Phillips v. Gordich.

U.S. Appeals Court

RACIAL DISCRIMINATION

Phillips v. Gordich, 408 F.3d 124 (2nd Cir. 2005). An inmate brought a pro se civil rights action against several correctional officials. The district court dismissed the case and the inmate appealed. The appeals court vacated and remanded, finding that the inmate stated a claim for equal protection violations by alleging that he and other minorities were subjected to disparate treatment because of their race. The district court had dismissed the action because the inmate had failed to adequately separate and number his factual allegations, provide a caption or otherwise list the defendants to the action, and clearly state what causes of action he was asserting. The appeals court held that although the inmate's allegations were not "neatly parsed" and included a great deal of irrelevant detail, the complaint named the defendants and contained three clearly enumerated claims and a prayer for relief. The black inmate alleged that he was denied contact visits and that he was subjected to a pattern of harassment because of his race. The inmate's complaint "contained a litany of allegations purporting to demonstrate that black inmates were treated differently than whites vis-a-vis restriction of visitation." (Upstate Correctional Facility, New York)