THE CNMI Office of the Attorney General has asked the federal court to dismiss with prejudice the lawsuit of Mohammad Rafiqul Islam for lack of jurisdiction because he failed to exhaust his administrative remedies.
Islam, a federal inmate and a Muslim, claimed that the Department of Corrections on Saipan served him pork even after he told them that it was against the practice of his religion.
In a handwritten complaint filed in federal court, he sued the Department of Corrections, its officials, and the U.S. Marshals Service on Saipan in their official and non-official capacities, for inadequate medical care and violation of his constitutional right to practice his religious beliefs.
Islam in his complaint named as defendants Don Hall and Alfred Celis of the U.S. Marshals Service on Saipan, and CNMI Department of Corrections officials Georgia Cabrera and Maria Aldan.
Islam is seeking an award for an unspecified amount of punitive damages against the defendants.
On Nov. 20, 2020, Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona dismissed Islam’s complaint in part but allowed him to amend it.
In her motion to dismiss the complaint, Assistant Attorney General Leslie Healer stated that only one claim remains in the complaint: the claim for deliberate indifference to the plaintiff’s diabetes.
“Even presuming that each of his well-pled allegations [is] true,” Healer said the plaintiff “fails to plead any cause of action against defendant Maria Aldan for which relief can be granted under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.”
Aldan is protected by qualified immunity because she did not affirmatively violate Islam’s rights, Healer said.
The “defendant is a government official sued in her individual capacity. She was an officer assigned to the medical unit. Aldan’s duties were to maintain [Department of Corrections] medical records, organize and deliver medication to the pods, request appointments from medical providers, and assist in transporting inmates to and from the medical appointments.”
Medical treatises make it clear that treatment for diabetes requires medical discretion, Leslie said.
It was a doctor from the hospital, and not Aldan, who was taking care of Islam’s diabetes, Leslie added.
“Here, plaintiff’s diabetic concerns were addressed and given appropriate treatment by addressing each concern as it was brought to the doctor’s attention,” she said. “Plaintiff’s diabetic condition was being addressed in a timely manner, tested regularly, and receiving appropriate medical care. His medication was being adjusted accordingly over time. By June 2020, Islam’s blood sugar had evened out and his A1C was lower than his previous readings, but his diabetes was still being monitored and treated.”
The plaintiff alleges that he had “shut down” and was taken to the hospital.
He also alleges that prior to the “shutdown,” he was not getting any medical assistance.
However, Healer said, the plaintiff was taken to the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp.’s emergency department on March 8, 2020.
“Plaintiff’s medical reports clearly show that he was receiving medical care and responses from the medical unit prior to that date. For example, plaintiff had been taken to CHCC for lab tests just three days earlier.
“That defendant Aldan allegedly agreed that plaintiff should not eat too much sugar as a diabetic is not a constitutional violation; someone with no formal medical training might well understand sugar as generally bad for diabetics,” Healer added.
In 2018, Islam was sentenced by the federal court to serve 18 months in prison for his involvement in an illegal labor scheme.
Islam, David Phan and Muksedur Rahman were found guilty of two counts of mail fraud, three counts of fraud in foreign labor contracting and one count of fraud and misuse of visas and permits in October 2017.
Islam began serving his sentence at the Department of Corrections on Saipan in January 2020.
