James v. Washington State Patrol

District Court, W.D. Washington·Decided August 5, 2025·No. 2:25-cv-01029·Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON HENRY JAMES, CASE NO. 2:25-cv-01029-TL Plaintiff, ORDER DISMISSING COMPLAINT v. WITHOUT PREJUDICE WASHINGTON STATE PATROL et al., Defendants.

This case arises out of Plaintiff Henry James’s allegations of civil rights violations against various institutional and individual defendants. The underlying subject matter appears to concern a series of encounters Plaintiff has had with local law enforcement, the state courts, and other ancillary arms of the criminal justice system. This matter is before the Court on its own motion. Having reviewed Plaintiff’s complaint (Dkt. No. 5), the Court finds that Plaintiff has failed to state a claim upon which relief may be granted and therefore DISMISSES Plaintiff’s complaint, with leave to file an amended complaint. On May 30, 2025, Plaintiff, proceeding pro se, filed an application to proceed in forma pauperis (“IFP”) in this action. Dkt. No. 1. Plaintiff’s application for IFP was granted, but the Honorable Brian A. Tsuchida, United States Magistrate Judge, recommended review under 28

U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B) before issuance of a summons. Dkt. No. 4. The Court’s authority to grant IFP status derives from 28 U.S.C. § 1915. Per the statute, the Court must dismiss a case if the IFP plaintiff fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii); see also Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 1129 (9th Cir. 2000) (“[S]ection 1915(e) applies to all in forma pauperis complaints, not just those filed by prisoners”). “The legal standard for dismissing a complaint for failure to state a claim under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii) is the same as when ruling on dismissal under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6).” Day v. Florida, No. C14-378, 2014 WL 1412302, at *4 (W.D. Wash. Apr. 10, 2014) (citing Lopez, 203 F.3d at 1129).

Rule 12(b)(6) requires courts to assume the truth of factual allegations and credit all reasonable inferences arising from those allegations. Sanders v. Brown, 504 F.3d 903, 910 (9th Cir. 2007). However, a plaintiff still must provide sufficient factual details in the complaint to “state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007). To state a plausible claim for relief in federal court, a plaintiff must “plead[] factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 672 (2009). Thus, “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements,” are insufficient. Id. Where a plaintiff proceeds pro se, courts must construe the complaint liberally. Johnson

v. Lucent Techs. Inc., 653 F.3d 1000, 1011 (9th Cir. 2011) (citing Hebbe v. Pliler, 627 F.3d 338, 342 (9th Cir. 2010)). However, a court “should not supply essential elements of the [pro se] claim that were not initially pled.” Bruns v. Nat’l Credit Union Admin., 122 F.3d 1251, 1257 (9th Cir. 1997); see, e.g., Henderson v. Anderson, No. C19-789, 2019 WL 3996859, at *1 (W.D. Wash. Aug. 23, 2019) (internal citation and quotation omitted); see also Khalid v. Microsoft

Corp., 409 F. Supp. 3d 1023, 1031 (W.D. Wash. 2019) (“‘[C]ourts should not have to serve as advocates for pro se litigants.’”) (quoting Noll v. Carlson, 809 F.2d 1446, 1448 (9th Cir. 1987)). Here, Plaintiff’s complaint comprises 23 claims alleged against 13 Defendants. See Dkt. No. 5 at 16–31. Although the complaint includes diverse allegations of misconduct, Plaintiff has identified the basis for the Court’s jurisdiction as 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (“Section 1983”) and pleaded the case as a civil-rights complaint. Id. at 4–5 (affirming complaint is “a § 1983 claim” and alleging violations of the First, Fourth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments). Under Section 1983, a plaintiff can sue state or local officials for “the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and [federal] laws.” 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

A. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 18 and 20 Before addressing the individual claims in Plaintiff’s complaint, the Court must first address the question of whether they all belong together in the same lawsuit. A basic lawsuit is a single claim against a single defendant. FRCP 18(a) allows a plaintiff to add multiple claims to the lawsuit when they are against the same defendant. FRCP 20(a)(2) allows a plaintiff to join multiple defendants to a lawsuit where the right to relief arises out of the same “transaction, occurrence, or series of transactions or occurrences” and “any question of law or fact common to all defendants will arise in the action.” However, unrelated claims that involve different defendants must be brought in separate lawsuits.

Downing v. Nevada, No. C22-2175, 2023 WL 3724243, at *2 (D. Nev. May 30, 2023). Simply put, “[u]nrelated claims against different defendants belong in different suits . . . .” George v. Smith, 507 F.3d 605, 607 (7th Cir. 2007). Here, Plaintiff attempts to combine multiple unrelated claims into one lawsuit. Plaintiff’s

claims against Defendant Gavin appear to derive from a 2015 traffic stop in which Plaintiff was subjected to a field sobriety test. See Dkt. No. 5 at 16–18. Plaintiff’s claim against Defendant City of Seattle/City Council/Court Administrator appears to derive from interaction(s) between Plaintiff and the state court in or around 2024 and 2025. See id. at 18–19. Plaintiff’s claims against Defendant Intoxalock–Mindr Consumer Safety Technology (“Intoxalock”) appear to derive from Plaintiff’s ongoing relationship with the private company that administered the ignition interlock system on his vehicle during an unspecified time period. See id. at 20–22. One of Plaintiff’s claims against Defendant Washington State Patrol/Police appears to derive from the aforementioned traffic stop involving Defendant Gavin, while the others appear to derive from Plaintiff’s relationship with Intoxalock. See id. at 22–23. Plaintiff’s claims against Defendant

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