Malone v. Zarate

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedOctober 2, 2023
Docket4:23-cv-02652
StatusUnknown

This text of Malone v. Zarate (Malone v. Zarate) 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
Malone v. Zarate, (N.D. Cal. 2023).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 DESHAWN P. MALONE, 7 Case No. 23-cv-02652-DMR (PR) Plaintiff, 8 ORDER OF PARTIAL DISMISSAL v. WITH LEAVE TO AMEND; AND 9 SERVING COGNIZABLE CLAIM A. ZARATE, et al., 10 Defendants. 11

12 I. INTRODUCTION 13 Plaintiff, who is currently incarcerated at Salinas Valley State Prison (“SVSP”), filed this 14 pro se civil rights complaint under 42 U.S.C. ' 1983. Plaintiff’s application to proceed in forma 15 pauperis will be granted in a separate order. 16 Plaintiff has named the following Defendants from SVSP both individually and in their 17 official capacity: Correctional Officers A. Zarate, Camacho, J. Larraux, and D. Vaca. Id. at 2.1 18 Plaintiff seeks declaratory relief as well as monetary and punitive damages. Id. at 3, 6. 19 Venue is proper because the events giving rise to Plaintiff’s claims in his complaint are 20 alleged to have occurred at SVSP, which is located in this judicial district. See 28 U.S.C. 21 § 1391(b). 22 The court now reviews Plaintiff’s complaint pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915. 23 II. STANDARD OF REVIEW 24 Federal courts must engage in a preliminary screening of cases in which prisoners seek 25 redress from a governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity. 28 U.S.C. 26 § 1915A(a). The court must identify cognizable claims or dismiss the complaint, or any portion of 27 1 the complaint, if the complaint “is frivolous, malicious, or fails to state a claim upon which relief 2 may be granted,” or “seeks monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief.” Id. 3 § 1915A(b). Pro se pleadings must be liberally construed. Balistreri v. Pacifica Police Dep't, 901 4 F.2d 696, 699 (9th Cir. 1990). 5 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2) requires only “a short and plain statement of the 6 claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” “Specific facts are not necessary; the 7 statement need only give the defendant fair notice of what the . . . . claim is and the grounds upon 8 which it rests.” Erickson v. Pardus, 127 S. Ct. 2197, 2200 (2007) (citations omitted). Although to 9 state a claim a complaint “does not need detailed factual allegations, . . . a plaintiff’s obligation to 10 provide the grounds of his entitle[ment] to relief requires more than labels and conclusions, and a 11 formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do. . . . Factual allegations must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level.” Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 12 127 S. Ct. 1955, 1964-65 (2007) (citations omitted). A complaint must proffer “enough facts to 13 state a claim for relief that is plausible on its face.” Id. at 1974. 14 To state a claim under 42 U.S.C. ' 1983, a plaintiff must allege two elements: (1) that a 15 right secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States was violated, and (2) that the alleged 16 violation was committed by a person acting under the color of state law. West v. Atkins, 487 U.S. 17 42, 48 (1988). 18 III. LEGAL CLAIMS 19 A. Official Capacity Claim 20 Plaintiff has sued the named Defendants individually and in their official capacity seeking 21 monetary relief. Dkt. 1 at 3. “[A]n official-capacity suit is, in all respects other than name, to be 22 treated as a suit against the entity.” Kentucky v. Graham, 473 U.S. 159, 166 (1985). Unless 23 waived, the Eleventh Amendment bars a federal court award of damages against a state, state 24 agency, or state official sued in an official capacity. Id. at 169. As there has been no waiver here, 25 Plaintiff’s claim against Defendants in their official capacity for monetary damages is 26 DISMISSED, and Plaintiff shall be granted leave to amend, provided he can do so in good faith. 27 B. Eighth Amendment Claim 1 Plaintiff alleges that on February 4, 2023, Defendants Zarate and Camacho conducted a 2 random cell search on his cell. Dkt. 1 at 2. Even though Plaintiff told them his cell had already 3 been searched within the past week, they “disregarded this and proceeded to strip out Plaintiff.” 4 Id. at 3. The court assumes this means Plaintiff was ordered to do a strip search. Id. Plaintiff 5 claims this was “done with the cell door fully open in full view of everyone out at dayroom, 6 female staff, and with the body cameras still on [and] recording.” Id. Plaintiff alleges that these 7 Defendants had only been conducting a “random cell search,” and that “a strip search must 8 generally be justified by individualized suspicion of contraband.” Id. He claims this was not the 9 case here, and instead these Defendants “treated [him] [as] less than human as [he] was humiliated 10 in full view of everyone out at [the] dayroom, including female staff, with the intent to disrespect, 11 humiliate, and sexually harass [him] to establish an 8th Amendment violation.” Id. at 4. Plaintiff 12 claims that afterwards, he filed a 602 inmate grievance stemming from this incident. Id. at 4. 13 Liberally construed, Plaintiff’s allegations are sufficient to state a cognizable claim for the 14 violation of his rights under the Eighth Amendment. See Byrd v. Maricopa Cnty. Sheriff’s Dep’t, 15 629 F.3d 1135, 1142 (9th Cir. 2011) (en banc); Byrd v. Maricopa Cty. Bd. of Supervisors, 845 16 F.3d 919, 922-25 (9th Cir. 2017). 17 C. Retaliation Claim 18 Plaintiff claims that on February 20, 2023, he was “subjected to retaliation by Defendants 19 Larraux and Vaca” when they “subjected Plaintiff to a retaliatory cell search for filing a 602 20 appeal reporting staff misconduct” by Defendants Zarate and Camacho stemming from the 21 February 4, 2023 incident. Dkt. 1 at 5. 22 Retaliation by a state actor for the exercise of a constitutional right is actionable under 42 23 U.S.C. § 1983, even if the act, when taken for different reasons, would have been proper. See Mt. 24 Healthy City Sch. Dist. Bd. of Educ. v. Doyle, 429 U.S. 274, 283-84 (1977). To state a claim for 25 First Amendment retaliation against a government official, a plaintiff must demonstrate that (1) he 26 engaged in constitutionally protected activity; (2) as a result, he was subjected to adverse action by 27 the defendant that would chill a person of ordinary firmness from continuing to engage in the 1 protected activity; and (3) there was a substantial causal relationship between the constitutionally 2 protected activity and the adverse action. Mulligan v. Nichols, 835 F.3d 983, 988 (9th Cir. 2016). 3 Accordingly, a prisoner suing prison officials under section 1983 for retaliation must allege he was 4 retaliated against for exercising his constitutional rights and that the retaliatory action did not 5 advance legitimate penological goals, such as preserving institutional order and discipline. See 6 Pratt v. Rowland, 65 F.3d 802, 806 (9th Cir. 1995).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Kentucky v. Graham
473 U.S. 159 (Supreme Court, 1985)
Sandin v. Conner
515 U.S. 472 (Supreme Court, 1995)
Erickson v. Pardus
551 U.S. 89 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly
550 U.S. 544 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Byrd v. Maricopa County Sheriff's Department
629 F.3d 1135 (Ninth Circuit, 2011)
Michael Henry Ferdik v. Joe Bonzelet, Sheriff
963 F.2d 1258 (Ninth Circuit, 1992)
Rhodes v. Robinson
408 F.3d 559 (Ninth Circuit, 2005)
Earnest Woods, II v. Tom Carey
684 F.3d 934 (Ninth Circuit, 2012)
Allen v. United States
4 F.2d 688 (Seventh Circuit, 1924)
Juan Albino v. Lee Baca
747 F.3d 1162 (Ninth Circuit, 2014)
Brian Mulligan v. James Nichols
835 F.3d 983 (Ninth Circuit, 2016)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Malone v. Zarate, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/malone-v-zarate-cand-2023.