(PC) Grissom v. Keenan

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. California
DecidedApril 22, 2025
Docket2:24-cv-00926
StatusUnknown

This text of (PC) Grissom v. Keenan ((PC) Grissom v. Keenan) 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) Grissom v. Keenan, (E.D. Cal. 2025).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 HOWARD DUPREE GRISSOM, No. 2:24-cv-00926 SCR P 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER 14 STEFANIE KEENAN, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff is a state inmate proceeding pro se with a civil rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 18 1983. Before the court are plaintiff’s complaint for screening (ECF No. 1) and application to 19 proceed in forma pauperis (ECF No. 2). 20 IN FORMA PAUPERIS 21 Plaintiff has requested leave to proceed without paying the full filing fee for this action, 22 under 28 U.S.C. § 1915. Plaintiff has submitted a declaration showing that he cannot afford to 23 pay the entire filing fee. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2). Accordingly, plaintiff’s motion to proceed 24 in forma pauperis is granted. 25 This means that plaintiff is allowed to pay the $350.00 filing fee in monthly installments 26 that are taken from the inmate’s trust account rather than in one lump sum. 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914(a). 27 As part of this order, the prison is required to remove an initial partial filing fee from plaintiff’s 28 trust account. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1). A separate order directed to CDCR requires monthly 1 payments of twenty percent of the prior month’s income to be taken from plaintiff’s trust account. 2 These payments will be taken until the $350 filing fee is paid in full. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2). 3 STATUTORY SCREENING OF PRISONER COMPLAINTS 4 The court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief against “a 5 governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). In 6 performing this screening function, the court must dismiss any claim that “(1) is frivolous, 7 malicious, or fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted; or (2) seeks monetary relief 8 from a defendant who is immune from such relief.” Id. § 1915A(b). A claim is legally frivolous 9 when it lacks an arguable basis either in law or in fact. Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 325 10 (1989). The court may dismiss a claim as frivolous if it is based on an indisputably meritless 11 legal theory or factual contentions that are baseless. Neitzke, 490 U.S. at 327. The critical 12 inquiry is whether a constitutional claim, however inartfully pleaded, has an arguable legal and 13 factual basis. See Jackson v. Arizona, 885 F.2d 639, 640 (9th Cir. 1989). 14 In order to avoid dismissal for failure to state a claim a complaint must contain more than 15 “naked assertions,” “labels and conclusions” or “a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause 16 of action.” Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555-557 (2007). In other words, 17 “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory 18 statements do not suffice.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009). A claim upon which the 19 court can grant relief has facial plausibility. Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570. “A claim has facial 20 plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable 21 inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678. When 22 considering whether a complaint states a claim, the court must accept the allegations as true, 23 Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 93-94 (2007), and construe the complaint in the light most 24 favorable to the plaintiff, Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236 (1974). 25 PLAINTIFF’S COMPLAINT 26 I. Factual Allegations of the Complaint 27 Plaintiff’s complaint concerns alleged inhumane conditions at Folsom State Prison. (ECF 28 No. 1.) There are bird feces “everywhere” in his housing unit that will cause disease such as 1 Tuberculosis. (Id. at 3-4.) The showers have flying nants [sic] from not being cleaned. (Id. at 3.) 2 Plaintiff has tried to talk to defendant Sergeant Meadows about the conditions, but he doesn’t 3 listen or have the unit cleaned. (Id.) Defendant Warden Stefanie Keenan fails to properly train 4 the correctional officers on “basic necessities,” like keeping the housing unit clean. (Id. at 4.) 5 The Warden visits the unit every Monday and is aware of how bad it smells, yet “disregarded the 6 problems.” (Id.) Plaintiff has had to use a breathing machine every day because the bird feces 7 make his COPD act up. (Id.) Plaintiff filed a grievance about the conditions in June 2023. (ECF 8 No. 1 at 7.) He alleged there are bird feces “everywhere,” including on the food carts, which the 9 officers do not clean up. (Id.) The bird droppings stay while the food is on the cart. (Id.) The 10 grievance was granted (id. at 8), but officers are falsifying the cleaning log (id. at 4.) 11 Plaintiff alleges defendants Meadows and Keenan have violated his Eighth Amendment 12 rights with deliberate indifference. (ECF No. 1 at 3-4.) He requests $10,000 in damages, a 13 transfer to Salinas Valley State Prison, and removal of the bird nets from Folsom State Prison 14 Housing Unit B. (Id. at 6.) 15 LEGAL STANDARDS 16 I. Section 1983 17 A plaintiff may bring an action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 to redress violations of “rights, 18 privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and [federal] laws” by a person or entity, 19 including a municipality, acting under the color of state law. 42 U.S.C. § 1983. To state a claim 20 under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a plaintiff must show that (1) a defendant acting under color of state law 21 (2) deprived plaintiff of rights secured by the Constitution or federal statutes. Benavidez v. 22 County of San Diego, 993 F.3d 1134, 1144 (9th Cir. 2021). 23 Section 1983 requires that there be an actual connection or link between the actions of the 24 defendants and the deprivation alleged to have been suffered by plaintiff. See Monell v. 25 Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658, 694 (1978); Rizzo v. Goode, 423 U.S. 362, 370-71 26 (1976). Plaintiff may demonstrate that connection by alleging facts showing: (1) a defendant's 27 “personal involvement in the constitutional deprivation,” or (2) that a defendant set “in motion a 28 series of acts by others” or “knowingly refus[ed] to terminate a series of acts by others, which 1 [the defendant] knew or reasonably should have known would cause others to inflict a 2 constitutional injury.” Starr v. Baca, 652 F.3d 1202, 1207-08 (9th Cir.

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Bluebook (online)
(PC) Grissom v. Keenan, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pc-grissom-v-keenan-caed-2025.