(PC) Holston v. Viera Rosa

District Court, E.D. California·Decided August 11, 2022·No. 2:20-cv-01076·Unknown

Opinion

THERON KENNETH HOLSTON, No. 2:20-cv-01076-KJM-CKD P Plaintiff, v. ORDER AND G. VIERA ROSA, FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Defendant. Plaintiff is a state parolee proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis in this civil rights action filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. This action is proceeding on plaintiff’s first amended complaint challenging 36 special conditions of his parole imposed on December 19, 2019 by defendant Rosa. Currently pending before the court are cross-motions for summary judgment which have been fully briefed by the parties. ECF Nos. 67, 83, 86, 101, 103, 108. For the reasons explained in further detail below, the undersigned recommends granting defendant’s motion for summary judgment and denying plaintiff’s cross motion for summary judgment as moot. I. Ancillary Motions Before the court can address the pending dispositive motions, the court must first resolve the myriad of ancillary motions filed by plaintiff. First, plaintiff filed a motion to withdraw all pending motions except his summary judgment motion. ECF No. 96. However, at the time that this pleading was filed, plaintiff did not have any other pending motions. Therefore, the motion is denied as moot. Plaintiff’s motion to shorten time to respond to defendant’s summary judgment motion, ECF No. 97, is also denied as moot as the motion has now been fully briefed. On June 13, 2022, plaintiff filed a pleading labeled as a “motion to accept plaintiff’s reasonable notice to add conditions of parole.” ECF No. 99. In the motion, plaintiff seeks to amend his complaint to challenge the conditions of parole that were signed on July 12, 2021. Implicitly acknowledging that the deadline to file any amended complaint expired on November 8, 2021, plaintiff relies upon Rule 15(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to assert that he should be allowed to supplement his amended complaint by adding these new claims. See ECF No. 68 (setting deadline for the filing of an amended complaint). Defendant opposed this motion as part of his reply to plaintiff’s opposition to defendant’s summary judgment. ECF No. 101. Defendant points out that “ the proper procedure for Holston to assert new claims is to request leave to amend his first amended complaint pursuant to Rule 15 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.” ECF No. 101 at 2 (citation omitted). However, plaintiff failed to follow this procedure to challenge the July 12, 2021 special conditions even though this court allowed him to file a formal motion to amend along with a proposed amended complaint within 30 days from October 8, 2021. ECF No. 101. Plaintiff ignored the court’s deadline and his untimely motion for leave to amend at this late juncture should be denied according to the defendant. ECF No. 101. Plaintiff’s motion to add new conditions of parole is construed as a motion for leave to amend his complaint. So construed, the motion is denied as untimely filed and for lack of good cause shown. Plaintiff offers no explanation, much less good cause, for his failure to seek leave to amend well beyond the court imposed deadline to amend. Plaintiff’s reliance on Rule 15(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to justify his untimeliness is not sufficient to support an end- run around the court’s deadline. ///// II. Allegations in Plaintiff’s First Amended Complaint1 Plaintiff filed this civil rights action against his state parole officer alleging a Fourteenth Amendment substantive due process and a First Amendment free speech violation based on the unreasonable imposition of 36 separate special conditions of parole on December 19, 2019. ECF No. 7 at 3. The broad categories of special conditions that plaintiff challenges relate to: 1) plaintiff’s contact with minors;2 2) his relationships;3 3) his association with other known sex offenders;4 3) his travel;5 4) his employment;6 5) his residence;7 6) plaintiff’s possessions;8 7) a state transient requirement;9 8) plaintiff’s use of computers and electronic media;10 and, 9) other general restrictions.11 Plaintiff alleges that these special conditions constitute arbitrary and oppressive state action that do not have a nexus to his twenty year old sex crimes or his other criminal history. ECF No. 7 at 7-10. In the amended complaint, plaintiff acknowledges that he has been convicted of three criminal offenses for which he is required to register as a sex offender based on California Penal Code § 290. ECF No. 7 at 4. Plaintiff submits that none of the special conditions of parole being challenged are narrowly tailored to deter his specific criminal conduct and that they are unconnected to his prior crimes. ECF No. 7 at 10-11. By way of relief, plaintiff seeks injunctive relief to prevent defendant from enforcing these special conditions.12 III. Motions for Summary Judgment The first summary judgment motion in this case was filed by plaintiff on October 2, 2021. ECF No. 67. In this motion, plaintiff moves for summary judgment in his favor on the basis of 1 Plaintiff’s original complaint was returned to him pursuant to order dated June 4, 2020. ECF No. 2. 2 See Special Condition of Parole Number 19. ECF No. 7 at 19. 3 See Special Condition of Parole Number 22. ECF No. 7 at 19-20. 4 See Special Conditions of Parole Number 28. ECF No. 7 at 20. 5 See Special Conditions of Parole Numbers 32-34. ECF No. 7 at 20. 6 See Special Conditions of Parole Numbers 35-37. ECF No. 7 at 20. 7 See Special Conditions of Parole Numbers 43-44. ECF No. 7 at 20. 8 See Special Conditions of Parole Numbers 46-49, 52-55. ECF No. 7 at 20-21. 9 See Special Conditions of Parole Number 77. ECF No. 7 at 21. 10 See Special Conditions of Parole Numbers 83-92. ECF No. 7 at 21-22. 11 See Special Conditions of Parole Numbers 93-95, 101, 103-104. ECF No. 7 at 22. 12 This court’s screening order dated September 21, 2020 found plaintiff’s claims for monetary damages against plaintiff barred by absolute immunity. ECF No. 15 at 4-5. entirely new special conditions of parole that were imposed on July 12, 2021. See ECF No. 67 at 4-9. In light of this court’s ruling denying plaintiff leave to amend his complaint to challenge the 2021 special conditions of parole, it is recommended that plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment be denied as moot.13 On April 1, 2022, defendant filed a motion for summary judgment. ECF No. 83. Defendant first argues that many of the challenged special parole conditions are no longer in effect and, as a result, there is no justiciable issue for the court to adjudicate. ECF No. 83 at 14. For a similar reason, defendant submits that relief is not available for the special conditions of parole numbers 19,14 28,15 and 7716 that are required as a matter of state law. ECF No. 83 at 15. As to the remaining special conditions, defendant contends that there is no genuine issue of material dispute that these have a nexus to plaintiff’s criminal history and are necessary to deter his future criminality. ECF No. 83 at 15-23. Accordingly, summary judgment is warranted in favor of defendant. In his consolidated opposition to defendant’s summary judgment motion17, plaintiff

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

(PC) Holston v. Viera Rosa, (E.D. Cal. 2022).

(PC) Holston v. Viera Rosa ((PC) Holston v. Viera Rosa) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

The Town of Pawlet v. D. CLARK & OTHERS
13 U.S. 292 (Supreme Court, 1815)
Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc.
477 U.S. 242 (Supreme Court, 1986)
Collins v. City of Harker Heights
503 U.S. 115 (Supreme Court, 1992)
Heck v. Humphrey
512 U.S. 477 (Supreme Court, 1994)
Richards v. Nielsen Freight Lines
602 F. Supp. 1224 (E.D. California, 1985)
In Re White
97 Cal. App. 3d 141 (California Court of Appeal, 1979)
People v. Dominguez
256 Cal. App. 2d 623 (California Court of Appeal, 1967)
People v. Smith
62 Cal. Rptr. 3d 316 (California Court of Appeal, 2007)
People v. Moran
376 P.3d 617 (California Supreme Court, 2016)