action is protected by qualified immunity unless the very action in question has previously been held unlawful, but it is to say that in the light of pre-existing law the unlawfulness must be apparent.” Hope v. Pelzer, 536 U.S. 730, 739 (2002) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). In a situation where Case 5:25-cv-00063-MCR-MJF Document 26 Filed 03/24/26 Page 15 of 18
Page 16 of 18 there is not a case with materially similar facts, a right can be clearly established by “identify[ing] a broader, clearly established principle that should govern the novel facts of a situation[,]” or when “the conduct at issue so obviously violated the Constitution that prior case law is unnecessary.” J W ex rel. Williams v. Birmingham Bd. Of Educ., 904 F.3d 1248, 1259–60 (11th Cir. 2018) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). “A right is not clearly established if existing precedent does not place the constitutional question ‘beyond debate.’” Zorn, 2026 WL 795469, at *2 (quoting Rivas-Villegas, 595 U.S. at 5). 2. Price Is Not Entitled to Qualified Immunity By 1986—long before Price’s conduct in this case—the Supreme Court clearly held that in the prison setting, force inflicted “maliciously and sadistically to cause harm” and for no penological purpose is prohibited by the Eighth Amendment. Wilkins, 559 U.S. at 37; Whitley, 475 U.S. at 319; see also Williams, 64 F.4th at 1196; Skrtich v. Thornton, 280 F.3d 1295, 1302 (11th Cir. 2002), overruled on other grounds by Pearson v. Callahan, 555 U.S. 223 (2009). Also, by 1993—long before Price’s conduct in this case—the Supreme Court clearly held that a prison official who, with deliberate Case 5:25-cv-00063-MCR-MJF Document 26 Filed 03/24/26 Page 16 of 18
Page 17 of 18 indifference, exposes a prisoner to “an unreasonable risk of serious damage to [the prisoner’s] future health” violates the Eighth Amendment because it constitutes the unnecessary and wanton infliction of pain contrary to contemporary standards of decency. See Helling, 509 U.S. at 33–35; Wade, 106 F.4th at 1262. As alleged here, Price used a motorized vehicle as a weapon to ram a prisoner-pedestrian who was following orders. Price’s conduct was not justified by any penological purpose, nor was it compelled by necessity or exigency. Rather, according to Williams’s allegations, Price rammed Williams to release “road rage” and to “get” Williams. Doc. 15 at 5–6. This suggests that Price knew that ramming Williams’s cart created a substantial risk of serious harm to Williams. No reasonable prison employee could have concluded that, under these circumstances, Price’s conduct was constitutionally permissible. See Hope, 536 U.S. at 741 (in novel factual situations, “‘a general constitutional rule already identified in the decisional law may apply with obvious clarity to the specific conduct in question’” (quoting United States v. Lanier, 520 U.S. 259, 271 (1997))); Id. at 745 (“The obvious cruelty inherent” in putting inmates in certain wantonly “degrading and dangerous” situations provides officers “with some notice that their Case 5:25-cv-00063-MCR-MJF Document 26 Filed 03/24/26 Page 17 of 18
Page 18 of 18 alleged conduct violate[s]” the Eighth Amendment). Accordingly, Price has not demonstrated that he is entitled to qualified immunity. CONCLUSION For the reasons set forth above, the undersigned respectfully RECOMMENDS that the District Court DENY Defendant’s motion to dismiss, Doc. 23. At Panama City, Florida, this 24th day of March 2026. /s/ Michael J. Frank Michael J. Frank United States Magistrate Judge NOTICE TO THE PARTIES The District Court referred this case to a magistrate judge to make recommendations regarding dispositive matters. See 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B), (C). Objections to these proposed findings and recommendations must be filed within fourteen days of the date of the report and recommendation. Any different deadline that may appear on the electronic docket is for the court’s internal use only. A party must serve a copy of any objections on all other parties. A party who fails to object to this report and recommendation waives the right to challenge on appeal the District Court’s order based on unobjected-to factual and legal conclusions. See 11th Cir. R. 3-1; 28 U.S.C. § 636. Case 5:25-cv-00063-MCR-MJF Document 26 Filed 03/24/26 Page 18 of 18
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