(PC) Hodges v. Seibert

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. California
DecidedAugust 28, 2020
Docket2:20-cv-00896
StatusUnknown

This text of (PC) Hodges v. Seibert ((PC) Hodges v. Seibert) 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) Hodges v. Seibert, (E.D. Cal. 2020).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 JAMES ALBERT HODGES, No. 2:20-cv-00896-CKD 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER AND 14 J. SEIBERT, et al., FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding pro se in this civil rights action filed pursuant to 42 18 U.S.C. § 1983. This proceeding was referred to this court by Local Rule 302 pursuant to 28 19 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1). 20 Plaintiff requests leave to proceed in forma pauperis. As plaintiff has submitted a 21 declaration that makes the showing required by 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a), his request will be granted. 22 Plaintiff is required to pay the statutory filing fee of $350.00 for this action. 28 U.S.C. §§ 23 1914(a), 1915(b)(1). By separate order, the court will direct the appropriate agency to collect the 24 initial partial filing fee from plaintiff’s trust account and forward it to the Clerk of the Court. 25 Thereafter, plaintiff will be obligated for monthly payments of twenty percent of the preceding 26 month’s income credited to plaintiff’s prison trust account. These payments will be forwarded by 27 the appropriate agency to the Clerk of the Court each time the amount in plaintiff’s account 28 exceeds $10.00, until the filing fee is paid in full. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2). 1 I. Screening Requirement 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). The 4 court must dismiss a complaint or portion thereof if the prisoner has raised claims that are legally 5 “frivolous or malicious,” that fail to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or that seek 6 monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1),(2). 7 A claim is legally frivolous when it lacks an arguable basis either in law or in fact. 8 Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 325 (1989); Franklin v. Murphy, 745 F.2d 1221, 1227-28 (9th 9 Cir. 1984). The court may, therefore, dismiss a claim as frivolous where it is based on an 10 indisputably meritless legal theory or where the factual contentions are clearly baseless. Neitzke, 11 490 U.S. at 327. The critical inquiry is whether a constitutional claim, however inartfully 12 pleaded, has an arguable legal and factual basis. See Jackson v. Arizona, 885 F.2d 639, 640 (9th 13 Cir. 1989); Franklin, 745 F.2d at 1227. 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). Furthermore, a claim 19 upon which the court can grant relief has facial plausibility. Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570. “A 20 claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw 21 the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. 22 at 678. When considering whether a complaint states a claim upon which relief can be granted, 23 the court must accept the allegations as true, Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 93-94 (2007), and 24 construe the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, see Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 25 U.S. 232, 236 (1974). 26 II. Allegations in the Complaint 27 At all times relevant to the allegations in the complaint, plaintiff was an inmate in the 28 Psychiatric Service Unit (“PSU”) at California State Prison-Sacramento (“CSP-Sac”). On 1 September 5, 2018, plaintiff reported feeling suicidal to Dr. Costa. ECF No. 1 at 3. Plaintiff had 2 an active plan to hang himself. ECF No. 1 at 3. Plaintiff was placed in handcuffs and leg irons 3 and transported to a holding cage for suicide watch. Id. Defendant J. Seibert was the first officer 4 assigned to plaintiff’s suicide watch. Id. Plaintiff and defendant Seibert exchanged words, and 5 the next thing that plaintiff remembers is waking up on a ventilator at U.C. Davis Medical Center. 6 Id. Plaintiff was informed by medical staff that he had hung himself and lost consciousness. Id. 7 As a result of this suicide attempt, plaintiff still experiences memory loss, migraine headaches, 8 and blurred vision. Id. 9 Plaintiff alleges that defendant Seibert was deliberately indifferent to his right to personal 10 safety in violation of the Eighth Amendment by not intervening in his suicide attempt. ECF No. 1 11 at 3. Plaintiff names three additional correctional officers at CSP-Sac as defendants in this action, 12 but he does not specify how they were involved in the alleged constitutional violation. 13 By way of relief, plaintiff seeks compensatory and punitive damages as well as 14 declaratory relief. ECF No. 1 at 7. 15 III. Legal Standards 16 The Eighth Amendment prohibits state actors from acting with deliberate indifference to 17 an inmate's health or safety. See Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825 (1994). A claim based on 18 deliberate indifference to health or safety has two elements. First, an inmate must show he was 19 “incarcerated under conditions posing a substantial risk of serious harm.” Id. at 834. Second, the 20 inmate must show he was injured as a result of a defendant’s “deliberate indifference” to that risk. 21 Id. Under the deliberate indifference standard, plaintiff must demonstrate prison officials knew 22 he faced a substantial risk of serious harm and that they disregarded that risk by failing to take 23 reasonable measures to abate it. Id. at 847. 24 There can be no liability under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 unless there is some affirmative link or 25 connection between a defendant’s actions and the claimed deprivation. Rizzo v. Goode, 423 U.S. 26 362 (1976). Vague and conclusory allegations of official participation in civil rights violations 27 are not sufficient. Ivey v. Board of Regents, 673 F.2d 266, 268 (9th Cir. 1982). 28 ///// 1 IV. Analysis 2 The court has reviewed plaintiff’s complaint and, for the limited purposes of § 1915A 3 screening, finds that it states a potentially cognizable Eighth Amendment deliberate indifference 4 claim against defendant Seibert.

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(PC) Hodges v. Seibert, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pc-hodges-v-seibert-caed-2020.