(PC) Garces v. Newsom

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. California
DecidedApril 16, 2024
Docket2:23-cv-01997
StatusUnknown

This text of (PC) Garces v. Newsom ((PC) Garces v. Newsom) 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) Garces v. Newsom, (E.D. Cal. 2024).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 LUIS MANUEL GARCES, No. 2:23-CV-1997-DMC-P 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER 14 GAVIN NEWSOM, 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 original complaint. See ECF No. 1. 19 The Court is required to screen complaints brought by litigants who, as here, have 20 been granted leave to proceed in forma pauperis. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2). Under this 21 screening provision, the Court must dismiss a complaint or portion thereof if it: (1) is frivolous or 22 malicious; (2) fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted; or (3) seeks monetary relief 23 from a defendant who is immune from such relief. See 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(e)(2)(A), (B). 24 Moreover, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(h)(3), this Court must dismiss an 25 action if the Court determines that it lacks subject matter jurisdiction. Pursuant to Rule 12(h)(3), 26 the Court will also consider as a threshold matter whether it has subject-matter jurisdiction. 27 / / / 28 / / / 1 I. PLAINTIFF’S ALLEGATIONS 2 Plaintiff Luis Manuel Garces (“Plaintiff”) is a current inmate at California State 3 Prison, Corcoran (“CSPC”). Plaintiff names the following Defendants: (1) Gavin Newsom, 4 California State Governor (“Defendant Newsom”); (2) Ralph M. Diaz, Former Secretary of 5 California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (“CDCR”) (“Defendant Diaz”); (3) 6 Kathleen Allison, California State Prison Director (“Defendant Allison”); (4) S. Alfaro 7 (“Defendant Alfaro”); (5) C. Vanenburg, California Corrections Institution Specialist at CDCR 8 (“Defendant Vanenburg”); (6) B. Moak, employee of CDCR (“Defendant Moak”); (7) S. Smith, 9 employee of CDCR (“Defendant Smith”); (8) Redmon, employee of Kern Valley State Prison 10 (“KVSP”) (“Defendant Redmon”); (9) J. Sherman, employee of CSPC (“Defendant Sherman”); 11 (10) Duran, employee of CSPC (“Defendant Duran”); (11) Quezada, employee of CSPC 12 (“Defendant Quezada”); (12) Kirby, employee of KVSP (“Defendant Kirby”); and (13) R. 13 Hernandez (“Defendant Hernandez”). See ECF No. 1, at 1-4. Plaintiff’s first cause of action is 14 deliberate indifference to a prison condition against Defendant Newsom and Defendant Diaz. See 15 id. at 5. Plaintiff then generally asserts all Defendants collectively violated Plaintiff’s 16 constitutional rights to be free from cruel and unusual punishment and in Defendants’ conspiracy 17 to cause Plaintiff harm. See id. at 13. Lastly, Plaintiff includes factual allegations of Defendant 18 Quezada allegedly violating Plaintiff’s constitutional right by failing to prevent excessive force 19 and sexual assault. See id. at 12. 20 A. Background 21 Plaintiff asserts that since January of 2008, Plaintiff has suffered constant threats 22 of stabbings from gang members at CSPC. See id. at 28. Plaintiff states he repeatedly requested 23 to be moved to a facility away from these gang members but was denied. See id. Plaintiff 24 subsequently appealed this decision to the second level of review, to be transferred to High Desert 25 State Prison. See id. at 29. Plaintiff alleges prison records were suppressed in July of 2014 and 26 that he was forced into new housing circumstances. See id. Later, Plaintiff was wrongly accused 27 of fighting with his inmate and transferred to a housing unit with an alleged gang member. See 28 id. On February 23, 2015, Plaintiff was allegedly assaulted by this inmate. See id. In 2016, 1 Plaintiff claims CDCR personnel knowingly moved Plaintiff to a new housing assignment with 2 another alleged gang member. See id. at 30. In 2017, Plaintiff requested a new housing 3 assignment and was denied. See id. From 2017 through 2018, Plaintiff alleges Defendants 4 engaged in the later described conspiracy to hide information validating Plaintiff’s safety 5 concerns and CDCR alleged improper housing assignments. See id. at 30-31. 6 B. Allegations Against Defendants 7 1. Defendants Newsom, Diaz, and Allison 8 Plaintiff claims Defendant Newsom knowingly failed to supervise CSPC 9 employees and their creation of illegitimate prison rules. See id. at 5. Plaintiff claims he was 10 intentionally housed with violent inmates and wrongfully charged with a Rules Violation Report 11 (“RVR”) 115. See id. Furthermore, Plaintiff alleges Defendant Diaz knowingly allowed 12 sergeants and wardens to create their own policies and customs. See id. Similarly, Plaintiff 13 alleges Defendant Allison also knowingly permitted this harm to Plaintiff and separately on 14 March 8, 2019, ordered Plaintiff to be housed with the use of force. See id. at 6. Plaintiff claims 15 Defendant Allison’s actions caused Plaintiff to suffer two assaults, on June 12, 2019, and 16 November 5, 2021, from CDCR authorities and the wrongful charge of RVR 115. See id. 17 2. Defendants Alfaro and Moak 18 Plaintiff further asserts that Defendant Alfaro violated his constitutional rights, in 19 Defendant Alfaro’s participation in the creation of allegedly false testimony that supported 20 Defendant Allison’s decision to house Plaintiff. See id. at. 7. Plaintiff also alleges Defendant 21 Moak violated his rights in providing Defendant Allison false information regarding the violent 22 nature of inmates at Plaintiff’s proposed housing unit. See id. Therefore, Plaintiff claims 23 Defendant Moak’s actions also resulted in the June 12, 2019, and November 5, 2021, assaults. 24 See id. at 8. 25 / / / 26 / / / 27 / / / 28 / / / 1 3. Defendants Seibel, Sherman, Smith, and Redmon 2 Plaintiff has also alleged Defendant Seibel provided false information and failed to 3 review Plaintiff’s personnel files when deciding how to advise on the decision of Plaintiff’s 4 housing location. See id. at 9. Specifically, that these actions resulted in the covering of evidence 5 demonstrating a threat to Plaintiff’s life. See id. Additionally, Plaintiff alleges Defendant 6 Sherman violated Plaintiff’s rights by providing false statements on May 8, 2020, to intentionally 7 discredit violent threats Plaintiff faced. See id. at 10. Plaintiff also asserts that Defendant Smith 8 participated the above-mentioned conspiracy with other members of leadership at CDCR. See id. 9 at 11. 10 Next, Plaintiff claims Defendant Smith subjected Plaintiff to false imprisonment 11 for a period of about two months on a falsified quarantine status. See id. As a result of 12 Defendant Smith’s actions and Defendant Redmon’s actions, Plaintiff was subjected to physical 13 assaults and constant harassment through food contaminations. See id. 14 4. Defendants Duran, Martinez, and Quezada 15 Plaintiff argues Defendant Duran also failed to protect Plaintiff by failing to move 16 his housing placement after knowing alleged safety risks to Plaintiff. See id. Specifically, 17 Plaintiff states Defendant Duran, with Defendant Martinez and Defendant Quezada, had Plaintiff 18 moved on April 5, 2021. See id. Plaintiff also alleges Defendant Duran voluntarily distributed 19 Plaintiff’s personal information to other inmates. See id. 20 Plaintiff also asserts Defendant Quezada harassed Plaintiff at his housing unit and 21 instigated other inmates to cause harm to Plaintiff. See id. at 12. On November 5, 2021, Plaintiff 22 alleges Defendant Quezada violated Plaintiff’s rights to be free from excessive force and sexual 23 assault. See id.

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Bluebook (online)
(PC) Garces v. Newsom, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pc-garces-v-newsom-caed-2024.