Jones v. Boulden

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedSeptember 13, 2024
Docket4:24-cv-00191
StatusUnknown

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

Bluebook
Jones v. Boulden, (N.D. Cal. 2024).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 DYRELL WAYNE JONES, Case No. 24-cv-00191-JST

8 Plaintiff, ORDER OF PARTIAL SERVICE; 9 v. DISMISSING CERTAIN CLAIMS AND DEFENDANTS 10 BOULDEN, et al., Re: ECF No. 1 Defendants. 11

12 13 Plaintiff, an inmate currently housed at Salinas Valley State Prison, has filed a pro se 14 action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, regarding events that happened at Martinez Detention 15 Facility, where he was previously housed. Now before the Court for review under 28 U.S.C. § 16 1915A is Plaintiff’s complaint. ECF No. 1. Plaintiff has been granted leave to proceed in forma 17 pauperis in a separate order. 18 DISCUSSION 19 A. Standard of Review 20 A federal court must conduct a preliminary screening in any case in which a prisoner seeks 21 redress from a governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity. See 28 U.S.C. 22 § 1915A(a). In its review, the court must identify any cognizable claims and dismiss any claims 23 that are frivolous, malicious, fail to state a claim upon which relief may be granted or seek 24 monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1), 25 (2). Pro se pleadings must, however, be liberally construed. See United States v. Qazi, 975 F.3d 26 989, 993 (9th Cir. 2020). 27 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2) requires only “a short and plain statement of the 1 necessary; the statement need only ‘give the defendant fair notice of what the . . . claim is and the 2 grounds upon which it rests.’” Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 93 (2007) (quoting Bell Atlantic 3 Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007)). While Rule 8 does not require detailed factual 4 allegations, it demands more than an unadorned, the-defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me accusation. 5 Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 677–78 (2009). A pleading that offers only labels and 6 conclusions, or a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action, or naked assertions 7 devoid of further factual enhancement does not suffice. Id. 8 To state a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a plaintiff must allege two essential elements: (1) that a 9 right secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States was violated, and (2) that the alleged 10 violation was committed by a person acting under the color of state law. See West v. Atkins, 487 11 U.S. 42, 48 (1988). 12 B. Complaint 13 The complaint names as defendants the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Department, 14 deputies Cooper, Boulden, Krosten, Layrana, Rice and Cowan, Chaplain Lance, Sergeant Lee, 15 Contra Costa County Sheriff David Livingston, Cook Jose, Cook Alma, and Martinez Detention 16 Facility Medical. ECF No. 1 at 1-2. 17 The complaint makes the following allegations. 18 On October 16, 2023, Plaintiff was transferred out of the custody of the California 19 Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations (“CDCR”) into the custody of the Contra Costa 20 County Sheriff’s Department so that he could attend resentencing proceedings. He was transferred 21 from Salinas Valley State Prison (“SVSP”) to Martinez Detention Facility (“MDF”). 22 Plaintiff is Muslim. As part of his religion, Plaintiff wears a kufi (Islamic headwear for 23 men), eats a religious diet, and carries dikir prayer beads which he uses during his mandatory daily 24 prayers. However, upon his arrival at MDF, Defendant Boulden started to harass Plaintiff about 25 his kufi and forced Plaintiff to remove the kufi multiple times; Defendant Lance refused to place 26 Plaintiff on a religious diet and forced him to eat foods that violated his religious beliefs; and 27 Defendant Boulden took away Plaintiff’s dikir prayer beads. Plaintiff filed an administrative 1 chaplain could approve his beads. Plaintiff asked Defendant Chaplain Lance if he could approve 2 Plaintiff’s prayer beads or give him his prayer beads out of his property, and Defendant Lance 3 refused. When asked for the basis for the refusal, Defendant Lance stated that all Muslims are 4 crazy and that Plaintiff would use his beads as a weapon. Plaintiff responded that Muslims are 5 peaceful and don’t believe in violence. Defendant Lance responded that all Muslims do is rape 6 and kill women, and that she saw this on Fox News and would die before giving Plaintiff his 7 prayer beads. On December 18, 2023, Plaintiff was not released from his cell for his scheduled 8 out-of-cell time. When he informed Defendant Krosten that he had not been let out of his cell as 9 scheduled, Defendant Krosten said that he would check the computer but then asked Plaintiff 10 about his headgear and whether Plaintiff was Muslim. Plaintiff responded that he was Muslim. 11 Plaintiff was ultimately not allowed out of his cell, and he suspects that it was because of his 12 religious beliefs. Plaintiff has also been denied the ability to keep himself clean and groomed, as 13 required by his religion. Defendant Cowan denied Plaintiff’s request for head shavers to keep 14 himself groomed in accordance with his religion. When Plaintiff explained the religious need to 15 keep himself groomed in case he met his maker, Defendant Cowan laughed and stated that he 16 guessed that Plaintiff wouldn’t be getting any virgins. On December 14, 2023, Defendant Cooper 17 entered Plaintiff’s cell while he was not there and confiscated Plaintiff’s kufi and did not inform 18 Plaintiff or report the confiscation. Two weeks later, Defendant Cooper made a snide remark 19 about the kufi looking like a condom. On December 20, 2023, deputy Yusfi refused to accept any 20 of Plaintiff’s grievances, stating “Ain’t you that fucking raghead Muslim, that tried to kill a cop.” 21 Plaintiff responded, “My name is Jones.” Deputy Yusfi stated, “Yeah, that’s you. You ain’t got 22 shit coming from me!” 23 During the intake process, Plaintiff was seen by nursing staff in an open area where 24 multiple inmates and staff were present. His medical issues, such as his hepatitis status, kidney 25 failure, diabetes, and high blood pressure, were openly discussed without regard to his HIPAA 26 rights and his right to privacy. Plaintiff requested a religious diet, and both Nurse Patrick and Dr. 27 Standish told Plaintiff that he would be placed on a medical diet due to his high blood pressure 1 As of December 20, 2023, Plaintiff was still receiving the medical diet prescribed by Dr. 2 Standish. On November 14, 2023, Defendants Cooks Jose and Alma refused to send him the 3 proper food for his medical diet. That same day, Defendant Jose sent Plaintiff a lunch with peanut 4 butter, to which Plaintiff is allergic. When Plaintiff told Defendant Rice to provide him a 5 replacement meal, Defendant Jose sent up sunflower butter, but the package clearly stated that the 6 sunflower butter could contain peanut butter because it was packaged in a facility that also 7 prepared peanut butter. When Plaintiff asked Defendant Rice for the names of the cooks, 8 Defendant Rice refused to provide the names, stating that these cooks also prepared Defendant 9 Rice’s meals. Plaintiff did not receive any lunch that day.

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Bluebook (online)
Jones v. Boulden, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jones-v-boulden-cand-2024.