Mason 240482 v. Ryan

District Court, D. Arizona·Decided December 30, 2019·No. 2:19-cv-04987·Unknown

Opinion

MDR WO Nathan Sterling Mason, No. CV 19-04987-PHX-DGC (MHB) Plaintiff, v. ORDER Charles Ryan, et al., Defendants.

On August 19, 2019, Plaintiff Nathan Sterling Mason, who is confined in the Arizona State Prison Complex-Lewis (ASPC-Lewis) in Buckeye, Arizona, filed a pro se civil rights Complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, an Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis, and a Motion for Preliminary Injunction (Doc. 4). On August 26, 2019, Plaintiff filed two additional Motions for Preliminary Injunction (Docs. 7 and 8), a Notice to the Court Regarding Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis, a “First Amended Complaint” containing bracketed text and text that had been struck through, and a second Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis. On September 9, 2019, he filed a “Motion to File Attached Motion Under Seal for Plaintiff[’]s Protection” (Doc. 13), lodged under seal Plaintiff’s “Supplement Evidence to Support Motions for Order of Protection and Other Preliminary Relief Requested on an Expedited/Emergency Basis” (Doc. 14); and filed two documents containing supplemental evidence in support of his motions for injunctive relief. . . . . In a September 11, 2019 Order, the Court granted Plaintiff’s first Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis, denied as duplicative his second Application to Proceed, and directed the Clerk of Court to change the docket to reflect that the August 26 “First Amended Complaint” was a “Notice of Filing of First Amended Complaint.” The Court gave Plaintiff thirty days to file a clean version of the amended complaint that did not contain brackets and strike-throughs. On September 23, 2019, Plaintiff filed a First Amended Complaint (Doc. 19) and another document containing supplemental evidence. On October 7, 2019, he filed a Motion to File Notice to Court Under Seal (Doc. 21) and lodged under seal a Notice to the Court (Doc. 22). On October 17, 2019, Plaintiff filed a Request for Expedited Ruling on Requests for Relief (Doc. 23). On November 4, 2019, he filed a Notice of Change of Address and a Motion to File Motion Under Seal (Doc. 25), lodged under seal his “Supplement Facts to Pending Motions for Relief” (Doc. 26), and filed a Request for Court Order (Doc. 27). The Court will (1) order Defendant Ryan to answer Count One in his individual capacity; (2) substitute David Shinn for Defendant Ryan in his official capacity; (3) order David Shinn to answer Count One in his official capacity; (4) order Defendants Ryan, Taylor, Lowe, Williams, Abbl, Evans, Kila, Vargas, and Hernandez to answer limited portions of Count Three in their individual capacities; (5) order Defendant Ende to answer Count Four in his individual capacity; and (6) dismiss the remaining claims and Defendants without prejudice. The Court will order David Shinn to respond to the August 19 Motion for Preliminary Injunction and will deny the August 26 Motions for Preliminary Injunction. In addition, the Court will grant the three motions to file under seal and will direct the Clerk of Court to file under seal the three documents that were lodged under seal. Finally, the Court will deny the Request for Expedited Ruling and Request for Court Order. In an effort to expediate consideration of this matter, the Court will direct the United States Marshal to immediately serve Defendant Shinn and will direct Defendant Shinn to respond to the August 19 Motion for Preliminary Injunction within ten days of service. I. Statutory Screening of Prisoner Complaints The Court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief against a governmental entity or an officer or an employee of a governmental entity. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). The Court must dismiss a complaint or portion thereof if a plaintiff has raised claims that are legally frivolous or malicious, that fail to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or that seek monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1)–(2). A pleading must contain a “short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2) (emphasis added). While Rule 8 does not demand detailed factual allegations, “it demands more than an unadorned, the- defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me accusation.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009). “Threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Id. “[A] complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’” Id. (quoting Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)). A claim is plausible “when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Id. “Determining whether a complaint states a plausible claim for relief [is] . . . a context-specific task that requires the reviewing court to draw on its judicial experience and common sense.” Id. at 679. Thus, although a plaintiff’s specific factual allegations may be consistent with a constitutional claim, a court must assess whether there are other “more likely explanations” for a defendant’s conduct. Id. at 681. But as the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has instructed, courts must “continue to construe pro se filings liberally.” Hebbe v. Pliler, 627 F.3d 338, 342 (9th Cir. 2010). A “complaint [filed by a pro se prisoner] ‘must be held to less stringent standards than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers.’” Id. (quoting Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 94 (2007) (per curiam)). . . . . II. First Amended Complaint In his eight-count First Amended Complaint, Plaintiff sues the following Defendants: the State of Arizona; Arizona Governor Douglas Ducey; Assistant Arizona Attorney General Michelle Lombino; former Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) Director Charles Ryan; Deputy Wardens Weiss and Ronald Abbl; Assistant Deputy Warden Kaufman; Security Operation Administrator Ronald Lee; Captain Whiting; Lieutenant Randall Lowe; Corrections Officer (CO) IVs McCain and Mary-Ellen Ohshita; CO IIIs Wade, Jaymond Williams, Vance, and Greg Cortez; CO IIs Evans, Kila, Vargas, Garcia, and Hernandez; Special Security Unit Officer Taylor; ADC Employees Doe 1-100; the Buckeye City Fire Marshal; Centurion; and Centurion Nurse Practitioner Ende. Plaintiff sues all of the Defendants in their individual and official capacities, except for Defendants State of Arizona and Centurion, which are sued in their official capacities only. In Counts One, Two, Four, and Eight, Plaintiff alleges violations of his Eighth Amendment rights regarding his medical care (Counts One and Four) and his conditions of confinement (Counts Two and Eight). In Count Three, he alleges First Amendment retaliation claims. In Count Five, he contends a state statute violates his First, Fourth, Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights. In Counts Six and Seven, he alleges he was deprived of his liberty (Count Six) and his property (Count Seven) in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. In his Request for Relief, Plaintiff seeks declaratory and injunctive relief and monetary damages. III. Discussion of First Amended Complaint Although pro se pleadings are liberally construed, Haines v. Kerner,

Mason 240482 v. Ryan, (D. Ariz. 2019).

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