(PC) Enrique Lemus Jr v. V. Sanchez

District Court, E.D. California·Decided September 20, 2021·No. 1:21-cv-00442·Unknown

Opinion

1 2 3 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 4 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 5 ENRIQUE LEMUS, JR. ) Case No.: 1:21-cv-00442-SAB (PC) ) 6 Plaintiff, ) 7 v. ) ) F RI EN CD OIN MG MS E A NN DD IN R GE DC IO SM MM ISE SN AD L A OT FI O AN C TION

8 V. SANCHEZ, et al., ) )

9 ) Defendants. ) 10 )

11 Plaintiff Enrique Lemus, Jr. is proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis in this civil rights 12 action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. 13 On May 27, 2021, the Court screened Plaintiff s first amended complaint, found that no 14 cognizable claims were stated, and granted Plaintiff thirty days to amend the complaint. (ECF No. 15 14.) Plaintiff failed to file an amended complaint or otherwise respond to the Court’s order. 16 Therefore, on July 7, 2021, the Court issued an order to show cause why the action should not be 17 dismissed. (ECF No. 15.) Although Plaintiff received two extensions of time to file a response to 18 the order to show cause, Plaintiff has failed to file a response and the time to do so has now passed. 19 Accordingly, dismissal of the action is warranted. 20 I. 21 SCREENING REQUIREMENT 22 The Court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief against a 23 governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). The Court 24 must dismiss a complaint or portion thereof if the prisoner has raised claims that are legally “frivolous 25 or malicious,” that “fail[] to state a claim on which relief may be granted,” or that “seek[] monetary 26 relief against a defendant who is immune from such relief.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B); see also 28 27 U.S.C. § 1915A(b). 28 1 A complaint must contain “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is 2 entitled to relief. . . .” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). Detailed factual allegations are not required, but 3 “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do 4 not suffice.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (citing Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 5 U.S. 544, 555 (2007)). Moreover, Plaintiff must demonstrate that each defendant personally participated 6 in the deprivation of Plaintiff’s rights. Jones v. Williams, 297 F.3d 930, 934 (9th Cir. 2002). 7 Prisoners proceeding pro se in civil rights actions are entitled to have their pleadings liberally 8 construed and to have any doubt resolved in their favor. Wilhelm v. Rotman, 680 F.3d 1113, 1121 (9th 9 Cir. 2012) (citations omitted). To survive screening, Plaintiff’s claims must be facially plausible, which 10 requires sufficient factual detail to allow the Court to reasonably infer that each named defendant is 11 liable for the misconduct alleged. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678-79; Moss v. U.S. Secret Service, 572 F.3d 962, 12 969 (9th Cir. 2009). The “sheer possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully” is not sufficient, and 13 “facts that are ‘merely consistent with’ a defendant’s liability” falls short of satisfying the plausibility 14 standard. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678; Moss, 572 F.3d at 969. 15 II. 16 SUMMARY OF ALLEGATIONS 17 The Court accepts Plaintiff’s allegations in his complaint as true only for the purpose of the 18 screening requirement under 28 U.S.C. § 1915. 19 On October 1, 2019, Plaintiff arrived at Sierra Conservation Center and walked to Yard A by 20 Defendants V. Sanchez, Zamboni, Martinez, French, Lacey, Loyed, Filipak, and R. Vallejo, allowed 21 Plaintiff’s life to be put in danger and a blast grenade was used constituting excessive force. 22 On October 9, 2019, excessive force was used against Plaintiff when Defendant V. Sanchez 23 deployed an blast grenade that went off on his left ear while he was in a prone position. A statement 24 by V. Sanchez indicates that he did not hit his intended target. 25 Plaintiff’s life was put in danger because he is a general population inmate, yet he was placed 26 on Yard A which is a 50/50 yard. Plaintiff tried to go through the proper channels but was placed in 27 the general population which put him in a bad situation. 28 /// 1 III. 2 DISCUSSION 3 A. Deliberate Indifference to Personal Safety 4 “The Eighth Amendment imposes a duty on prison officials to protect inmates from violence at 5 the hands of other inmates.” Cortez v. Skol, 776 F.3d 1046, 1050 (9th Cir. 2015). The right to personal 6 security is an “historic liberty interest” that is protected substantively by the Due Process Clause. 7 Youngberg v. Romeo, 457 U.S. 307, 315 (1982). This right is not extinguished by lawful confinement, 8 even for penal purposes. See generally Hutto v. Finney, 437 U.S. 678 (1978). Insufficient protection of 9 a prisoner resulting in harm inflicted by other inmates may also violate a prisoner's due process rights. 10 Hernandez v. Denton, 861 F.2d 1421, 1424 (9th Cir. 1988) (citing Youngberg, 457 U.S. at 315-16). 11 A prisoner may state a Section 1983 claim under the Eighth Amendment against prison 12 officials where the officials acted with deliberate indifference to the threat of serious harm or injury to 13 him. Labatad v. Corrections Corp. of America, 714 F.3d 1155, 1160 (9th Cir. 2013); see Berg v. 14 Kincheloe, 794 F.2d 457, 459 (9th Cir. 1986) (stating same with respect to harm inflicted by another 15 inmate). “Deliberate indifference” has both subjective and objective components. Labatad, 714 F.3d at 16 1160. First, a prison official must be aware of facts from which the inference could be drawn that a 17 substantial risk of serious harm exists. Then, the official must also draw the inference. See id. at 1160 18 (citing Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 837 (1994) (internal quotations omitted)). Liability may 19 follow only if a prison official knows that inmates face a substantial risk of serious harm and the 20 official disregards that risk by failing to take reasonable measures to abate it. Labatad, 714 F.3d at 21 1160. 22 Although Plaintiff contends that he is a general population inmate and should not have been 23 placed on Yard A at Sierra Conservation Center, he fails to provide what measures should have been 24 taken to protect Plaintiff or that any of the named Defendants knew that Plaintiff would be harmed if 25 placed on Yard A. Plaintiff fails to allege that any Defendant knew of a specific risk to Plaintiff's 26 safety. Plaintiff simply contends that was previously housed in general population and each Defendant 27 allowed his life to be put in danger by placing in Yard A. However, these allegations do not give rise 28 to a claim for failure to protect.

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