Bridgewater v. Scribner

Full title: KEITH BRIDGEWATER, aka ANSAR AL MUHUMMAND, Plaintiff, v. A.K. SCRIBNER, et…

Court: United States District Court, E.D. California

Date published: Feb 6, 2008

CV F 06 1049 LJO WMW P (E.D. Cal. Feb. 6, 2008)

Opinion

CV F 06 1049 LJO WMW P.

February 6, 2008

ORDER GRANTING LEAVE TO FILE AN AMENDED COMPLAINT

WILLIAM WUNDERLICH, Magistrate Judge

Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding pro se. Plaintiff seeks relief pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. This proceeding was referred to this court by Local Rule 72-302 pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1).

This action proceeds on the August 10, 2006, complaint. Plaintiff, an inmate in the custody of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation at CSP Sacramento, brings this civil rights action against defendant officials employed by the CDCR at CSP Corcoran.

Plaintiff claim in this complaint is that Defendants prevented him from the free exercise of his religious beliefs in violation of the First Amendment. Specifically, Plaintiff alleges that he was prevented from attending a holy festival to commemorate one of the five holy pillars of Islam. Plaintiff names the following Defendants: Warden A.K. Scribner; Lietuentant J. Hill; Correctional Officer Neiermier; C/O H. Pena; Medical Technical Assistant Sullivan.

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. . . ." U.S. Const., amend. I. Prisoners "retain protections afforded by the First Amendment," including the free exercise of religion. O'Lone v. Estate of Shabazz, 482 U.S. 342, 348, 107 S.Ct. 2400 (1987). However, "`[l]awful incarceration brings about the necessary withdrawal or limitation of many privileges and rights, a retraction justified by the considerations underlying our penal system.'" Id. (quoting Price v. Johnson, 334 U.S. 266, 285, 68 S.Ct. 1049, 1060 (1948)). "In order to establish a free exercise violation, [a prisoner] must show the defendants burdened the practice of his religion, by preventing him from engaging in conduct mandated by his faith, without any justification reasonably related to legitimate penological interests." Freeman v. Arpaio, 125 F.3d 732, 736 (9th Cir. 1997). "In order to reach the level of a constitutional violation, the interference with one's practice of religion `must be more than an inconvenience; the burden must be substantial and an interference with a tenet or belief that is central to religious doctrine.'" Freeman, 125 F.3d at 737 (quoting Graham v. C.I.R., 822 F.2d 844, 851 (9th Cir. 1987)).

The events that give rise to this lawsuit occurred on March 16, 2005. Plaintiff alleges that on that date, he was summoned to the facility medical clinic to have blood withdrawn. Upon arrival at the clinic, Plaintiff requested that his blood be drawn later, as the religious festival was scheduled to begin within 30 minutes of his arrival at the clinic. MTA Sullivan and Plaintiff `went back and forth" regarding his request, which was denied. MTA Sullivan made disparaging remarks about Plaintiff's religious beliefs, and "then proceeded to remove her assigned pepper spray and threatened to spray me in the face if my black ass don't shut up."

Sullivan "became extremely irate" and activate her personal alarm. Though additional staff responded, they were directed to resume their duties. Plaintiff was escorted to a holding cell. Ten minutes later, he was returned to have his blood drawn. Defendants Hill and Neiermier directed Plaintiff to return to his housing unit. Plaintiff alleges that all Muslim inmates attending the religious festival were released from their cells except him. Plaintiff asked C/O Pena if he could attend the festival. She called Lt. Hill, then informed Plaintiff that she was following Neiermier's instructions not to release Plaintiff.

As to Defendants Hill and Neiermier, Plaintiff has alleged facts, which if liberally construed, state a claim for relief.

As to Defendant Scribner, liability may be imposed on supervisory defendants (such as Scribner) under § 1983 only if (1) the supervisor personally participated in the deprivation of constitutional rights or (2) the supervisor knew of the violations and failed to act to prevent them. Hansen v. Black, 885 F.2d 642, 646 (9th Cir. 1989); Taylor v. List, 880 F.2d 1040, 1045 (9th Cir. 1989). Plaintiff does not allege any facts indicating that defendant Scribner participated in, or knew of and failed to prevent, the alleged wrongs.

As to Defendants Pena and Sullivan, the facts alleged suggest that they were either acting pursuant to an order (Pena) or for a legitimate penological reason — the facts alleged indicate that Sullivan denied Plaintiff's request on the ground that Plaintiff needed to have his blood drawn.

The court will grant Plaintiff leave to file an amended complaint. Should Plaintiff fail to do so, this action will proceed on the original complaint as to Defendants Hill and Neiermier. The Court will direct service of process on those Defendants. The Court will recommend dismissal of the remaining Defendants.

If plaintiff chooses to amend the complaint, plaintiff must demonstrate how the conditions complained of have resulted in a deprivation of plaintiff's constitutional rights. See Ellis v. Cassidy, 625 F.2d 227 (9th Cir. 1980). Also, the complaint must allege in specific terms how each named defendant is involved. There can be no liability under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 unless there is some affirmative link or connection between a defendant's actions and the claimed deprivation. Rizzo v. Goode, 423 U.S. 362 (1976); May v. Enomoto, 633 F.2d 164, 167 (9th Cir. 1980); Johnson v. Duffy, 588 F.2d 740, 743 (9th Cir. 1978).

In addition, plaintiff is informed that the court cannot refer to a prior pleading in order to make plaintiff's amended complaint complete. Local Rule 15-220 requires that an amended complaint be complete in itself without reference to any prior pleading. This is because, as a general rule, an amended complaint supersedes the original complaint. See Loux v. Rhay, 375 F.2d 55, 57 (9th Cir. 1967). Once plaintiff files an amended complaint, the original pleading no longer serves any function in the case. Therefore, in an amended complaint, as in an original complaint, each claim and the involvement of each defendant must be sufficiently alleged.

In accordance with the above, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiff is granted thirty days from the date of service of this order to file a first amended complaint that complies with the requirements of the Civil Rights Act, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and the Local Rules of Practice; the amended complaint must bear the docket number assigned this case and must be labeled "First Amended Complaint."

IT IS SO ORDERED. 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 ____________________________________________________