Ingram v. McMahill

District Court, D. Nevada·Decided June 28, 2024·No. 2:24-cv-00069·Unknown

Opinion

2 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 3 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 4 * * * 5 Aaron Quincy Ingram, Case No. 2:24-cv-00069-CDS-DJA 6 Plaintiff, 7 Order v. 8 Kevin McMahill, et al., 9 Defendants. 10 11 12 The Court previously recommended denying Plaintiff’s application to proceed in forma 13 pauperis and denying this case without prejudice because Plaintiff did not timely file a completed 14 financial certificate or pay the filing fee. (ECF No. 9). Plaintiff then moved the Court to 15 reconsider its recommendation, attaching a completed in forma pauperis application and the 16 accompanying financial certificate and inmate trust account statement. (ECF No. 11). Because 17 Plaintiff’s application is complete, the Court grants Plaintiff’s motion for reconsideration (ECF 18 No. 11), withdraws its recommendation (ECF No. 9), grants Plaintiff leave to proceed in forma 19 paupers, denies Plaintiff’s prior application to proceed in forma pauperis as moot (ECF No. 6), 20 and screens Plaintiff’s amended complaint. Because the Court finds that Plaintiff has alleged 21 certain cognizable claims, but that other are not cognizable, the Court dismisses certain of 22 Plaintiff’s claims without prejudice and with leave to amend and allows others to proceed. 23 I. Plaintiff’s motion to reconsider. 24 Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)(1), a court may relieve a party from an order 25 for mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect. District courts have discretion 26 regarding whether to grant a motion for reconsideration under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 27 60(b). Wood v. Ryan, 759 F.3d 1117, 1121 (9th Cir. 2014). Here, Plaintiff has demonstrated 1 financial certificate and inmate account statement because he was having difficulties working 2 with Clark County Detention Center officers to obtain the statement and signature. (ECF No. 11). 3 The Court thus grants Plaintiff’s motion for reconsideration (ECF No. 11) and withdraws its 4 report and recommendation (ECF No. 9). 5 II. In forma pauperis application. 6 Plaintiff filed the forms required to proceed in forma pauperis (without paying the filing 7 fee). (ECF No. 10). Plaintiff has shown an inability to prepay fees and costs or give security for 8 them. Accordingly, the application to proceed in forma pauperis will be granted under 28 U.S.C. 9 § 1915(a). The Court denies Plaintiff’s prior application as moot now that he has filed a renewed 10 one. (ECF No. 6). The Court will now screen Plaintiff’s complaint. 11 III. Legal standard for screening. 12 Upon granting an application to proceed in forma pauperis, courts additionally screen the 13 complaint under § 1915(e). Federal courts are given the authority to dismiss a case if the action is 14 legally “frivolous or malicious,” fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or seeks 15 monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2). 16 When a court dismisses a complaint under § 1915, the plaintiff should be given leave to amend 17 the complaint with directions as to curing its deficiencies, unless it is clear from the face of the 18 complaint that the deficiencies could not be cured by amendment. See Cato v. United States, 70 19 F.3d 1103, 1106 (9th Cir. 1995). 20 Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides for dismissal of a 21 complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Review under Rule 22 12(b)(6) is essentially a ruling on a question of law. See Chappel v. Lab. Corp. of Am., 232 F.3d 23 719, 723 (9th Cir. 2000). A properly pled complaint must provide a short and plain statement of 24 the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief. Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2); Bell Atlantic Corp. 25 v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007). Although Rule 8 does not require detailed factual 26 allegations, it demands “more than labels and conclusions” or a “formulaic recitation of the 27 elements of a cause of action.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (citing Papasan v. 1 contained in the complaint, but the same requirement does not apply to legal conclusions. Iqbal, 2 556 U.S. at 679. Mere recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported only by conclusory 3 allegations, do not suffice. Id. at 678. Where the claims in the complaint have not crossed the 4 line from conceivable to plausible, the complaint should be dismissed. Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570. 5 Allegations of a pro se complaint are held to less stringent standards than formal pleadings 6 drafted by lawyers. Hebbe v. Pliler, 627 F.3d 338, 342 & n.7 (9th Cir. 2010) (finding that liberal 7 construction of pro se pleadings is required after Twombly and Iqbal). 8 Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction and possess only that power authorized by 9 the Constitution and statute. See Rasul v. Bush, 542 U.S. 466, 489 (2004). Under 28 U.S.C. 10 § 1331, federal courts have original jurisdiction over “all civil actions arising under the 11 Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States.” Cases “arise under” federal law either when 12 federal law creates the cause of action or where the vindication of a right under state law 13 necessarily turns on the construction of federal law. Republican Party of Guam v. Gutierrez, 277 14 F.3d 1086, 1088-89 (9th Cir. 2002). Whether federal-question jurisdiction exists is based on the 15 “well-pleaded complaint rule,” which provides that “federal jurisdiction exists only when a 16 federal question is presented on the face of the plaintiff’s properly pleaded complaint.” 17 Caterpillar, Inc. v. Williams, 482 U.S. 386, 392 (1987). Under 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a), federal 18 district courts have original jurisdiction over civil actions in diversity cases “where the matter in 19 controversy exceeds the sum or value of $75,000” and where the matter is between “citizens of 20 different states.” Generally speaking, diversity jurisdiction exists only where there is “complete 21 diversity” among the parties; each of the plaintiffs must be a citizen of a different state than each 22 of the defendants. Caterpillar Inc. v. Lewis, 519 U.S. 61, 68 (1996). 23 IV. Screening Plaintiff’s complaint. 24 Before the Court screened his complaint, Plaintiff filed an amended complaint. (ECF No. 25 7). The Court will thus screen the amended complaint and not the initial complaint that Plaintiff 26 attached to his original in forma pauperis application. This is because, as a general rule, an 27 amended complaint supersedes the original. See Exeltis USA, Inc. v. First Databank, Inc., 779 1 Plaintiff sues Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (“LVMPD”) Chief Sheriff 2 Kevin McMahill; LVMPD Officer A. Cordero; LVMPD Officer Eduardo; Chief District Attorney 3 Steven B.

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Ingram v. McMahill, (D. Nev. 2024).

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