(PC) Bennett v. Monroe Detention Center

District Court, E.D. California·Decided June 24, 2024·No. 2:22-cv-02157·Unknown

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 DAVID BENNETT, No. 2:22-cv-2157 DB P 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER 14 MONROE DETENTION CENTER, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff is a county inmate proceeding pro se with a civil rights action pursuant to 42 18 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff claims that his right to access the court has been denied, he has been 19 retaliated against, and he has not received adequate mental health treatment. Presently before the 20 court is plaintiff’s motion for extension of time (ECF No. 34), motions for injunctive relief (ECF 21 Nos. 32, 36, 39), motion for supplies and motion for private investigator (ECF No. 35), his 22 motion for extension of time (ECF No. 34), his request to show cause (ECF No. 40), and his first 23 amended complaint for screening (ECF No. 38). For the reasons set forth below, the undersigned 24 will grant the motion for extension of time to file his first amended complaint, deny the motions 25 for injunctive relief without prejudice, deny the motion for supplies and motion for private 26 investigation without prejudice, deny the motions for temporary restraining order and preliminary 27 injunction, deny his request for an order to show cause, and dismiss the complaint with leave to 28 amend. 1 SCREENING 2 Plaintiff has submitted a first amended complaint to be screened by this court. (ECF No. 3 38.) Plaintiff had requested an extension of time to file his first amended complaint. (ECF No. 4 34.) The undersigned will grant Plaintiff’s extension of time to file his first amended complaint. 5 I. Legal Standards 6 The court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief against a 7 governmental entity or an officer or employee of a governmental entity. See 28 U.S.C. § 8 1915A(a). The court must dismiss a complaint or portion thereof if the prisoner has raised claims 9 that are legally “frivolous or malicious,” that fail to state a claim upon which relief may be 10 granted, or that seek monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. See 28 11 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1) & (2). 12 A claim is legally frivolous when it lacks an arguable basis either in law or in fact. 13 Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 325 (1989); Franklin v. Murphy, 745 F.2d 1221, 1227-28 (9th 14 Cir. 1984). The court may, therefore, dismiss a claim as frivolous where it is based on an 15 indisputably meritless legal theory or where the factual contentions are clearly baseless. Neitzke, 16 490 U.S. at 327. The critical inquiry is whether a constitutional claim, however inartfully 17 pleaded, has an arguable legal and factual basis. See Franklin, 745 F.2d at 1227. 18 Rule 8(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure “requires only ‘a short and plain 19 statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief,’ in order to ‘give the 20 defendant fair notice of what the . . . claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.’” Bell 21 AtlanticCorp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007) (quoting Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 47 22 (1957)). 23 However, in order to survive dismissal for failure to state a claim a complaint must 24 contain more than “a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action;” it must contain 25 factual allegations sufficient “to raise a right to relief above the speculative level.” Bell Atlantic, 26 550 U.S. at 555. In reviewing a complaint under this standard, the court must accept as true the 27 allegations of the complaint in question, Hospital Bldg. Co. v. Rex Hospital Trustees, 425 U.S. 28 738, 740 (1976), construe the pleading in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, and resolve all 1 doubts in the plaintiff’s favor. Jenkins v. McKeithen, 395 U.S. 411, 421 (1969). 2 The Civil Rights Act under which this action was filed provides as follows: 3 Every person who, under color of [state law] . . . subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States . . . to the deprivation 4 of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution . . . shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, 5 or other proper proceeding for redress. 6 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Here, the defendants must act under color of federal law. Bivens, 403 U.S. at 7 389. The statute requires that there be an actual connection or link between the 8 actions of the defendants and the deprivation alleged to have been suffered by plaintiff. See 9 Monell v. Dept. of Social Servs., 436 U.S. 658 (1978); Rizzo v. Goode, 423 U.S. 362 10 (1976). “A person ‘subjects’ another to the deprivation of a constitutional right, within the 11 meaning of § 1983, if he does an affirmative act, participates in another's affirmative acts or 12 omits to perform an act which he is legally required to do that causes the deprivation of which 13 complaint is made.” Johnson v. Duffy, 588 F.2d 740, 743 (9th Cir. 1978). 14 Moreover, supervisory personnel are generally not liable under § 1983 for the actions of 15 their employees under a theory of respondeat superior and, therefore, when a named defendant 16 holds a supervisorial position, the causal link between him and the claimed constitutional 17 violation must be specifically alleged. See Fayle v. Stapley, 607 F.2d 858, 862 (9th Cir. 1979); 18 Mosher v. Saalfeld, 589 F.2d 438, 441 (9th Cir. 1978). Vague and conclusory allegations 19 concerning the involvement of official personnel in civil rights violations are not sufficient. See 20 Ivey v. Board of Regents, 673 F.2d 266, 268 (9th Cir. 1982). 21 a. Analysis 22 Here plaintiff’s first amended complaint is 138 pages long. (ECF No. 38.) There are 23 three sections of the document plaintiff indicates are his amended complaint. (Id. at 7, 9, and 30.) 24 The federal rules contemplate brevity. See Galbraith v. County of Santa Clara, 307 F.3d 1119, 25 1125 (9th Cir. 2002) (noting that “nearly all of the circuits have now disapproved any heightened 26 pleading standard in cases other than those governed by Rule 9(b).”); Fed. R. Civ. P. 84; cf. Rule 27 9(b) (setting forth rare exceptions to simplified pleading). Plaintiff’s claims must be set forth in 28 short and plain terms, simply, concisely and directly. See Swierkiewicz v. Sorema N.A., 534 1 U.S. 506, 514 (2002) (“Rule 8(a) is the starting point of a simplified pleading system, which was 2 adopted to focus litigation on the merits of a claim.”); Fed. R. Civ. P.

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