(PC) Atencio v. Allison

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. California
DecidedJuly 15, 2021
Docket1:21-cv-00191
StatusUnknown

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

Bluebook
(PC) Atencio v. Allison, (E.D. Cal. 2021).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 AARON WILLIAM ATENCIO, Case No. 1:21-cv-00191-BAM (PC) 12 Plaintiff, FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS RECOMMENDING DISMISSAL OF 13 v. ACTION WITHOUT PREJUDICE FOR FAILURE TO STATE A CLAIM 14 K. ALLISON, et al., (ECF No. 11) 15 Defendants. FOURTEEN (14) DAY DEADLINE 16

18 Plaintiff Aaron William Atencio (“Plaintiff”) is a state prisoner proceeding pro se and in 19 forma pauperis in this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The Court screened 20 Plaintiff’s complaint and granted him leave to amend. Plaintiff’s first amended complaint, filed 21 on May 14, 2021, is currently before the Court for screening. (Doc. 11.) 22 I. Screening Requirement and Standard 23 The Court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief against a 24 governmental entity and/or against an officer or employee of a governmental entity. 28 U.S.C. 25 § 1915A(a). Plaintiff’s complaint, or any portion thereof, is subject to dismissal if it is frivolous 26 or malicious, if it fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or if it seeks monetary 27 relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915A(b). 28 1 A complaint must contain “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the 2 pleader is entitled to relief . . . .” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). Detailed factual allegations are not 3 required, but “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere 4 conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (citing Bell 5 Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007)). While a plaintiff’s allegations are taken as 6 true, courts “are not required to indulge unwarranted inferences.” Doe I v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 7 572 F.3d 677, 681 (9th Cir. 2009) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). 8 To survive screening, Plaintiff’s claims must be facially plausible, which requires 9 sufficient factual detail to allow the Court to reasonably infer that each named defendant is liable 10 for the misconduct alleged. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678 (quotation marks omitted); Moss v. U.S. Secret 11 Serv., 572 F.3d 962, 969 (9th Cir. 2009). The sheer possibility that a defendant acted unlawfully 12 is not sufficient, and mere consistency with liability falls short of satisfying the plausibility 13 standard. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678 (quotation marks omitted); Moss, 572 F.3d at 969. II. Plaintiff’s Allegations 14 Plaintiff is currently housed in Valley State Prison in Chowchilla, California, where the 15 events alleged in the complaint occurred. Plaintiff names the following defendants: (1) Kathleen 16 Allison, Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (“CDCR”), (2) Rosa 17 Avila, Correctional Officer, and (3) P. Villegas, Correctional Lieutenant. 18 In claim 1, Plaintiff alleges procedural and substantive Due Process violations based on a 19 facial challenge to the challenged regulation. In claim 2, Plaintiff alleges a procedural and 20 substantive Due Process violation based on an as applied challenge to the regulation. 21 On July 6, 2020, the Secretary of CDCR changed regulations contained in Title 15 of the 22 Code of Regulations amending the Authorized Personal Property Matrix to include authorization 23 of possession by inmates of Micro Secure Digital memory cards (MicroSD) in conjunction with 24 either a MP3 player or non-network capable tablet. On July 21, 2020, the Secretary of CDCR 25 changed the language of §3006(c)(20),1 but did not remove a blanket statewide prohibition 26 27 1 15 C.C.R §3006(c)(20) prohibits certain communications devices, and states in pertinent part: 28 “(c) Except as authorized by the institution head, inmates shall not possess or have under their 1 against possession of a MicroSD card. The language in both section contradicts each other. 2 Plaintiff alleges that the Secretary of the CDCR, Defendant Allison, is the chief executive 3 officer who has the sole authority to craft and authorize regulations and policy which govern all 4 penal institutions. As to claim 1, Plaintiff alleges that the Secretary, in exercising the sole 5 authority to craft and authorize contradictory regulations, did participate in and direct the claimed 6 violations. The Secretary should have known that creating a regulatory contradiction as to 7 disciplinary rules would facially violate fair notice required by Due Process. The Secretary, in 8 creating the regulatory contradiction, violated Plaintiff’s procedural and substantive due process 9 rights in that the contradictory regulations deprived Plaintiff of the right to fair notice and 10 arbitrarily deprived Plaintiff of the right to Fair Notice. Plaintiff alleges that §3006(c)(20) and 11 3190(b) are unconstitutionally vague. Defendant is suing Defendant Allison in her official 12 capacity only. 13 On July 30, 202, Defendant Avila “produced a disciplinary report in which she stated that she had seized an unauthorized MicroSD memory devices. Her report stated that she believed 14 that card had been used in conjunction with a cellular device. The disciplinary report was for 15 prohibited act of “Possession of a wireless device component,” citing Title 15, 3006(c)(20). 16 Defendant Avila stated in her report she seized Plaintiff’s MP3 media player concurrent with the 17 seizure of the memory card. On August 9, 2020, Defendant Villegas, Senior Hearing Officer, 18 held a hearing on the disciplinary report. At the hearing, Plaintiff claimed the §3006 regulation 19 was not applicable because of the changes in the property regulation and offered copies of the 20 new regulations that Plaintiff was properly in possession of the MP3 player and MicroSD card. 21 Villegas admitted that possession of a MicroSD card was permitted, citing §3190(b).2 Defendant 22 Villegas stated he would make a finding of guilt based not on possession of the MicroSD card, 23

24 control any matter which contains or concerns any of the following: (20) Any wireless communication device accessory and/or component including, but not limited 25 to, a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card, memory storage device, battery, wired or wireless headset, and charger, except as expressly authorized by the Secretary, pursuant to subsection 26 3190(k)(8). 27 2 Depending upon the security level of the housing facility, the general population is only allowed to possess items that are authorized under the Authorized Personal Property Schedule. Cal.Code 28 Regs. tit. 15, § 3190(b). 1 but instead on the allegation that the card had been misused with a cellular device. Plaintiff 2 alleges Title 15 states that misusing properly possessed property is a separate prohibited act, but 3 does not state if it is a lesser included offense to any other prohibited act. 4 On August 25, 2020, Plaintiff received a written copy of the finalized disciplinary report, 5 which stated that the specific act for the finding of guilt was for “Possession of a wireless device 6 component” citing §3006(c)(20). The report also stated what Villegas had said to Plaintiff at the 7 hearing about a finding of guilt was on the allegation that the card had been misused with a 8 cellular device.

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Bluebook (online)
(PC) Atencio v. Allison, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pc-atencio-v-allison-caed-2021.