Mason v. Granholm

Full title: NATHEAULEEN MASON, et al., Plaintiff, v. JENNIFER GRANHOLM, et al.…

Court: United States District Court, E.D. Michigan, Southern Division

Date published: Aug 12, 2008

Case No. 05-73943 (E.D. Mich. Aug. 12, 2008)

Opinion

Case No. 05-73943.

August 12, 2008

ORDER GRANTING MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

JOHN O'MEARA, District Judge

Before the court is a motion for summary judgment submitted by Defendants filed on June 30, 2008.¹ Defendants ask that this court grant them summary judgment on the claims alleged against them under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Punishment (CAT), and the Fifth Amendment.

1 Defendants include Jennifer Granholm, Michigan Department of Corrections, Patricia Caruso, Nancy Zang, Clarice Stovall, Susan Davis, Joan Yukins, Thomas Desantis, Jerry Howell, Crosby Talley, Kirk Tollzein, William Merrow, and Rodney Madden.

In their first, third, and fourth causes of action, Plaintiffs claim that they are entitled to damages under the ICCPR and CAT. Both the ICCPR and the CAT are international treaties that are cognizable in this court only if they are self-executing or if Congress has passed appropriate enabling legislation. See Jocham v. Tuscola County, 239 F.Supp.2d 714, 730 (E.D. Mich. 2004). The ICCPR is neither self-executing nor is it enabled by legislation from Congress. See Bannerman v. Snyder, 325 F.3d 722, 724 (6^th Cir. 2003); Buell v. Mitchell, 274 F.3d 337, 372 (6^th Cir. 2001). Therefore, the ICCPR is not binding on this court, nor is CAT.² Finally, Plaintiffs concur with Defendant's request to delete references to the Fifth Amendment, but agrees with Plaintiffs that summary judgment or an amended complaint are not necessary to achieve this end

2 Other circuits aside from the Sixth Circuit have also affirmed this position. De La Rosa v. United States, 32 F.3d 8, 10 n. 1 (1^st Cir. 1994); Guaylupo-Moya v. Gonzales, 423 F.3d 121, 133 (2^nd Cir. 2005); Beazley v. Johnson, 242 F.3d 248 (5^th Cir. 2001); United States ex rel Perez v. Warden FMC Rochester, 286 F.3d 1059 (8^th Cir. 2002); United States v. Duarte-Acero, 296 F.3d 1277, 1283 (11^th Cir. 2002).

For these reasons, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Defendants' motion for summary judgment is GRANTED as it pertains to Plaintiff's claims under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and the Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Punishment (CAT), and reference to the Fifth Amendment relief are deleted.