Hernandez v. Newsom

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. California
DecidedNovember 16, 2022
Docket3:22-cv-01143
StatusUnknown

This text of Hernandez v. Newsom (Hernandez v. Newsom) 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
Hernandez v. Newsom, (S.D. Cal. 2022).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 JULIAN CARLOS HERNANDEZ, Case No.: 22-CV-1143-RSH-JLB CDCR #BG-2900, 12 ORDER GRANTING MOTIONS TO Plaintiff, 13 PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS vs. AND DISMISSING FIRST 14 AMENDED COMPLAINT FOR KATHLEEN ALLISON, et al., 15 FAILING TO STATE A CLAIM Defendants. 16 [ECF Nos. 6, 8] 17 18 On August 1, 2022, Plaintiff Julian Carlos Hernandez, a state prisoner proceeding 19 pro se, filed a civil rights Complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, accompanied by a 20 Motion to Proceed In Forma Pauperis (“IFP”) and a Motion to Appoint Counsel. ECF Nos. 21 1–2, 4. In his initial Complaint, Plaintiff claimed he was denied due process during a 22 disciplinary hearing; prohibited from visiting the prison law library in violation of his right 23 of access to the courts; subjected to cruel and unusual punishment through deliberate 24 indifference to pain in his arm and shoulder; and retaliated against. ECF No. 1 at 3–6. 25 On August 29, 2022, the Court denied Plaintiff’s motion to proceed IFP and motion 26 for appointment of counsel without prejudice, and dismissed the Complaint with leave to 27 amend. ECF No. 5. Plaintiff has now filed a First Amended Complaint (“FAC”) along with 28 two motions to proceed IFP. ECF Nos. 6–8. For the reasons discussed below, the Court 1 grants Plaintiff’s motions to proceed IFP but dismisses the FAC. 2 I. Motions to Proceed IFP 3 All parties instituting any civil action, suit or proceeding in a district court of the 4 United States, except an application for writ of habeas corpus, must pay a filing fee of 5 $402.1 See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a). The action may proceed despite a failure to prepay the 6 entire fee only if leave to proceed IFP is granted pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). See 7 Andrews v. Cervantes, 493 F.3d 1047, 1051 (9th Cir. 2007). Section 1915(a)(2) also 8 requires prisoners seeking leave to proceed IFP to submit a “certified copy of the trust fund 9 account statement (or institutional equivalent) for . . . the 6-month period immediately 10 preceding the filing of the complaint.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2); see Andrews v. King, 398 11 F.3d 1113, 1119 (9th Cir. 2005). From the certified trust account statement, the Court 12 assesses an initial payment of 20 percent of (a) the average monthly deposits in the account 13 for the past six months, or (b) the average monthly balance in the account for the past six 14 months, whichever is greater, unless the prisoner has no assets. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1) 15 & (4). The institution collects subsequent payments, assessed at 20 percent of the preceding 16 month’s income, in any month in which the account exceeds $10, and forwards those 17 payments to the Court until the entire filing fee is paid. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2). Plaintiff 18 remains obligated to pay the entire fee in monthly installments regardless of whether their 19 action is ultimately dismissed. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1)–(2); Bruce v. Samuels, 577 U.S. 20 82, 84 (2016); Taylor v. Delatoore, 281 F.3d 844, 847 (9th Cir. 2002). 21 In support of his two IFP Motions, Plaintiff has submitted two copies of his 22 California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (“CDCR”) Inmate Statement 23 Report—one dated August 18, 2022 and one dated September 26, 2022. ECF No. 6-1 at 3; 24 ECF No. 8 at 4. Use of either statement would achieve the same result, but the statement 25

26 27 1 In addition to a $350 fee, civil litigants, other than those granted leave to proceed IFP, must pay an additional administrative fee of $52. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) (Judicial 28 1 closest in time to the filing of the original Complaint indicates Plaintiff had an average 2 monthly balance of $378.26 and average monthly deposits of $35.00, and both certificates 3 show an available balance of $0.00 in his account. ECF No. 6-1 at 3; see ECF No. 8 at 7. 4 The Court GRANTS Plaintiff’s Motions to Proceed IFP (ECF Nos. 6, 8), and 5 declines to impose an initial partial filing fee pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1) because 6 both prison certificates indicate he may have no means to pay it. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(4) 7 (providing that “[i]n no event shall a prisoner be prohibited from bringing a civil action or 8 appealing a civil action or criminal judgment for the reason that the prisoner has no assets 9 and no means by which to pay the initial partial filing fee”); Taylor, 281 F.3d at 850 10 (finding that 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(4) acts as a “safety-valve” preventing dismissal of a 11 prisoner’s IFP case based solely on a “failure to pay . . . due to the lack of funds available 12 to him when payment is ordered”). 13 II. Screening Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(e)(2) & 1915A(b) 14 A. Legal Standard 15 Because Plaintiff is a prisoner and is proceeding IFP, his Complaint requires a pre- 16 Answer screening pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(e)(2) & 1915A(b). See 28 U.S.C. 17 § 1915(h) (defining “prisoner” as “any person incarcerated or detained in any facility who 18 is accused of, convicted of, sentenced for, or adjudicated delinquent for, violations of 19 criminal law or the terms and conditions of parole, probation, pretrial release, or 20 diversionary program”). Under these statutes, the Court must sua sponte dismiss a 21 prisoner’s IFP complaint, or any portion of it, which is frivolous, malicious, fails to state a 22 claim, or seeks damages from defendants who are immune. See Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 23 1122, 1126–27 (9th Cir. 2000) (discussing 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)); Rhodes v. Robinson, 24 621 F.3d 1002, 1004 (9th Cir. 2010) (discussing 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)). 25 “The standard for determining whether a plaintiff has failed to state a claim upon 26 which relief can be granted under § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii) is the same as the Federal Rule of 27 Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) standard for failure to state a claim.” Watison v. Carter, 668 F.3d 28 1108, 1112 (9th Cir. 2012); see Wilhelm v. Rotman,

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Hernandez v. Newsom, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hernandez-v-newsom-casd-2022.