United States District Court, D. Connecticut
ORDER ON PENDING MOTIONS
Kari
A. Dooley United States District Judge
Preliminary
Statement
Plaintiff,
Jean Karlo Conquistador (“Conquistador”),
currently confined at Bridgeport Correctional Center in
Bridgeport, Connecticut, filed this complaint pro se
under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Conquistador asserts claims for
deliberate indifference to safety and failure to protect him
from harm as well as retaliation against one defendant,
Lieutenant Adamaitis.
Pending
are Conquistador's second motion for reconsideration, and
motions for court intervention, for permission to serve
interrogatories, for oral argument, to strike deposition, for
extension of discovery, for appointment of counsel, for video
conference, and to compel. For the following reasons,
Conquistador's motions are denied.
Motion
for Intervention
Conquistador
states that his counselor has told him that double-sided
documents cannot be electronically filed and that he is being
charged photocopy fees when he submits a document for
electronic filing. Conquistador also complained that he has
observed correctional officers using cell phones. He asks the
court to intervene and prohibit these practices.
In
response, the defendants explain that the photocopy machines
cannot scan and electronically file double-sided documents.
The charges were for copies of the back sides of the pages to
enable correctional staff to scan and electronically file the
plaintiff's document with all pages in order.
Conquistador was advised that there was no charge for
electronic filing and that he could avoid the copy charges if
he submitted single-sided documents for filing. In addition,
Warden Martin, the warden at the correctional facility where
Conquistador is incarcerated, has intervened and ordered that
Conquistador's documents, even if double-sided, be
electronically filed without charging him for the extra
copies. Thus, this issue has been resolved and court
intervention is not needed.
As to
the use of cell phones by correctional staff, Conquistador
has no right to enforce correctional employment policies. To
the extent he believes the use of cell phones by a
correctional officer has an impact on him, Conquistador, per
Warden Martin, may raise such issues through the appropriate
chain of command. Federal courts are extremely reluctant to
interject themselves into the day-to-day administration of
state correctional facilities. Preiser v. Rodriguez,
411 U.S. 475, 491-92 (1973) (explaining the reluctance of
federal courts to interfere in state judicial proceedings
applies equally to state administrative concerns, such as
running correctional facilities). This court sees no reason
to further address this issue. Conquistador's motion for
court intervention is denied.
Second
Motion for Reconsideration
Conquistador
has filed a second motion for reconsideration of the order
denying his motion for appointment of counsel. On July 19,
2019, the court denied Conquistador's motion for
appointment of counsel without prejudice to refiling if he
could demonstrate that he is unable to obtain assistance from
Inmates' Legal Aid Program and if the facts developed
through litigation demonstrate that his claims have likely
merit. Doc. No. 21. Although Conquistador titles this motion
a second motion for reconsideration, he did not seek
reconsideration of the denial of his motion for appointment
of counsel. In any event, motions for reconsideration must be
filed and served within seven days from the filing of the
decision or order from which reconsideration is sought. D.
Conn. L. Civ. R. 7(c)1. Conquistador filed this motion on
November 20, 2019, four months after the order denying his
motion for appointment of counsel. Conquistador's motion
is denied as untimely.
Motion
for Permission to Serve Interrogatories
Conquistador
seeks permission to serve up to 100 interrogatories on
defendant Adamaitis. The court previously denied
Conquistador's motion to serve additional discovery
requests on the defendant, noting that Conquistador had not
attached proposed discovery requests or indicated what
additional information he seeks. The court denied the motion
without prejudice to refiling with the necessary information
or attachments. Conquistador does not attach proposed
interrogatories to his motion or describe what additional
information he requires. As he has not complied with the
court's directions, the motion for permission to serve
additional interrogatories is denied.
Motion
for Oral Argument
Conquistador
seeks oral argument on his motion for appointment of counsel.
As the court denied that motion in July 2019 and has denied
his motion for reconsideration, oral argument ...