Paleveda v. Alameda County

• Court: District Court, N.D. California
• Decided: February 10, 2025
• Docket: 5:24-cv-08716
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 NICHOLAS EWING PALEVEDA, Case No. 24-cv-08716-RMI

8 Plaintiff, ORDER OF DISMISSAL WITH LEAVE 9 v. TO AMEND

10 ALAMEDA COUNTY, et al., Re: Dkt. Nos. 12, 14 Defendants. 11

12 13 Plaintiff, a detainee, filed a pro se civil rights complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff 14 has been granted leave to proceed in forma pauperis. 15 DISCUSSION 16 Standard of Review 17 Federal courts must engage in a preliminary screening of cases in which prisoners seek 18 redress from a governmental entity, or from an officer or employee of a governmental entity. 28 19 U.S.C. 1915A(a). In its review, the court must identify any cognizable claims, and dismiss any 20 claims which are frivolous, malicious, fail to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or 21 seek monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. Id. at § 1915A(b)(1), (2). 22 Further, it should be noted that pleadings submitted by pro se parties must be liberally construed. 23 Balistreri v. Pacifica Police Dep’t, 901 F.2d 696, 699 (9th Cir. 1990). 24 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2) requires only “a short and plain statement of the 25 claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” While specific facts are not necessary, the 26 statement needs to give the defendant fair notice of the nature of the claim and the grounds upon 27 which it rests. Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 93 (2007). Although a plaintiff need not include 1 cause of action and state conclusions; rather a plaintiff must state factual allegations sufficient to 2 raise the entitlement to relief “above the speculative level.” Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 3 U.S. 544, 555 (2007). A complaint must proffer “enough facts to state a claim to relief that is 4 plausible on its face.” Id. at 570. The Supreme Court recently explained this standard: “[w]hile 5 legal conclusions can provide the framework of a complaint, they must be supported by factual 6 allegations . . . [and] [w]hen there are well-pleaded factual allegations, a court should assume their 7 veracity and then determine whether they plausibly give rise to an entitlement to relief.” Ashcroft 8 v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 679 (2009). 9 To state a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a plaintiff must allege two essential elements: 10 (1) that a right secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States was violated, and (2) that 11 the alleged deprivation was committed by a person acting under the color of state law. West v. 12 Atkins, 487 U.S. 42, 48 (1988). 13 Legal Claims 14 Plaintiff discusses issues with the conditions of confinement at Santa Rita Jail. Plaintiff 15 appears to be a pretrial detainee. 16 Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2), a plaintiff must provide “a short and plain statement of 17 the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief . . . .” Rule 8 requires “sufficient allegations 18 to put defendants fairly on notice of the claims against them.” McKeever v. Block, 932 F.2d 795, 19 798 (9th Cir.1991)). Accord Richmond v. Nationwide Cassel L.P., 52 F.3d 640, 645 (7th Cir.1995) 20 (amended complaint with vague and scanty allegations fails to satisfy the notice requirement of 21 Rule 8.) “The propriety of dismissal for failure to comply with Rule 8 does not depend on whether 22 the complaint is wholly without merit,” McHenry v. Renne, 84 F.3d 1172, 1179 (9th Cir. 1996). 23 [“M]multiple claims against a single party are fine, but Claim A against Defendant 1 24 should not be joined with unrelated Claim B against Defendant 2.” George v. Smith, 507 F.3d 605, 25 607 (7th Cir. 2007). “Unrelated claims against different defendants belong in different suits,” not 26 only to prevent the sort of “morass” that a multi-claim, multi-defendant suit can produce, “but also 27 to ensure that prisoners pay the required filing fees – for the Prison Litigation Reform Act limits to 1 required fees.” Id. (citing 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g)). 2 Plaintiff presents numerous claims against different jail staff. He states that jail officials 3 would not burn his hair pursuant to the vow of the Nazarite in the Bible, he was not provided 4 adequate space and time for exercising, he was not provided basic court information for his public 5 defender or the jail’s lawyer, the jail is not clean and he was not provided with cleaning inspection 6 logs, he was not provided the Kosher diet, and jail officials improperly discarded his hair that 7 needed to be burned. While Plaintiff presents numerous claims, he fails to identify any specific 8 Defendants or describe their action and how they violated his rights. 9 The complaint is dismissed with leave to amend to focus on a few related claims in an 10 amended complaint. Plaintiff may file additional cases regarding other claims. Plaintiff must also 11 identify the individual Defendants and describe how they violated his constitutional rights in 12 specific incidents. It is insufficient to simply allege that jail staff violated his rights. He must 13 provide specific allegations. In addition, Plaintiff may not submit multiple filings with different 14 claims. The court will only consider claims and allegations in one amended complaint. 15 CONCLUSION 16 1. The motion to compel and for a preliminary injunction to obtain the relief in the 17 complaint (dkt. 12) is DENIED without prejudice because it is difficult to understand. Plaintiff 18 may file an amended motion once he addresses the deficiencies in the complaint. The motion for 19 the jail to provide in forma pauperis paperwork (dkt. 14) is DENIED as moot because the jail has 20 provided that information. 21 2. The complaint is DISMISSED with leave to amend in accordance with the standards 22 set forth above. The amended complaint must be filed within twenty-eight (28) days of the date 23 this order is filed, and it must include the caption and civil case number used in this order and the 24 words “AMENDED COMPLAINT” on the first page. Because an amended complaint completely 25 replaces the original complaint, Plaintiff must include in it all the claims he wishes to present. See 26 Ferdik v. Bonzelet, 963 F.2d 1258, 1262 (9th Cir. 1992). Plaintiff may not incorporate material 27 from the original Complaint by reference. Failure to amend within the designated time will result 1 3. It is Plaintiff's responsibility to prosecute this case. Plaintiff must keep the court 2 || informed of any change of address by filing a separate paper with the clerk, headered “Notice of 3 Change of Address,” and must comply with the court’s orders in a timely fashion. Failure to do so 4 || may result in dismissal of this action for failure to prosecute pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil 5 Procedure 41(b). 6 IT IS SO ORDERED. 7 Dated: February 10, 2025 8 9 RQBERT M. ILLMAN 10 United States Magistrate Judge 11 a 12

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