(PC) Barrett v. Messer

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. California
DecidedFebruary 10, 2023
Docket1:20-cv-01313
StatusUnknown

This text of (PC) Barrett v. Messer ((PC) Barrett v. Messer) 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) Barrett v. Messer, (E.D. Cal. 2023).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 SHAUN MICHAEL BARRETT, Case No. 1:20-cv-01313-CDB (PC)

12 Plaintiff, SECOND SCREENING ORDER

13 v. (Doc. 18)

14 M. MESSER, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff Shaun Michael Barrett is proceeding with the limited assistance of counsel in this 18 civil rights action brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. 19 I. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND 20 Plaintiff filed his original complaint on September 14, 2020. (Doc. 1.) 21 On November 4, 2020, the Court granted Plaintiff’s application to proceed in forma 22 pauperis. (Doc. 9.) 23 On May 17, 2021, the Court issued its First Screening Order. (Doc. 10.) Plaintiff alleged a 24 violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and a due process violation as to 25 confiscated property; the Court found Plaintiff failed to state any cognizable claim upon which 26 relief could be granted. (Id. at 4-6.) Plaintiff was afforded 21 days within which to file a first 27 amended complaint. (Id. at 6-7.) // 1 On June 3, 2021, Plaintiff filed a first amended complaint. (Doc. 12.) 2 On June 11, 2021, this Court issued an Order Appointing Counsel for a Limited Purpose. 3 (Doc. 14.) Specifically, Teresa A. Bush-Chavey was appointed for the limited purpose of 4 investigating Plaintiff’s claims and filing a second amended complaint or a notice that an 5 amended complaint would not be appropriate. (Id. at 1.) Counsel was provided 90 days within 6 which to file an amended complaint or a notice. (Id. at 1-2.) 7 Following an extension of time, counsel filed the second amended complaint on March 7, 8 2022. (Doc. 18.) 9 On March 9, 2022, then temporarily assigned Magistrate Judge Stanley A. Boone 10 approved counsel’s request for reasonable costs incurred. (Doc. 19.) 11 On October 6, 2022, this matter was reassigned to the undersigned for all further 12 proceedings. (Doc. 20.) 13 II. SCREENING REQUIREMENT 14 The Court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief against a 15 governmental entity or an officer or employee of a governmental entity. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). 16 The Court must dismiss a complaint or portion thereof if the complaint is frivolous or malicious, 17 fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or seeks monetary relief from a defendant 18 who is immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b). The Court should dismiss a complaint if 19 it lacks a cognizable legal theory or fails to allege sufficient facts to support a cognizable legal 20 theory. See Balistreri v. Pacifica Police Dep’t, 901 F.2d 696, 699 (9th Cir. 1990). 21 III. PLEADING REQUIREMENTS 22 A. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a) 23 “Rule 8(a)’s simplified pleading standard applies to all civil actions, with limited 24 exceptions.” Swierkiewicz v. Sorema N.A., 534 U.S. 506, 513 (2002). A complaint must contain 25 “a short and plain statement of the claims showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R. 26 Civ. P. 8(a)(2). “Such a statement must simply give the defendant fair notice of what the 27 plaintiff’s claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.” Swierkiewicz, 534 U.S. at 512 (internal 1 Detailed factual allegations are not required, but “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a 2 cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 3 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (citing Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007)). Plaintiff must 4 set forth “sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim that is plausible on its face.’” 5 Id. (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570). Factual allegations are accepted as true, but legal 6 conclusions are not. Id. (citing Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555). 7 The Court construes pleadings of pro se prisoners liberally and affords them the benefit of 8 any doubt. Hebbe v. Pliler, 627 F.3d 338, 342 (9th Cir. 2010) (citation omitted). However, “the 9 liberal pleading standard . . . applies only to a plaintiff’s factual allegations,” not his legal 10 theories. Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 330 n.9 (1989). Furthermore, “a liberal interpretation 11 of a civil rights complaint may not supply essential elements of the claim that were not initially 12 pled,” Bruns v. Nat’l Credit Union Admin., 122 F.3d 1251, 1257 (9th Cir. 1997) (internal 13 quotation marks & citation omitted), and courts “are not required to indulge unwarranted 14 inferences.” Doe I v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 572 F.3d 677, 681 (9th Cir. 2009) (internal quotation 15 marks & citation omitted). The “sheer possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully” is not 16 sufficient to state a cognizable claim, and “facts that are merely consistent with a defendant’s 17 liability” fall short. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678 (internal quotation marks & citation omitted). 18 B. Linkage and Causation 19 Section 1983 provides a cause of action for the violation of constitutional or other federal 20 rights by persons acting under color of state law. See 42 U.S.C. § 1983. To state a claim under 21 section 1983, a plaintiff must show a causal connection or link between the actions of the 22 defendants and the deprivation alleged to have been suffered by the plaintiff. See Rizzo v. Goode, 23 423 U.S. 362, 373-75 (1976). The Ninth Circuit has held that “[a] person ‘subjects’ another to the 24 deprivation of a constitutional right, within the meaning of section 1983, if he does an affirmative 25 act, participates in another’s affirmative acts, or omits to perform an act which he is legal required 26 to do that causes the deprivation of which complaint is made.” Johnson v. Duffy, 588 F.2d 740, 27 743 (9th Cir. 1978) (citation omitted). 1 C. Supervisory Liability 2 Liability may not be imposed on supervisory personnel for the actions or omissions of 3 their subordinates under the theory of respondeat superior. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 676-77; see e.g., 4 Simmons v. Navajo Cty., Ariz., 609 F.3d 1011, 1020-21 (9th Cir. 2010) (plaintiff required to 5 adduce evidence the named supervisory defendants “themselves acted or failed to act 6 unconstitutionally, not merely that subordinate did”), overruled on other grounds by Castro v. 7 C’nty of Los Angeles, 833 F.3d 1060, 1070 (9th Cir. 2016); Jones v. Williams, 297 F.3d 930, 934 8 (9th Cir. 2002) (“In order for a person acting under color of state law to be liable under section 9 1983 there must be a showing of personal participation in the alleged rights deprivation: there is 10 no respondeat superior liability under section 1983”). 11 Supervisors may be held liable only if they “participated in or directed the violations, or 12 knew of the violations and failed to act to prevent them.” Taylor v.

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(PC) Barrett v. Messer, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pc-barrett-v-messer-caed-2023.