McKenna v. Horne

CourtDistrict Court, D. Arizona
DecidedJuly 28, 2022
Docket4:21-cv-00048
StatusUnknown

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

Bluebook
McKenna v. Horne, (D. Ariz. 2022).

Opinion

1 WO . 2 3 4 5 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 6 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA 7 Timothy Paul McKenna, ) 8 ) Plaintiff, ) 9 ) No. CIV 21-048-TUC-CKJ vs. ) 10 ) ORDER Tom Horne, Former Attorney Arizona ) 11 Attorney General, and Arizona Attorney ) General’s Office, ) 12 ) Defendants. ) 13 ) 14 On February 2, 2021, Plaintiff Timothy Paul McKenna ("McKenna”), filed a pro se 15 First Amended Complaint ("FAC") (Doc. 10) in which he purports to state claims for 16 unlawful arrest and malicious prosecution under 42.U.S.C. § 1983. McKenna is seeking 17 prospective injunctive relief. McKenna has also filed an Application to Proceed in District 18 Court Without Prepaying Fees or Costs (Doc. 11) and a Motion for Hearing (Doc. 12). 19 20 I. In Forma Pauperis 21 The Court may allow a plaintiff to proceed without prepayment of fees when it is 22 shown by affidavit that he "is unable to pay such fees[.]" 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1). The 23 information contained in McKenna’s Application establishes McKenna is unable to pay the 24 fees. The Application to Proceed in District Court Without Prepaying Fees or Costs (Doc. 25 11) will be granted. 26 27 II. Screening Order 28 This Court is required to dismiss a case if the Court determines that the allegation of 1 poverty is untrue, 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(A), or if the Court determines that the action "(I) 2 is frivolous or malicious; (ii) fails to state a claim on which relief may be granted; or (iii) 3 seeks monetary relief against a defendant who is immune from such relief." 28 U.S.C. § 4 1915(e)(2)(B). 5 The Court previously summarized the requirements for stating a claim upon which 6 relief can be granted. Briefly, a complaint must set forth sufficient non-conclusory facts and 7 allegations that serve to put defendants on notice as to the nature and basis of the claim(s). 8 These allegations must present “enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its 9 facts.” Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007). While a complaint need 10 not plead “detailed factual allegations,” the factual allegations it does include “must be 11 enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level.” Id. at 555. Further, the 12 Supreme Court has cited Twombly for the traditional proposition that “[s]pecific facts are not 13 necessary [for a pleading that satisfies Rule 8(a)(2)]; the statement need only ‘give the 14 defendant fair notice of what the . . . claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.” Erickson 15 v. Pardue, 551 U.S. 89 (2007). 16 Additionally, in discussing Twombly, the Ninth Circuit has stated: 17 “A claim has facial plausibility,” the Court explained, “when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the 18 defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” 129 S.Ct. at 1949. “The plausibility standard is not akin to a ‘probability requirement,’ but it asks for more than a sheer 19 possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully.” Id. (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556, 127 S.Ct. 1955). “Where a complaint pleads facts that are ‘merely consistent 20 with’ a defendant's liability, it ‘stops short of the line between possibility and plausibility of entitlement to relief.’” Id. (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 557, 127 21 S.Ct. 1955). 22 In sum, for a complaint to survive a motion to dismiss, the non-conclusory “factual content,” and reasonable inferences from that content, must be plausibly suggestive 23 of a claim entitling the plaintiff to relief. Id. 24 Moss v. U.S. Secret Service, 572 F.3d 962 (9th Cir. 2009). 25 This Court must take as true all allegations of material fact and construe them in the 26 light most favorable to McKenna. See Cervantes v. United States, 330 F.3d 1186, 1187 (9th 27 Cir. 2003). However, the Court does not accept as true unreasonable inferences or 28 conclusory legal allegations cast in the form of factual allegations. Western Mining Council 1 v. Watt, 643 F.2d 618, 624 (9th Cir. 1981). Furthermore, the Court is not to serve as an 2 advocate of a pro se litigant, Noll v. Carlson, 809 F.2d 1446, 1448 (9th Cir. 1987), in 3 attempting to decipher a complaint. 4 5 III. Named Defendant 6 McKenna alleges Tom Horne ("Horne"), Former Arizona Attorney General of the 7 Arizona Attorney General's Office, in his official capacity, as the Defendant. While Horne 8 was not the Arizona Attorney General when he was sued, because he is being sued in his 9 official capacity, the Court recognizes that McKenna may be seeking to state a claim against 10 the entity he represented. See e.g. Monell v. New York City Dep't of Social Services, 436 11 U.S. 658, 699 n.55 (1978) (official capacity suite generally constitute a "way of pleading an 12 action against an entity of which an officer is an agent"); Brandon v. Holt, 469 U.S. 464, 13 471-72 (1985) (as long as the government entity receives notice and an opportunity to 14 respond, an official-capacity suit is, in all respects other than name, to be treated as a suit 15 against the entity). 16 Indeed, if "the suit involves an injunction seeking a prospective remedy for a 17 continuing violation of federal law, a federal court may enjoin state officials from continuing 18 such activity." United Mexican States v. Woods, 126 F.3d 1220, 1222 (9th Cir.1997), citing 19 Ex Parte Young, 209 U.S. 123 (1908) and Idaho v. Coeur d'Alene Tribe of Idaho, 521 U.S. 20 261, 269-70 (1997); Douglas v. California Dep't of Youth Auth., 271 F.3d 812, 817–18 (9th 21 Cir.), as amended, 271 F.3d 910 (9th Cir. 2001) (under the Ex parte Young doctrine, the 22 Eleventh Amendment does not bar a suit for prospective injunctive relief against a state 23 official). Further, "[s]tates or governmental entities that are considered 'arms of the State' for 24 Eleventh Amendment purposes are not ‘persons’ under § 1983." Cornel v. Hawaii, 37 F.4th 25 527, 531 (9th Cir. 2022), citation omitted. However, "[w]hen sued for prospective injunctive 26 relief, a state official in his official capacity is considered a 'person' for § 1983 purposes." 27 Doe v. Lawrence Livermore Nat. Lab'y, 131 F.3d 836, 839 (9th Cir. 1997). However, as 28 1 discussed infra, McKenna has not stated a claim upon which relief can be granted against the 2 Arizona Attorney General. 3 McKenna, therefore, may be seeking to state a claim against Horne or some other 4 unnamed persons in their individual capacities. However, McKenna has not alleged any 5 injury that resulted from alleged conduct of Horne or some other unnamed person nor has he 6 alleged an affirmative link between the injury and conduct of that defendant. Rather, 7 McKenna has conclusorily stated he was falsely arrested and subject to malicious prosecution 8 without providing any factual allegations. As the Court discusses herein, McKenna has not 9 stated a claim upon which relief can be granted against any individual defendant. 10 Therefore, the Court finds it appropriate to dismiss McKenna's FAC with leave to 11 amend.

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Bluebook (online)
McKenna v. Horne, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mckenna-v-horne-azd-2022.