Swan

MEMORANDUM ***

In his complaint, plaintiff-appellant Byron Swan asserted three claims. The district court granted summary judgment against Swan on all his claims and he now appeals. We review the grant of summary judgment de novo 1 and affirm.

First, Swan claimed that defendants subjected him to physical force that rose to a constitutional violation under the Eighth Amendment. The use of force against a prisoner violates the Eighth Amendment only where the quantum of force used is more than de minimis in nature. 2 Only where the alleged deprivation is objectively both sufficiently serious and the official has a sufficiently culpable state of mind will an Eighth Amendment violation occur. 3 Here, Swan only claimed soreness resulting from the alleged use of force requiring no medical treatment. As the use of force and injury to Swan was de minimis, no Eighth Amendment violation occurred.

Second, Swan claimed that defendants conducted retaliatory searches of his cell. In the prison context, a cognizable retaliation claim requires a prisoner to allege that the retaliatory action didn’t serve a legitimate penological purpose. 4 Although Swan claims that searching his cell was…