(PC) Littleton v. Montiez

District Court, E.D. California·Decided October 17, 2022·No. 2:22-cv-00700·Unknown

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 10 11 MICHAEL LITTLETON, No. 2:22-cv-0700 KJM KJN P 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER 14 MARK MONTIEZ, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff is a county jail inmate, proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis. Plaintiff seeks 18 relief pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and requested leave to proceed in forma pauperis pursuant to 19 28 U.S.C. § 1915. On June 17, 2022, plaintiff’s third amended complaint was dismissed and 20 plaintiff was granted leave to file an amended complaint on the court’s form that complies with 21 the June 3, 2022 order. Since that date, plaintiff has filed two more putative amended complaints. 22 However, because plaintiff’s fourth amended complaint suffers the same defects as his third 23 amended complaint, and is now superseded by his fifth amended complaint, the court will screen 24 his fifth amended complaint (ECF No. 25). As discussed below, plaintiff’s pleading is dismissed 25 with one last opportunity to amend. 26 Screening Standards 27 The court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief against a 28 governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). The 1 court must dismiss a complaint or portion thereof if the prisoner raised claims that are legally 2 “frivolous or malicious,” that fail to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or that seek 3 monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1), (2). 4 A claim is legally frivolous when it lacks an arguable basis either in law or in fact. 5 Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 325 (1989); Franklin v. Murphy, 745 F.2d 1221, 1227-28 (9th 6 Cir. 1984). The court may, therefore, dismiss a claim as frivolous when it is based on an 7 indisputably meritless legal theory or where the factual contentions are clearly baseless. Neitzke, 8 490 U.S. at 327. The critical inquiry is whether a constitutional claim, however inartfully 9 pleaded, has an arguable legal and factual basis. See Jackson v. Arizona, 885 F.2d 639, 640 (9th 10 Cir. 1989), superseded by statute as stated in Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 1130-31 (9th Cir. 11 2000) (“[A] judge may dismiss [in forma pauperis] claims which are based on indisputably 12 meritless legal theories or whose factual contentions are clearly baseless.”); Franklin, 745 F.2d at 13 1227. 14 Rule 8(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure “requires only ‘a short and plain 15 statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief,’ in order to ‘give the 16 defendant fair notice of what the . . . claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.’” Bell Atlantic 17 Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007) (quoting Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 47 (1957)). 18 In order to survive dismissal for failure to state a claim, a complaint must contain more than “a 19 formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action;” it must contain factual allegations 20 sufficient “to raise a right to relief above the speculative level.” Bell Atlantic, 550 U.S. at 555. 21 However, “[s]pecific facts are not necessary; the statement [of facts] need only ‘give the 22 defendant fair notice of what the . . . claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.’” Erickson v. 23 Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 93 (2007) (quoting Bell Atlantic, 550 U.S. at 555, citations and internal 24 quotations marks omitted). In reviewing a complaint under this standard, the court must accept as 25 true the allegations of the complaint in question, Erickson, 551 U.S. at 93, and construe the 26 pleading in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236 27 (1974), overruled on other grounds, Davis v. Scherer, 468 U.S. 183 (1984). 28 //// 1 The Civil Rights Act 2 To state a claim under § 1983, a plaintiff must allege facts that demonstrate: (1) the 3 violation of a federal constitutional or statutory right; and (2) that the violation was committed by 4 a person acting under the color of state law. See West v. Atkins, 487 U.S. 42, 48 (1988); Jones v. 5 Williams, 297 F.3d 930, 934 (9th Cir. 2002). An individual defendant is not liable on a civil 6 rights claim unless the facts establish the defendant’s personal involvement in the constitutional 7 deprivation or a causal connection between the defendant’s wrongful conduct and the alleged 8 constitutional deprivation. See Hansen v. Black, 885 F.2d 642, 646 (9th Cir. 1989); Johnson v. 9 Duffy, 588 F.2d 740, 743-44 (9th Cir. 1978). That is, plaintiff may not sue any official on the 10 theory that the official is liable for the unconstitutional conduct of his or her subordinates. 11 Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 679 (2009). The requisite causal connection between a 12 supervisor’s wrongful conduct and the violation of the prisoner’s constitutional rights can be 13 established in a number of ways, including by demonstrating that a supervisor’s own culpable 14 action or inaction in the training, supervision, or control of his subordinates was a cause of 15 plaintiff’s injury. Starr v. Baca, 652 F.3d 1202, 1208 (9th Cir. 2011). 16 Plaintiff’s Pleading 17 Plaintiff raises two separate causes of action. In his first claim, plaintiff claims that 18 defendant Bonde, 1501, Sacramento Sheriff’s Deputy, has been interfering with plaintiff’s mail 19 by opening and reading his legal mail, and then sending it to Michael Humane, who is a public 20 defender. (ECF No. 26 at 2.) Plaintiff then explains his efforts to file grievances about mail 21 interference by defendant Bonde in which plaintiff was unable to get a hearing. Plaintiff claims 22 he filed another case against Bonde in Sacramento County Superior Court, in which plaintiff was 23 give a six-month deadline, which plaintiff did on May 8, 2022, but defendant Bonde held it until 24 plaintiff wrote numerous places for help. (ECF No. 25 at 3.) 25 In his second claim, plaintiff contends his privacy rights were violated, but also marked 26 the box “threat to safety.” (ECF No. 25 at 4.) Plaintiff alleges that defendants Bonde, Mark 27 Montiez, and Janea Herrea invaded plaintiff’s privacy by stealing his whole identity. (ECF No. 28 25 at 4.) He claims that defendants Bonde and Alexis Fickenworth-Pina set plaintiff up to die 1 through some “app” because Pina was hired by Bonde to help set plaintiff up. (ECF No. 25 at 4.) 2 Further, plaintiff claims that bail bondsman Montiez hooked up with Bonde and Pina to sabotage 3 plaintiff’s life and try to get him life in prison because they secretly found out plaintiff is gay.

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