Womble v. Chrisman

── Womble v. Chrisman ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Date: April 21, 2026 Category: General Appellate Case: 24-7061 Document: 39-1 Date Filed: 04/21/2026 Page: 1 FILED United States Court of Appeals PUBLISH Tenth Circuit UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS April 21, 2026 Christopher M. Wolpert FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT Clerk of Court _________________________________ JOSEPH Z. WOMBLE, Plaintiff - Appellant, v. No. 24-7061 JERRY CHRISMAN; TOMMY SHARP, Defendants - Appellees. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– JOSEPH Z. WOMBLE, Plaintiff - Appellant, v. No. 25-7028 JERRY CHRISMAN; TOMMY SHARP, Defendants - Appellees. ----------------------- PUBLIC JUSTICE, Amicus Curiae. _________________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma (D.C. No. 6:14-CV-00385-JAR) _________________________________  Appellate Case: 24-7061 Document: 39-1 Date Filed: 04/21/2026 Page: 2 Sean S. Cuff, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP, Denver, Colorado (Neil S. Sandhu, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP, Denver, Colorado, and Julian R. Ellis, Jr., First & Fourteenth PLLC, Colorado Springs, Colorado, with him on the briefs) appearing for Appellant. Erin M. Moore, Assistant Attorney General (Stefanie E. Lawson and Evan J. Edler, Assistant Attorneys General, on the brief), Office of the Attorney General for the State of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, appearing for Appellees. _________________________________ Before HARTZ, MATHESON, and McHUGH, Circuit Judges. _________________________________ MATHESON, Circuit Judge. _________________________________ Joseph Womble, currently an Oklahoma state prisoner, was incarcerated at the Mack Alford Correctional Center (MACC) in Stringtown, Oklahoma, from January 2012 to August 2016. He filed this 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action claiming Eighth Amendment conditions-of-confinement violations at MACC. He alleged that, following a sudden influx of inmates into MACC in May 2014, MACC Warden Jerry Chrisman and Deputy Warden Tommy Sharp (collectively, “Defendants”) knowingly subjected him to (1) inadequate nutrition and (2) unsanitary and unsafe toilet and shower facilities. The district court granted summary judgment to the Defendants on both claims and awarded them costs under 28 U.S.C. § 1920. Mr. Womble filed two appeals. In Appeal No. 24-7061, he challenges the summary judgment ruling, which we affirm on the nutrition claim and reverse on the facilities claim. In Appeal No. 25-7028, he challenges the cost award, which we vacate and remand. We exercise jurisdiction over both appeals under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. 2  Appellate Case: 24-7061 Document: 39-1 Date Filed: 04/21/2026 Page: 3 I. BACKGROUND A. Factual History 1 MACC and the A-South Unit MACC is a medium security correctional facility operated by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections (ODC). Mr. Chrisman was the MACC warden from September 24, 2012 to June 1, 2015. Mr. Sharp was the deputy warden from September 2012 to February 1, 2015. MACC consists of A, B, and C housing units. The A unit contains t