(PC) Gallegos v. CDCR

District Court, E.D. California·Decided July 17, 2025·No. 2:24-cv-01595·Unknown

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 10 11 BENJAMIN ROBERT GALLEGOS, No. 2:24-cv-1595 DJC AC P 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER CORRECTIONS AND 15 REHABILITATION, et al., 16 Defendants. 17 18 Plaintiff is a state inmate who filed this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 19 without a lawyer. He has requested leave to proceed without paying the full filing fee for this 20 action, under 28 U.S.C. § 1915. Plaintiff has submitted a declaration showing that he cannot 21 afford to pay the entire filing fee. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2). Accordingly, plaintiff’s motion to 22 proceed in forma pauperis is granted.1 23 //// 24 1 This means that plaintiff is allowed to pay the $350.00 filing fee in monthly installments that 25 are taken from the inmate’s trust account rather than in one lump sum. 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914(a). As 26 part of this order, the prison is required to remove an initial partial filing fee from plaintiff’s trust account. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1). A separate order directed to the appropriate agency 27 requires monthly payments of twenty percent of the prior month’s income to be taken from plaintiff’s trust account. These payments will be taken until the $350 filing fee is paid in full. 28 See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2). 1 I. Statutory Screening of Prisoner Complaints 2 The court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief against “a 3 governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). A 4 claim “is [legally] frivolous where it lacks an arguable basis either in law or in fact.” Neitzke v. 5 Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 325 (1989). The court may dismiss a claim as frivolous if it is based on 6 an indisputably meritless legal theory or factual contentions that are baseless. Id., 490 U.S. at 7 327. The critical inquiry is whether a constitutional claim, however inartfully pleaded, has an 8 arguable legal and factual basis. Jackson v. Arizona, 885 F.2d 639, 640 (9th Cir. 1989), 9 superseded by statute on other grounds as stated in Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 1130 (9th Cir. 10 2000). 11 In order to avoid dismissal for failure to state a claim a complaint must contain more than 12 “naked assertion[s],” “labels and conclusions,” or “a formulaic recitation of the elements of a 13 cause of action.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 557 (2007). In other words, 14 “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory 15 statements, do not suffice.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009). A claim upon which the 16 court can grant relief has facial plausibility. Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570. “A claim has facial 17 plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable 18 inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678 (citation 19 omitted). When considering whether a complaint states a claim, the court must accept the 20 allegations as true, Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 94 (2007) (per curiam), and construe the 21 complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, Jenkins v. McKeithen, 395 U.S. 411, 421 22 (1969) (citations omitted). 23 II. Factual Allegations of the Complaint 24 Plaintiff’s complaint alleges that defendants California Department of Corrections and 25 Rehabilitation (“CDCR”), Leech, Boxall and Prudhel violated his constitutional rights. ECF No. 26 1 at 3-6. Specifically, defendants Leech, Boxall, and Prudhel violated his rights when they held 27 an Institutional Classification Committee (“ICC”) hearing without him and decided to remove 28 him from an Administrative Segregations Unit (“ASU”)/Security Housing Unit (“SHU”) and 1 place him into Building A4. Id. at 4-5. Plaintiff asserts that because he had about twenty Inmate 2 Manufactured Weapon (“IMW”) violations within the past five years, prison policy mandated he 3 remain in Long Term SHU placement. Id. A couple of days after he received an ICC hearing 4 notice, he committed another violation for an IMW violation to ensure he remained housed in a 5 SHU. Id. Plaintiff planned to attend his ICC hearing but was taken to the Law Library and not 6 returned in time, despite multiple requests to be taken to his hearing. Id. at 4. 7 As plaintiff was escorted out of the law library, in waist chains and leg restraints, he was 8 informed that the ICC had met without him, decided he would be transferred to building 4A, and 9 that his property had been packed up and placed in his new cell. Id. Based on prior attempts on 10 his life, plaintiff started to panic and felt forced to act. Id. at 6. He was charged with Battery on a 11 Peace Officer and was remanded back to ASU placement. Id. 12 While being escorted down the stairs back to ASU, he slipped, slid down at least three 13 steps and injured his back. Plaintiff asserts he should not have been on the stairs. Id. By way of 14 relief, plaintiff seek monetary damages in the amount of $80,000. Id. at 7. 15 III. Failure to State a Claim 16 Having conducted the screening required by 28 U.S.C. § 1915A, the court finds that the 17 complaint does not state a valid claim for relief pursuant to the Eighth or Fourteenth Amendments 18 against defendants. 19 A. Violation of Prison Policy 20 To the extent plaintiff attempts to state a claim against defendants for violating prison 21 policy, which he alleges required his continued placement in a SHU, he fails to state a claim. To 22 state a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 plaintiff must allege that defendants violated his federal 23 rights, not state regulations such as prison policies. The violation of prison policies or state 24 regulations does not necessarily violate the federal constitution. 25 B. Eleventh Amendment Sovereign Immunity 26 Plaintiff fails to state a claim against CDCR. Sovereign immunity under the Eleventh 27 Amendment bars claims against CDCR. Additionally, CDCR cannot be sued under section 1983 28 because it is not a “person.” 1 C. Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause 2 Plaintiff fails to state a claim for relief under the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process 3 Clause against any defendant. Although plaintiff is entitled to procedural protections before he is 4 placed in administrative segregation, his allegations that an ICC hearing was held in absentia and 5 that he was removed from, rather than placed in, administrative segregation against his wishes, 6 does not entitle him to procedural protections under the Fourteenth Amendment. Moreover, it 7 appears plaintiff is alleging a violation based on his classification.

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