Hamilton v. Moseley

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. California
DecidedJanuary 6, 2022
Docket3:21-cv-02032
StatusUnknown

This text of Hamilton v. Moseley (Hamilton v. Moseley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hamilton v. Moseley, (S.D. Cal. 2022).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 DANNY L. HAMILTON, Case No.: 21cv2032-CAB (AHG) CDCR #T-61263, 12

Plaintiff, 13 ORDER DISMISSING COMPLAINT vs. WITH LEAVE TO AMEND 14 PURSUANT TO 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)

15 KATHLEEN ALLISON, Secretary of the 16 California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, et al., 17 Defendants. 18 19 20 Plaintiff Danny L. Hamilton, a state prisoner incarcerated at the Richard J. Donovan 21 Correctional Facility (“RJD”) in San Diego, California, is proceeding pro se in this civil 22 rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. (ECF No. 1.) He claims his federal constitutional 23 rights to be housed under humane conditions of confinement, to be free from cruel and 24 unusual punishment, to substantive and procedural due process, to freedom of personal 25 liberty and to be free from false imprisonment have been violated because he should have 26 been released from custody rather than subjected to the risk of exposure to the Covid virus 27 at RJD, with which he became infected when he was housed in a cell with an inmate who 28 tested positive for the virus at the same time Plaintiff tested negative. (Id. at 3-5.) 1 I. Screening pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(e)(2) 2 A. Standard of Review 3 Because Plaintiff is a prisoner his Complaint requires a pre-Answer screening 4 pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2). Under that statute, the Court must sua sponte dismiss 5 a prisoner’s complaint, or any portion of it, which is frivolous, malicious, fails to state a 6 claim, or seeks damages from defendants who are immune. Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 7 1126-27 (9th Cir. 2000) (en banc). 8 “The standard for determining whether a plaintiff has failed to state a claim upon 9 which relief can be granted under § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii) is the same as the Federal Rule of 10 Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) standard for failure to state a claim.” Watison v. Carter, 668 F.3d 11 1108, 1112 (9th Cir. 2012). Rule 12(b)(6) requires a complaint to “contain sufficient 12 factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’” 13 Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009), quoting Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 14 U.S. 544, 570 (2007). Detailed factual allegations are not required, but “[t]hreadbare 15 recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do 16 not suffice.” Id. 17 Title 42 U.S.C. § 1983 “creates a private right of action against individuals who, 18 acting under color of state law, violate federal constitutional or statutory rights.” 19 Devereaux v. Abbey, 263 F.3d 1070, 1074 (9th Cir. 2001). Section 1983 “is not itself a 20 source of substantive rights, but merely provides a method for vindicating federal rights 21 elsewhere conferred.” Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 393-94 (1989) (internal quotation 22 marks omitted). “To establish § 1983 liability, a plaintiff must show both (1) deprivation 23 of a right secured by the Constitution and laws of the United States, and (2) that the 24 deprivation was committed by a person acting under color of state law.” Tsao v. Desert 25 Palace, Inc., 698 F.3d 1128, 1138 (9th Cir. 2012). 26 B. Allegations in the Complaint 27 Plaintiff alleges that Defendant Kathleen Allison, the Secretary of the California 28 Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (“CDCR”), should have released him from 1 custody pursuant to California Government Code § 8658 when she became aware of the 2 spreading of the Covid virus at RJD, and that she is responsible for his contracting the virus 3 because she failed to take steps to prevent avoidable infections of inmates. (ECF No. 1 at 4 3.) Plaintiff tested negative for the Covid virus on December 8, 2020, at the same time an 5 inmate named Cotton tested positive, yet Plaintiff was forced to move from RJD Facility 6 A into quarantine in cell 133 in building 3 with inmate Cotton. (Id.) Plaintiff began 7 exhibiting symptoms of Covid and tested positive on December 12, 2020. (Id.) He alleges 8 Defendant RJD Warden Pollard is responsible for the procedures, policies and operations 9 at RJD which allowed Plaintiff and Cotton to be housed together and Plaintiff to become 10 infected. (Id.) He alleges that because Defendant RJD Dr. Amir Mohamed’s name appears 11 on both his and Cotton’s test results, Dr. Mohamed was aware that a positive and a negative 12 inmate were housed together in violation of RJD social distancing policies. (Id.) 13 Plaintiff filed a CDCR 602 inmate appeal on December 16, 2020, assigned Log No. 14 69650, which he marked “emergency appeal,” and in which he stated that he contracted 15 the Covid virus as a result of RJD’s failure to protect him, that he had been housed at RJD 16 for years without contracting the virus, that he has preexisting medical conditions which 17 heighten the risks associated with the Covid virus including high blood pressure and high 18 cholesterol, and requested to be released from custody and paid $300,000. (Id. at 14-15.) 19 He claims that on January 9, 2021, Defendant RJD Chief Deputy Warden Buckel 20 responded to that appeal at the second level and “arbitrarily and wrongfully”: (1) failed to 21 treat it as an emergency appeal, (2) omitted the fact that it stated that RJD’s neglectful 22 practices caused Plaintiff to contract Covid, and (3) misrepresented that Plaintiff stated he 23 would contract Covid if he stayed at RJD rather than that he had already contracted Covid. 24

25 1 “In any case in which an emergency endangering the lives of inmates of a state, county, 26 or city penal or correctional institution has occurred or is imminent, the person in charge 27 of the institution may remove the inmates from the institution. He shall, if possible, remove them to a safe and convenient place and there confine them as long as may be necessary to 28 1 (Id. at 4, 19.) On February 26, 2021, Plaintiff filed a third level appeal which was “not 2 acknowledged by Sacramento.” (Id. at 4.) 3 On March 14, 2021, Plaintiff filed a second CDCR 602 inmate appeal challenging 4 Defendant Buckel’s “unacceptable response” to his original inmate appeal. (Id. at 4, 24- 5 25.) Plaintiff alleges Defendant Howard Mosely, the Associate Director of the CDCR 6 Office of Appeals, arbitrarily and wrongfully treated that second CDCR 602 inmate appeal 7 as an appeal of his original CDCR 602 inmate appeal Log No. 69650 and denied it as 8 untimely. (Id. at 4.) Plaintiff filed a third CDCR 602 inmate appeal on September 1, 2021, 9 stating that an Inmate Request for Interview he submitted on August 16, 2021, had gone 10 unanswered, and recounting the errors in handling his previous CDCR 602 inmate appeals. 11 (Id. at 4, 27.) 12 The Complaint purports to state claims for violations of Plaintiff’s federal 13 constitutional rights to be housed under humane conditions of confinement and to be free 14 from cruel and unusual punishment, to substantive and procedural due process, and to 15 freedom of personal liberty and freedom from false imprisonment. (Id. at 3-5.) He states 16 that he is seeking to hold Defendant CDCR Secretary Allison responsible for the actions 17 of her subordinates at RJD, is seeking to hold Defendant RJD Dr.

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Bluebook (online)
Hamilton v. Moseley, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hamilton-v-moseley-casd-2022.