Gomez v. Ciuffini

Opinion

5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 MICHELLE GOMEZ, Case No. 1:23-cv-01696-KES-EPG 12 Plaintiff, ORDER ADOPTING FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 13 v. Docs. 1, 6 14 KATHY CIUFFINI,

15 Defendants.

17 18 Plaintiff Michelle Gomez, proceeding pro se, initiated this action by filing a complaint on 19 December 8, 2023. Doc. 1. On January 9, 2024, the assigned magistrate judge entered findings 20 and recommendations, recommending that plaintiff’s complaint be dismissed sua sponte without 21 leave to amend as plaintiff’s claims are barred by the doctrine of judicial immunity and the 22 Eleventh Amendment. Doc. 6. 23 The findings and recommendations were served on plaintiff and contained notice that 24 objections were to be filed within twenty-one days of service. Id. at 5. Plaintiff has not filed any 25 objections, and the time to do so has expired. 26 In accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1), the court has conducted a de novo review of 27 this case. Having carefully reviewed the file, the court concludes the findings and 28 1 || recommendations are supported by the record and proper analysis. Additionally, to the extent the 2 | complaint seeks relief from the judgment of the state court against her, such a “de facto appeal” 3 | ofa state court’s decision is prohibited by the Rooker-Feldman doctrine. See, e.g., Hooper v. 4 | Brnovich, 56 F.4th 619, 624 (9th Cir. 2022) (“Under the Rooker-Feldman doctrine, a state-court 5 | decision is not reviewable by lower federal courts. This doctrine bars a federal district court from 6 | exercising subject matter jurisdiction not only over an action explicitly styled as a direct appeal, 7 | but also over the ‘de facto equivalent’ of such an appeal.” (cleaned up)). 8 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED: 9 1. The findings and recommendations issued January 9, 2024, Doc. 6, are adopted in 10 full; 11 2. Plaintiff's complaint is dismissed without leave to amend; and 12 3. The Clerk of the Court is directed to close this case. 13 14 is | IS SO ORDERED. _ 16 Dated: _ October 10, 2024 4A UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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