by peter e. bortner
A three-judge state Superior Court panel has upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by an inmate at State Correctional Institution/Frackville.
Dennis McKeithan's lawsuit is frivolous and does not deserve to be heard by a court, Judge Cheryl Lynn Allen wrote in a four-page opinion filed Tuesday in Pottsville.
"(McKeithan) failed to establish that his prison conditions constitute such 'patent and serious deprivations' to establish cruel and unusual punishment," Allen wrote.
By so ruling, the panel upheld county Judge Cyrus Palmer Dolbin's dismissal of the lawsuit on Oct. 4, 2012, only two days after McKeithan had filed it.
McKeithan, 59, of Philadelphia, had alleged that four prison officials had violated his rights by harassing him and isolating him from the general prison population.
Dolbin ruled that such claims relate to prison housing and are within the jurisdiction of prison authorities.
Allen wrote that McKeithan did not show he had raised his claims with prison authorities or an administrative agency. Therefore, he must show that the treatment constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, and no evidence exists to show that, Allen wrote.
"(Dolbin) did not err in dismissing (McKeithan's petition," according to Allen.
Judge Jack A. Panella and Senior Judge Robert E. Colville, the other panel members, joined in Allen's opinion.