Opinion
No. 1:06-cv-01484 ALA P.
February 26, 2008
ORDER
Plaintiff Ronald Adams is proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis in this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. On December 3, 2007, plaintiff filed a second amended complaint. Review of that complaint finds that defendants are employees of a governmental entity.
I
Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a), when the litigant is a prisoner, the court must screen complaints brought against a governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity. The court must dismiss the complaint if the claims contained in it, even when read broadly, are legally frivolous, malicious, fail to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or seek money damages from a defendant who is immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(A)(b). A claim "is frivolous [if] it lacks an arguable basis either in law or in fact." Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 325 (1989). "At this stage of the litigation, [this court] must accept [plaintiff's] allegations as true." Hishon v. King Spalding, 467 U.S. 69, 73 (1984). "A court may dismiss a complaint only if it is clear that no relief could be granted under any set of facts that could be proved consistent with the allegations." Id.
"To sustain an action under section 1983, a plaintiff must show (1) that the conduct complained of was committed by a person acting under color of state law; and (2) that the conduct deprived the plaintiff of a federal constitutional or statutory right." Hydrick v. Hunter, 466 F.3d 676, 689 (9th Cr. 2006).
Plaintiff has stated a colorable claim for relief based on retaliation and cruel and unusual punishment with respect to plaintiff's claims that defendant Glenn forced plaintiff to stand outside, in the nude, in freezing weather and that defendant Phillips forced plaintiff to sleep on a wet moldy mattress. However, plaintiff's claim concerning his prison transfer does not state a colorable claim for relief.
II
Plaintiff has alleged that defendants T. Barrier, E.T. Borrero, D.L. Johnson, P.L. Vasquez and J. Short retaliated against plaintiff for making informal complaints to prison officials by transferring plaintiff to another prison. Second Amended Complaint at 20.
Inmates do not have a constitutional right to be housed at a particular facility or institution or to be transferred, or not transferred, from one facility or institution to another. Olim v. Wakinekona, 461 U.S. 238, 244-48 (1983). However, allegations of retaliation against a prisoner's First Amendment rights to speech may support a § 1983 claim. Rhodes v. Robinson, 408 F.3d 559, 567 (9th Cir. 2005). "Within the prison context, a viable claim of First Amendment retaliation entails five basic elements: (1) An assertion that a state actor took some adverse action against an inmate (2) because of (3) that prisoner's protected conduct, and that such action (4) chilled the inmate's exercise of his First Amendment rights, and (5) the action did not reasonably advance a legitimate correctional goal." Id. at 567-68; see also Soranno's Gasco, Inc. v. Morgan, 874 F.2d 1310, 1314 (9th Cir. 1989) (explaining that a plaintiff must plead facts which suggest "that the protected conduct was a 'substantial' or 'motivating' factor in the defendant's decision") (citation omitted).
Plaintiff's complaint is at times difficult to comprehend. Plaintiff does discuss in great detail the sequence of events that lead to his transfer. However, plaintiff does not offer any evidence connecting his prison transfer with his informal complaints. The closest plaintiff comes to supporting the allegation that he was transferred as a result of these informal complaints is the conclusion that, "defendant J. Short and defendant Borrero must have conspired." Second Amended Complaint at 18. That statement is too conclusory to support the allegation that plaintiff was transferred to a different prison in retaliation for complaining about prison guards.
III
Therefore, plaintiff may proceed against defendants Phillips and Glenn. To proceed against anyone else plaintiff must file a third amended complaint. Any amended complaint must show that the federal court has jurisdiction and that plaintiff's action is brought in the right place, that plaintiff is entitled to relief if plaintiff's allegations are true, and must contain a request for particular relief. Plaintiff must identify as a defendant only persons who personally participated in a substantial way in depriving plaintiff of a federal constitutional right. Johnson v. Duffy, 588 F.2d 740, 743 (9th Cir. 1978) (a person subjects another to the deprivation of a constitutional right if he does an act, participates in another's act or omits to perform an act he is legally required to do that causes the alleged deprivation). If plaintiff contends he was the victim of a conspiracy, he must identify the participants and allege their agreement to deprive him of a specific federal constitutional right.
In an amended complaint, the allegations must be set forth in numbered paragraphs. FED. R. CIV. P. 10(B). Plaintiff may join multiple claims if they are all against a single defendant. FED. R. CIV. P. 18(a). If plaintiff has more than one claim based upon separate transactions or occurrences, the claims must be set forth in separate paragraphs. FED. R. CIV. P. 10(b).
The federal rules contemplate brevity. See Galbraith v. County of Santa Clara, 307 F.3d 1119, 1125 (9th Cir. 2002) (noting that "nearly all of the circuits have now disapproved any heightened pleading standard in cases other than those governed by Rule 9(b)."); FED. R. CIV. P. 84; cf. Rule 9(b) (setting forth rare exceptions to simplified pleading).
Plaintiff's claims must be set forth in short and plain terms, simply, concisely and directly. See Swierkiewicz v. Sorema N.A., 534 U.S. 506, 514 (2002) ("Rule 8(a) is the starting point of a simplified pleading system, which was adopted to focus litigation on the merits of a claim."); FED. R. CIV. P. 8.
Plaintiff must eliminate from plaintiff's pleading all preambles, introductions, argument, speeches, explanations, stories, griping, vouching, evidence, attempts to negate possible defenses, summaries, and the like. McHenry v. Renne, 84 F.3d 1172, 1180 (9th Cir. 1996) (affirming dismissal of § 1983 complaint for violation of Rule 8 after warning); see Crawford-El v. Britton, 523 U.S. 574, 597 (1998) (reiterating that "firm application of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure is fully warranted" in prisoner cases).
A district court must construe pro se pleading "liberally" to determine if it states a claim and, prior to dismissal, tell a plaintiff of deficiencies in his complaint and give a plaintiff an opportunity to cure them. See Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 1130-31 (9th Cir. 2000). However, the "[f]actual allegations must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level on the assumption that all the allegations in the compliant are true (even if doubtful in fact)." Bell Atlantic Corporation v. Twombly, ___ U.S. ___, 127 S.Ct. 1995, 1965 (2007) (citations omitted).
The court (and any defendant) should be able to read and understand Plaintiff's pleading within minutes. McHenry, 84 F.3d at 1177. A long, rambling pleading, including many defendants with unexplained, tenuous or implausible connection to the alleged constitutional injury or joining a series of unrelated claims against many defendants very likely will result in delaying the review required by 28 U.S.C. § 1915 and an order dismissing plaintiff's action pursuant to FED. R. CIV. P. 41 for violation of these instructions.
An amended complaint must be complete in itself without reference to any prior pleading. Local Rule 15-220; see Loux v. Rhay, 375 F.2d 55, 57 (9th Cir. 1967). Once plaintiff files an amended complaint, the original pleading is superseded.
Plaintiff is admonished that by signing an amended complaint he certifies he has made reasonable inquiry and has evidentiary support for his allegations and that for violation of this rule the court may impose sanctions sufficient to deter repetition by plaintiff or others. FED. R. CIV. P. 11. Prison rules require Plaintiff to obey all laws, including this one, and Plaintiff may be punished by prison authorities for violation of the court's rules and orders. See 15 CAL. ADMIN. CODE § 3005.
A prisoner may bring no § 1983 action until he has exhausted such administrative remedies as are available to him. 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a). The requirement is mandatory. Booth v. Churner, 532 U.S. 731, 741 (2001). Plaintiff is further admonished that by signing an amended complaint he certifies his claims are warranted by existing law, including the law that he exhaust administrative remedies, and that for violation of this rule plaintiff risks dismissal of his action.
IV
Therefore, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:
1. Plaintiff's claims against defendants Kirby, P.L. Vasquez, James E. Tilton, Harris, D. Smith, T. Mosley, L.S. McEwen, C.L. Flood, T. Barrier, M. Tews, Ms. Hayes, Mrs. Firsich, Mr. Cannon. E.T. Borrero, S. Cheny, Assistant Warden and D.L. Johnson are dismissed for the reasons discussed above, with leave to file a third amended complaint within thirty-five (35) days from the date of this order. Failure to file a third amended complaint will result in defendants Kirby, P.L. Vasquez, James E. Tilton, Harris, D. Smith, T. Mosley, L.S. McEwen, C.L. Flood, T. Barrier, M. Tews, Ms. Hayes, Mrs. Firsich, Mr. Cannon. E.T. Borrero, S. Cheny, Assistant Warden and D.L. Johnson being dismissed from this action. Plaintiff would then proceed against defendants Phillips and Glenn; and
2. Upon filing a third amended complaint or expiration of the time allowed therefore, the court will make further orders for service of process upon some or all of the defendants. 42 U.S.C. § 1983 I. Previous Lawsuits (list all other previous or pending lawsuits on back of this form) II. Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies ALL NOTICE: 42 U.S.C. § 1983 42 U.S.C. § 1997ebefore Booth v. Churner 532 U.S. 731 741 McKinney v. Carey 311 F.3d 1198 1999 Even if you are seeking only money damages and the inmate appeal or administrative remedy process does not provide money, you must exhaust the process before filing suit. Booth 532 U.S. at 734 III. Defendants IV. Statement of Claim facts V. Relief.
Plaintiff's Name _____________________ Inmate No. __________________________ Address _____________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ (Name of Plaintiff) (Case Number) vs. AMENDED COMPLAINT _________________________________ Civil Rights Act, _________________________________ _________________________________ _________________________________ _________________________________ _________________________________ _________________________________ (Names of all Defendants) : A. Have you brought any other lawsuits while a prisoner? Yes ___ No ___ B. If your answer to A is yes, how many? ___________ Describe previous or pending lawsuits in the space below. (If more than one, use back of paper to continue outlining all lawsuits.) 1. Parties to this previous lawsuit: Plaintiff __________________________________________________________________ Defendants _________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________ 2. Court (if Federal Court, give name of District; if State Court, give name of County) ____________________________________________________________________________ 3. Docket Number __________________ 4. Assigned Judge ______________________ 5. Disposition (For example: Was the case dismissed? Was it appealed? Is it still pending?) _________________________________________________________________________ 6. Filing date (approx.) ______________ 7. Disposition date (approx.) ______________ A. Is there an inmate appeal or administrative remedy process available at your institution? Yes ___ No ___ B. Have you filed an appeal or grievance concerning of the facts contained in this complaint? Yes ___ No ___ If your answer is no, explain why not _______________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ C. Is the process completed? Yes ___ If your answer is yes, briefly explain what happened at each level. ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ No ___ If your answer is no, explain why not. ___________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Pursuant to the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995, "[n]o action shall be brought with respect to prison conditions under [], or any other Federal law, by a prisoner confined in any jail, prison, or other correctional facility until such administrative remedies as are available are exhausted." (a). If there is an inmate appeal or administrative remedy process available at your institution, you may not file an action under Section 1983, or any other federal law, until you have first completed (exhausted) the process available at your institution. You are required to complete (exhaust) the inmate appeal or administrative remedy process filing suit, regardless of the relief offered by the process. , , (2001); , , (9th Cir. 2002). , . (In Item A below, place the full name of the defendant in the first blank, his/her official position in the second blank, and his/her place of employment in the third blank. Use item B for the names, positions and places of employment of any additional defendants.) A. Defendant ______________________________________ is employed as ___________________ _________________________ at ______________________________________________________________ B. Additional defendants ____________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ (State here as briefly as possible the of your case. Describe how each defendant is involved, including dates and places. Do not give any legal arguments or cite any cases or statutes. Attach extra sheets if necessary.) __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________ (State briefly exactly what you want the court to do for you. Make no legal arguments. Cite no cases or statutes.) __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. Date______________________ Signature of Plaintiff _____________________________