Maez v. Maez

District Court, E.D. California·Decided September 8, 2022·No. 1:22-cv-00901·Unknown

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 10 11 LILLIAN MARIE MAEZ, Case No. 1:22-cv-00901-BAM 12 Plaintiff, ORDER DIRECTING CLERK OF COURT TO RANDOMLY ASSIGN DISTRICT JUDGE 13 v. FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 14 TOMMY J. MAEZ, II, et al., REGARDING DISMISSAL OF ACTION 15 Defendants. (Doc. 7) 16 17 Plaintiff Lillian Marie Maez (“Plaintiff”), proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis, 18 initiated this civil action against Tommy J. Maez, II, Judge Ryan I. Wells, and Deseree M. 19 Coronado on July 20, 2022. (Doc. 1.) On July 29, 2022, the Court screened Plaintiff’s complaint 20 and granted her leave to amend. (Doc. 4.) Plaintiff’s first amended complaint, filed on 21 September 6, 2022, is currently before the Court for screening. (Doc. 7.) 22 I. Screening Requirement and Standard 23 The Court screens complaints brought by persons proceeding in pro se and in forma 24 pauperis. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2). Plaintiff’s complaint, or any portion thereof, is subject to 25 dismissal if it is frivolous or malicious, if it fails to state a claim upon which relief may be 26 granted, or if it seeks monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. 28 27 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii). 28 A complaint must contain “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the 1 pleader is entitled to relief . . . .” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). Detailed factual allegations are not 2 required, but “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere 3 conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (citing Bell 4 Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007)). While a plaintiff’s allegations are taken as 5 true, courts “are not required to indulge unwarranted inferences.” Doe I v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 6 572 F.3d 677, 681 (9th Cir. 2009) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). 7 To survive screening, Plaintiff’s claims must be facially plausible, which requires 8 sufficient factual detail to allow the Court to reasonably infer that each named defendant is liable 9 for the misconduct alleged. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678 (quotation marks omitted); Moss v. U.S. Secret 10 Serv., 572 F.3d 962, 969 (9th Cir. 2009). The sheer possibility that a defendant acted unlawfully 11 is not sufficient, and mere consistency with liability falls short of satisfying the plausibility 12 standard. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678 (quotation marks omitted); Moss, 572 F.3d at 969. 13 II. Summary of Plaintiff’s Allegations 14 The bulk of Plaintiff’s first amended complaint (“FAC”) is a copy of the Court’s 15 screening order issued on July 29, 2022. (See FAC, Doc. 7 at pp. 8-19.) Plaintiff continues to 16 name the following defendants: (1) Tommy J. Maez, II; (2) Deseree Coronado, SWP; and (3) 17 Judge Ryan I. Wells. The FAC is limited to the following allegations: 18 1. TOMMY J MAEZ II: 19 -STATEMENT: DEFEMATION BY BOTH LIBEL/SLANDER C/B REPEATED ACTS OF INTENTIONAL TORT WELL BEYOND MEASURE. 20 PURGERY, FRAUD, CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR & POSSESSIVENESS, RECKLESS DISREGARD, INFLICTION OF EMOTIONAL DISTRESS. 21 -CAUSE OF ACTION: PERSONAL INJURY, DAMAGE TO REPUTATION, 22 MONETARY LOSS, EMOTIONAL TRAUMA, MAJOR DEPRESSION W/ANXIETY, CAUSED ME TO BE SHUNNED, HUMILIATED,HATED, 23 RIDICULED, ABANDONED/AVOIDED BY HIM/MY PERSONAL FRIENDS/MUTUAL FRIENDS/MY FAMILY/HIS FAMILY,FRESNO 24 PD/FRESNO CNTY DEPT OF SOC. SERVICES/MY BOSS/COWORKERS. 2. DESEREE M CORONADO SWP: 25 -STATEMENT: INTENTIONAL TORT BY: PROFESSIONAL NEGLIGENCE, UNLAWFUL CONDUCT & INTENTIONAL INFLICTION

27 -CAUSE OF ACTION: DAMAGE TO REPUTATION, PERSONAL INJURY, MONETARY LOSS, MAJOR DEPRESSION W/ANXIETY, EMOTIONAL 28 TRAUMA, CAUSED ME TO BE SHUNNED/AVOIDED BY OTHERS. 1 3. HONORABLE JUDGE RYAN I WELLS: -STATEMENT: INTENTIONAL TORT BY: PROFESSIONAL 2 NEGLIGENCE, UNLAWFUL CONDUCT & INTENTIONAL INFLICTION BY THE VIOLATION OF MY CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS, ALSO 3 CARELESS DISREGARD, ALLOWED OTHERS TO VERBALLY ABUSE/INSULT ME IN COURT& PREVENTED ME FROM SPEAKING IN -CAUSE OF ACTION: MAJOR DEPRESSION W/ANXIETY, 5 TEMPORARILY FALSELY RESTRAINED& MONETARY LOSS, & ABANDONMENT. 6 RELIEF SOUGHT: 7 ***FULL SOLE AND PHYSICAL CUSTODY OF MY TWO CHILDREN TRISTAN AND RILEY MAEZ.*** 8 9 (FAC at p. 20) (unedited text). 10 IV. Discussion 11 A. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8 12 Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8, a complaint must contain “a short and 13 plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a). 14 Detailed factual allegations are not required, but “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause 15 of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678 16 (citation omitted). Plaintiff must set forth “sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a 17 claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678 (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. 18 at 570, 127 S.Ct. at 1974). While factual allegations are accepted as true, legal conclusions are 19 not. Id.; see also Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556–557. 20 Plaintiff’s amended complaint is short, but it is not a plain statement of her claims. At a 21 basic level, the amended complaint lacks any factual allegations stating what happened, when it 22 happened and who was involved. Instead, Plaintiff makes only conclusory statements, which are 23 not sufficient to state a cognizable claim upon which relief may be granted. 24 B. Child Custody and Visitation Claims 25 The crux of Plaintiff’s complaint appears to involve child custody issues. The Court lacks 26 jurisdiction over child custody claims because they are exclusively matters of state law. See 27 Ankenbrandt v. Richards, 504 U.S. 689, 702-704 (1992) (holding that the domestic relations 28 exception to federal subject matter jurisdiction “divests the federal courts of power to issue 1 divorce, alimony and child custody decrees.”); see also Peterson v. Babbitt, 708 F.2d 465, 466 2 (9th Cir.1983) (stating that “federal courts have uniformly held that they should not adjudicate 3 cases involving domestic relations, including ‘the custody of minors and a fortiori, right of 4 visitation.’ For that matter, the whole subject of domestic relations and particularly child custody 5 problems is generally considered a state law matter”). “Even when a federal question is 6 presented, federal courts decline to hear disputes which would deeply involve them in 7 adjudicating domestic matters.” Thompson v. Thompson, 798 F.2d 1547, 1558 (9th Cir.1986). 8 Further, to the extent Plaintiff is challenging the orders of the state court regarding 9 custody, she may not do so. This Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction to review the final 10 determinations of state court dependency proceedings. See, e.g., Worldwide Church of God v. 11 McNair, 805 F.2d 888, 890 (9th Cir.1986) (“The United States District Court ... has no authority 12 to review the final determinations of a state court in judicial proceedings.”).

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