Opinion
No. C 14-3899 LHK (PR)
12-04-2014
JASON A. SANDEFUR, Plaintiff, v. SHERIFF ROSS MIRKARIMI, et al., Defendants.
ORDER OF DISMISSAL WITH LEAVE TO AMEND
Plaintiff, a California state prisoner proceeding pro se, filed a civil rights complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff is granted leave to proceed in forma pauperis in a separate order. For the reasons stated below, the court dismisses the complaint with leave to amend.
DISCUSSION
A. Standard of Review
A federal court must conduct a preliminary screening in any case in which a prisoner seeks redress from a governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). In its review, the court must identify any cognizable claims and dismiss any claims that are frivolous, malicious, fail to state a claim upon which relief may be granted or seek monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. See id. § 1915A(b)(1), (2). Pro se pleadings must, however, be liberally construed. See Balistreri v. Pacifica Police Dep't, 901 F.2d 696, 699 (9th Cir. 1988).
To state a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a plaintiff must allege two essential elements: (1) that a right secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States was violated, and (2) that the alleged deprivation was committed by a person acting under the color of state law. West v. Atkins, 487 U.S. 42, 48(1988). B. Plaintiff's Claims
Plaintiff alleges that he has been stabbed a total of six times in his left lung. Plaintiff has had chest tube placements because his lung collapsed. Plaintiff's spleen has also been lacerated, and he has severe hypergranulation and pleurisy, which is chronic pleuritic chest pain. Plaintiff also has bulging slipped disks in his lower back. For years, the Jail Health Services at San Francisco County Jail provided proper pain medication until about three or four years ago, when the jail implemented a new pain management limit. When plaintiff was arrested in October 2010, plaintiff's medication dosage was cut from 60 milligrams per day to 30 milligrams per day. Plaintiff was moved to San Bruno where the nurses often assume that inmates are "cheeking" or hiding their medications. In May 2013, plaintiff claims that Nurse Mary Jane thought plaintiff threw away a small piece of Norco. Then, in September 2013, a deputy accused plaintiff of holding onto his medication. As a result, Jail Medical Services discontinued plaintiff's medication. Plaintiff alleges that his pain has not been adequately controlled, and he is in constant pain.
Norco is a medication made up of both a narcotic and non-narcotic pain reliever. See WebMD, http://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-63/norco-oral/details (last visited December 4, 2014).
It appears that plaintiff is attempting to raise a claim of deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs. Deliberate indifference to serious medical needs violates the Eighth Amendment's proscription against cruel and unusual punishment. See Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 104 (1976); McGuckin v. Smith, 974 F.2d 1050, 1059 (9th Cir. 1992), overruled on other grounds, WMX Technologies, Inc. v. Miller, 104 F.3d 1133, 1136 (9th Cir. 1997) (en banc). A "serious" medical need exists if the failure to treat a prisoner's condition could result in further significant injury or the "unnecessary and wanton infliction of pain." McGuckin, 974 F.2d at 1059 (citing Estelle, 429 U.S. at 104). A prison official is deliberately indifferent if he knows that a prisoner faces a substantial risk of serious harm and disregards that risk by failing to take reasonable steps to abate it. Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 837 (1994). The prison official must not only "be aware of facts from which the inference could be drawn that a substantial risk of serious harm exists," but he "must also draw the inference." Id. If a prison official should have been aware of the risk, but was not, then the official has not violated the Eighth Amendment, no matter how severe the risk. Gibson v. County of Washoe, 290 F.3d 1175, 1188 (9th Cir. 2002).
Here, the complaint does not state a claim for an Eighth Amendment violation against defendants. The complaint has several deficiencies that require an amended complaint to be filed. First, liability may be imposed on an individual defendant under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 if the plaintiff can show that a defendant's actions both actually and proximately caused the deprivation of a federally protected right. Lemire v. Cal. Dept. of Corrections & Rehabilitation, 726 F.3d 1062, 1085 (9th Cir. 2013); Leer v. Murphy, 844 F.2d 628, 634 (9th Cir. 1988). Either personal involvement or integral participation of the officers in the alleged constitutional violation is required before liability may be imposed; liability may not be imposed based solely on an officer's presence during the incident. See Hopkins v. Bonvicino, 573 F.3d 752, 769-70 (9th Cir. 2009) (holding that although "integral participant" rule may not be limited to officers who provide armed backup, officer who waits in front yard and does not participate in search of residence not an integral participant).
Here, plaintiff does not link individual defendants to any action or inaction that would demonstrate that a defendant is liable for any wrongdoing. Although plaintiff alleges that Jail Health Services or the Jail Medical Services discontinued plaintiff's medication, plaintiff must name individual state actors and demonstrate how each individual was deliberately indifferent to plaintiff's medical needs. Even at the pleading stage, "[a] plaintiff must allege facts, not simply conclusions, that show that an individual was personally involved in the deprivation of his civil rights." Barren v. Harrington, 152 F.3d 1193, 1194 (9th Cir. 1998). Plaintiff will be given an opportunity to amend his complaint to allege specifics.
Second, to the extent plaintiff is raising a claim of supervisory liability, again, plaintiff has not alleged sufficient facts to support such a claim. "In a § 1983 . . . action - where masters do not answer for the torts of their servants - the term 'supervisory liability' is a misnomer. Absent vicarious liability, each Government official, his or her title notwithstanding, is only liable for his or her own misconduct." Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 677 (2009). A supervisor may be liable under section 1983 upon a showing of (1) personal involvement in the constitutional deprivation or (2) a sufficient causal connection between the supervisor's wrongful conduct and the constitutional violation. Henry A. v. Willden, 678 F.3d 991, 1003-04 (9th Cir. 2012) (citing Starr v. Baca, 652 F.3d 1202, 1207 (9th Cir. 2011)). If plaintiff believes he can allege facts sufficient to establish supervisory liability, he may amend his complaint to do so.
Third, to raise a claim of municipal liability, a plaintiff must show: (1) that the plaintiff possessed a constitutional right of which he or she was deprived; (2) that the municipality had a policy; (3) that this policy amounts to deliberate indifference to the plaintiff's constitutional rights; and (4) that the policy is the moving force behind the constitutional violation. See Plumeau v. School Dist. #40 County of Yamhill, 130 F.3d 432, 438 (9th Cir. 1997). Plaintiff has not alleged any of these elements. If plaintiff believes he can allege facts sufficient to establish municipal liability, he may amend his complaint to do so.
Plaintiff should be mindful that his "obligation to provide the grounds of his entitle[ment] to relief requires more than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do. . . . Factual allegations must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level." Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 553-56 (2007) (citations omitted). Plaintiff's amended complaint must proffer "enough facts to state a claim for relief that is plausible on its face." Id. at 591-93.
Accordingly, the complaint is DISMISSED WITH LEAVE TO AMEND. Plaintiff will be provided with thirty days in which to amend to correct the deficiencies in his complaint if he can do so in good faith.
CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, the court hereby orders as follows:
1. Plaintiff's complaint is DISMISSED with leave to amend.
2. If plaintiff can cure the pleading deficiencies described above, he shall file an AMENDED COMPLAINT within thirty days from the date this order is filed. The amended complaint must include the caption and civil case number used in this order (C 14-3899 LHK (PR)) and the words AMENDED COMPLAINT on the first page. Plaintiff may not incorporate material from the prior complaint by reference. Failure to file an amended complaint within thirty days and in accordance with this order will result in a finding that further leave to amend would be futile and this action will be dismissed.
3. Plaintiff is advised that an amended complaint supersedes the original complaint. "[A] plaintiff waives all causes of action alleged in the original complaint which are not alleged in the amended complaint." London v. Coopers & Lybrand, 644 F.2d 811, 814 (9th Cir. 1981). Defendants not named in an amended complaint are no longer defendants. See Ferdik v. Bonzelet, 963 F.2d 1258, 1262 (9th Cir. 1992).
4. It is the plaintiff's responsibility to prosecute this case. Plaintiff must keep the court informed of any change of address by filing a separate paper with the clerk headed "Notice of Change of Address," and must comply with the court's orders in a timely fashion. Failure to do so may result in the dismissal of this action for failure to prosecute pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b).
IT IS SO ORDERED. DATED: 12/4/14
/s/_________
LUCY H. KOH
United States District Judge