Opinion
Civil No. 12cv1773 JLS (WVG)
08-20-2012
RUBEN MIJEL CHAVIRA, CDCR #F-33253, Plaintiff, v. D.W. BELL, Defendant.
ORDER DISMISSING CIVIL
ACTION AS FRIVOLOUS
PURSUANT TO 28 U.S.C.
§ 1915A(b)(1) AND DENYING
MOTION TO PROCEED
IN FORMA PAUPERIS
AS MOOT
(ECF No. 6)
Ruben Mijel Chavira ("Plaintiff"), currently incarcerated at Kern Valley State Prison located in Delano, California, and proceeding pro se, initially submitted a civil rights Complaint pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1983 in the Northern District of California. (Compl., ECF No. 1) U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilkin determined that venue was proper in the Southern District of California and transferred the matter on July 17, 2012. (See Transfer Order, ECF No. 3) Plaintiff has not prepaid the $350 filing fee mandated by 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a); instead, he has filed a Motion to Proceed In Forma Pauperis ("IFP") pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). (IFP Mot., ECF No. 6)
I. Sua Sponte Screening Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)
As amended by The Prison Litigation Reform Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1915A obligates the Court to review complaints filed by anyone "incarcerated or detained in any facility who is accused of, sentenced for, or adjudicated delinquent for, violations of criminal law or the terms or conditions of parole, probation, pretrial release, or diversionary program," "as soon as practicable after docketing" and regardless of whether the prisoner prepays filing fees or moves to proceed IFP. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a), (c). The Court must sua sponte dismiss prisoner complaints, or any portions thereof, which are frivolous, malicious, or fail to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b); Rhodes v. Robinson, 621 F.3d 1002, 1004 (9th Cir. 2010).
Plaintiff's Complaint is subject to sua sponte dismissal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1) because it is duplicative of a Complaint he has already filed in another civil action. Indeed, Plaintiff's Complaint contains identical allegations against the same defendants already brought before U.S. District Judge Dana M. Sabraw in Chavira v. Bell, S.D. Cal. Civil Case No. 11cv2858 DMS (RBB). A court "'may take notice of proceedings in other courts, both within and without the federal judicial system, if those proceedings have a direct relation to matters at issue.'" Bias v. Moynihan, 508 F.3d 1212, 1225 (9th Cir. 2007) (quoting Bennett v. Medtronic, Inc., 285 F.3d 801, 803 n.2 (9th Cir. 2002)).
A prisoner's complaint is considered frivolous under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1) if it "merely repeats pending or previously litigated claims." Cato v. United States, 70 F.3d 1103, 1105 n.2 (9th Cir. 1995) (construing former 28 U.S.C. § 1915(d)) (internal quotations omitted) (citations omitted). Thus, because Plaintiff has already filed the same Complaint he has filed in this action in Chavira v. Bell, S.D. Cal. Civil Case No. 11cv2858 DMS (RBB), the Court hereby DISMISSES S.D. Cal. Civil Case No. 12cv1773 JLS (WVG) pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1). See Cato, 70 F.3d at 1105 n.2; Rhodes, 621 F.3d at 1004.
II. Conclusion and Order
Good cause appearing, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:
Plaintiff's Complaint in Civil Case No. 12cv1773 JLS (WVG) is DISMISSED as frivolous pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1) and Plaintiff's Motion to Proceed IFP (ECF No. 6) is DENIED as moot. The Clerk shall close the file.
______________
Honorable Janis L. Sammartino
United States District Judge