(PC) Davis v. Wheeler

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. California
DecidedSeptember 4, 2019
Docket2:16-cv-02917
StatusUnknown

This text of (PC) Davis v. Wheeler ((PC) Davis v. Wheeler) 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) Davis v. Wheeler, (E.D. Cal. 2019).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 ANTHONY DAVIS, No. 2:16-CV-2917-TLN-DMC-P 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER 14 Z. WHEELER, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff, a prisoner proceeding pro se, brings this civil rights action pursuant to 18 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Pending before the Court is Plaintiff’s first amended complaint (ECF No. 19). 19 Plaintiff alleges Defendants violated his rights under the First Amendment and Eighth 20 Amendment. 21 /// 22 /// 23 /// 24 /// 25 /// 26 /// 27 /// 28 /// 1 I. SCREENING REQUIREMENT AND STANDARD 2 The Court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief 3 against a governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity. See 28 U.S.C. 4 § 1915A(a). The Court must dismiss a complaint or portion thereof if it: (1) is frivolous or 5 malicious; (2) fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted; or (3) seeks monetary relief 6 from a defendant who is immune from such relief. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1), (2). 7 The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure require complaints contain a “…short and 8 plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” See McHenry v. 9 Renne, 84 F.3d 1172, 1177 (9th Cir. 1996) (quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(1)). Detailed factual 10 allegations are not required, but “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, 11 supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 12 (2009) (citing Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007)). While a plaintiff’s 13 allegations are taken as true, courts “are not required to indulge unwarranted inferences.” Doe I v. 14 Wal–Mart Stores, Inc., 572 F.3d 677, 681 (9th Cir. 2009) (internal quotation marks and citation 15 omitted). 16 Prisoners proceeding pro se in civil rights actions are entitled to have their 17 pleadings liberally construed and are afforded the benefit of any doubt. Hebbe v. Pliler, 627 F.3d 18 338, 342 (9th Cir. 2010) (citations omitted). To survive screening, Plaintiff’s claims must be 19 facially plausible, which requires sufficient factual detail to allow the Court to reasonably infer 20 that each named defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged, Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678 (quotation 21 marks omitted); Moss v. United States Secret Service, 572 F.3d 962, 969 (9th Cir. 2009). The 22 sheer possibility that a defendant acted unlawfully is not sufficient, and mere consistency with 23 liability falls short of satisfying the plausibility standard. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678 (quotation marks 24 omitted); Moss, 572F.3d at 969. 25 /// 26 /// 27 /// 28 /// 1 II. PLAINTIFF’S ALLEGATIONS 2 Plaintiff names the following as defendants: (1) Z. Wheeler (2) N. Romney (3) 3 Scott Kernan (4) D. Baughman. See ECF No. 19, at 2. Plaintiff raises two claims. First, Plaintiff 4 alleges Defendants Z. Wheeler and N. Romney retaliated against him, in violation of his First 5 Amendment rights, by threatening Plaintiff with physical violence because he is a patient of the 6 Enhance Out Patient Program (“EOP”) and because he attempted to reach out for help when 7 having suicidal ideations. Id. at 17. Second, Plaintiff alleges Defendants Z. Wheeler and N. 8 Romney violated his Eighth Amendment rights by using excessive force, despite Plaintiff 9 allegedly not violating any prison rules or acting disruptively at the time. Id. Plaintiff claims 10 while Defendants Z. Wheeler and N. Romney escorted him to a medical triage treatment area, he 11 was verbally harassed, taunted, and ridiculed by both Defendants. Id. at 3. Plaintiff alleges 12 Defendants, in order to prove a point, twice threw Plaintiff face first into the pavement, twisting 13 and jumping on Plaintiff’s back, wrist, and left shoulder. Id. Plaintiff alleges he was handcuffed 14 and in leg restraints and did not jerk, yank, or pose any threat to the officers. Id. at 4. Plaintiff 15 states he was immediately treated by emergency room staff for wounds to both of his wrists and 16 abrasions to his left shoulder. Id. Plaintiff does not specifically address Defendants Scott Kernan 17 and D. Baughman in the complaint. 18 19 III. DISCUSSION 20 As currently set forth, this Court finds Plaintiff alleges sufficient facts in his 21 Eighth Amendment claim to pass screening. However, Plaintiff’s First Amendment claim fails 22 because it is unclear to the Court whether Plaintiff is alleging retaliation for being an EOP 23 member and needing mental health care, or if Plaintiff alleges a violation of the Americans with 24 Disabilities Act (“ADA”). Plaintiff’s claims against Defendants Scott Kernan and D. Baughman 25 fail to meet the pleading standard under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure Rule 8, as Plaintiff fails 26 to specify which Defendant engaged in conduct that lead to an alleged constitutional violation. 27 /// 28 /// 1 A. Claims Against Defendants Scott Kernan and D. Baughman 2 1. Causal Link 3 To state a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the plaintiff must allege an actual 4 connection or link between the actions of the named defendants and the alleged deprivations. See 5 Monell v. Dep’t of Social Servs., 436 U.S. 658 (1978); Rizzo v. Goode, 423 U.S. 362 (1976). “A 6 person ‘subjects’ another to the deprivation of a constitutional right, within the meaning of 7 § 1983, if he does an affirmative act, participates in another's affirmative acts, or omits to perform 8 an act which he is legally required to do that causes the deprivation of which complaint is made.” 9 Johnson v. Duffy, 588 F.2d 740, 743 (9th Cir. 1978). Vague and conclusory allegations 10 concerning the involvement of official personnel in civil rights violations are not sufficient. See 11 Ivey v. Board of Regents, 673 F.2d 266, 268 (9th Cir. 1982). Rather, the plaintiff must set forth 12 specific facts as to each individual defendant’s causal role in the alleged constitutional 13 deprivation. See Leer v. Murphy, 844 F.2d 628, 634 (9th Cir. 1988). 14 Here, Plaintiff failed to specifically name or address Defendants Scott Kernan and 15 D. Baughman in the complaint, and Plaintiff does not allege facts to establish how these 16 defendants’ personal conduct violated Plaintiff’s constitutional or statutory rights. Because 17 Plaintiff fails to allege any facts indicating how Defendants Scott Kernan and D. Baughman 18 engaged in the alleged unconstitutional action, Plaintiff has failed to satisfy the Rule 8 pleading 19 standard. Further, because Plaintiff failed to attribute any of the alleged unconstitutional conduct 20 to either Scott Kernan and D.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Rizzo v. Goode
423 U.S. 362 (Supreme Court, 1976)
Estelle v. Gamble
429 U.S. 97 (Supreme Court, 1976)
Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Servs.
436 U.S. 658 (Supreme Court, 1978)
Rhodes v. Chapman
452 U.S. 337 (Supreme Court, 1981)
Whitley v. Albers
475 U.S. 312 (Supreme Court, 1986)
Hudson v. McMillian
503 U.S. 1 (Supreme Court, 1992)
Helling v. McKinney
509 U.S. 25 (Supreme Court, 1993)
Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly
550 U.S. 544 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Ashcroft v. Iqbal
556 U.S. 662 (Supreme Court, 2009)
New Hampshire Hemp Council, Inc. v. Marshall
203 F.3d 1 (First Circuit, 2000)
Ivey v. Board of Regents of University of Alaska
673 F.2d 266 (Second Circuit, 1982)
Michael Henry Ferdik v. Joe Bonzelet, Sheriff
963 F.2d 1258 (Ninth Circuit, 1992)
Jordan v. Gardner
986 F.2d 1521 (Ninth Circuit, 1993)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
(PC) Davis v. Wheeler, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pc-davis-v-wheeler-caed-2019.