Not Cruel and Unusual Enough: Refusal to Serve Coffee to Inmates Not a Constitutional Violation

Mujwid v. Kitchen Captain, 2007 WL 1886225(E.D.Tex. Jun 29, 2007) (NO. 1:07-CV-252)
Judge: Thad Heartfield/Keith Giblin
I typically don't post on inmate cases, but thought that there might be some interest in law firms as to whether deprival of coffee constitutes a constitutional violation.
Plaintiff alleged that the second shift Kitchen Captain at the Stiles Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division, discriminates against the inmates in administrative segregation by failing to serve them coffee daily. Plaintiff also contended that the food is not made properly and the drinks served at lunch and dinner are watered down.  Plaintiff contends that the trays are cold because the warmer does not work properly, and that there are prison policies governing these aspects of the food service, but that the second shift Kitchen Captain is not following those policies.
Judge Giblin reviewed the inmate's civil rights action and recommended that it should be dismissed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e) as frivolous and for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted.