Miguel Enrique Ascencios v. Ian M. Healy, Warden

Summary

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio dismisses Miguel Enrique Ascencios’s pro se complaint challenging the denial of his access to TRULINCS email. The court concludes that the asserted Fifth Amendment equal protection claim arises in a new Bivens context and declines to extend Bivens because of the Prison Litigation Reform Act, available administrative remedies, and separation-of-powers concerns. The complaint is dismissed under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B), and the court certifies that an appeal could not be taken in good faith.

Holdings

1. The plaintiff's equal-protection challenge to denial of TRULINCS email access presents a context not previously recognized under Bivens.
2. The court declined to extend Bivens to an equal-protection claim concerning denial of access to email through the TRULINCS system.
3. The complaint failed to state a plausible claim for relief and was dismissed under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B).

Questions Presented

1. Whether the plaintiff stated a plausible equal-protection claim based on the denial of access to TRULINCS email.
2. Whether the court should extend Bivens to recognize an implied damages remedy for a federal prisoner's equal-protection challenge to denial of TRULINCS email access.
3. Whether the complaint should be dismissed during in forma pauperis screening under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2).

Disposition

dismissed