(PC) Luedtke v. Griesbach

District Court, E.D. California·Decided May 27, 2021·No. 1:21-cv-00718·Unknown

Opinion

JAMES D. LUEDTKE, Case No. 1:21-cv-718-HBK Plaintiff, v. FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS TO DENY PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO PROCEED IN WILLIAM GRIESBACH, KIRK OBEAR, FORMA PAUPERIS AND THE CASE BE KARINE MORENO-TAXMAN, GINA DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE1 ANTHONY ISHII, STANLEY BOONE, OR, ALTERNATIVELY, TO DISMISS BARBARA MCAULIFFE, DALE COMPLAINT UNDER § 1915A AS FRIVOLOUS, DROZD, SHEILA OBERTO, ERICA MALICIOUS, AND FOR FAILURE TO STATE A JAMES TRIMBLE, MICHAEL OBJECTIONS DUE WITHIN THIRTY DAYS THE AMERICAN CORRECTIONAL (Doc. No. 3) CURRENT TREASURY SECRETARY, ORDER DIRECTING CLERK TO ASSIGN A ACTING WARDEN DISTRICT JUDGE IN THE SACRAMENTO DIVISION Defendants. Plaintiff James Luedtke, a federal prisoner, is proceeding pro se on his civil rights complaint filed pursuant to Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of 1 This matter was referred to the undersigned pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B) and Local Rule 302 (E.D. Cal. 2019). Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388 (1971), which provides a remedy for violation of civil rights by federal actors. (Doc. No. 1). Plaintiff accompanied the filing of his Complaint with a motion to proceed in forma pauperis (“IFP”) and a motion to appoint counsel. (Doc. Nos. 2, 3). For the reasons set forth herein, the court recommends denying plaintiff’s motion to proceed IFP under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g) because plaintiff has had at least three dismissals that constitute strikes and he has not established he meets the imminent danger exception. The court further recommends the case be dismissed without prejudice if plaintiff fails to pay the filing fee before the objection period expires. In the abundance of caution, the undersigned alternatively recommends dismissal of the Complaint under § 1915A, in the event the district court finds plaintiff has satisfied the imminent danger exception. Finally, the undersigned provides notice to plaintiff that his continual filing of frivolous actions may qualify him to be deemed a “vexatious” litigant in the Eastern District of California under the All Writs Act. Plaintiff is incarcerated at Atwater United States Penitentiary located in Atwater, California. His Complaint identifies plaintiff’s former defense counsel and numerous federal officials, including several United States District Judges and United States Magistrate Judges, as defendants. (Doc. No. 1 at 1-2). The Complaint sets forth twenty-six different, unrelated claims spanning eighteen years from 2003 through 2021. The gravamen of the Complaint is that plaintiff claims he is a “victim of the system.” (See generally Id.). Plaintiff states he is “actually (factually) innocent of all the bogus, trumped-up charges,” for which he was convicted in 2003, after a jury trial, and sentenced to 42 years in from federal prison. (Id. at 2-3). The Complaint then characterizes the Federal Bureau of Prisons (“BOP”) as “money hungry, corrupt” and “a government gulag,” and claims BOP collected over $500,000.00 from him. (Id. at 4). Plaintiff then details the numerous cases he filed and alleges the various judges who have denied his habeas corpus petitions and/or civil rights complaints, who are named as defendants, have violated the judicial canons and operated as a “kangaroo court” by creating “illegal forms” and issuing “rubber stamped” dismissals. (Id. at 1-14). Plaintiff challenges the Prison Litigation Reform Act, specifically 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), as illegal and violative of the United Nations Convention Against Torture. (Id. at 15-16). He then alludes to certain judges by name, accusing them of illegal acts and attributing derogatory and defamatory epitaphs to each. (Id. at 12-17, 24, 29). Finally, plaintiff complains about the wages the BOP pays inmates and his failure to receive his economic impact payments. (Id. at 24-26). In the final count for relief, Plaintiff raises a medical deliberate indifference claim, alleged to have occurred three weeks before filing the instant action. (Id. at 34-36). Similar to the defamatory comments set forth earlier in the Complaint, plaintiff refers generally to medical staff at the facility as “self-appointed” or “alleged doctors,” and refers to the correctional facility as a “hellhole” operated as a “modern Nazi concentration camp.” (Id. at 36). As relief, plaintiff seeks one billion dollars in compensatory damages, one billion dollars in punitive damages, and a jury trial. (Id. at 36). The “Three Strikes Rule” states: In no event shall a prisoner bring a civil action or proceeding under this section if the prisoner has, on 3 or more prior occasions, while incarcerated or detained in any facility, brought an action or appeal in the United States that was dismissed on grounds that it was frivolous, malicious, or fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, unless the prisoner is under imminent danger of serious physical injury. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g). Part of the Prison Litigation Reform Act, the Three Strikes Rule was enacted to help curb non-meritorious prisoner litigation. See Lomax v. Ortiz-Marquez, 140 S. Ct. 1721, 1723 (2020) (citations omitted)). Under § 1915(g), prisoners who have repeatedly brought unsuccessful suits may be barred from bringing a civil action and paying the fee on a payment plan once they have had on prior occasions three or more cases dismissed as frivolous, malicious, or for failure to state a claim. Id.; see also Andrews v. Cervantes, 493 F.2d 1047, 1052 (9th Cir. 2007). Regardless of whether the dismissal was with or without prejudice, a dismissal for failure to state a claim counts as a strike under § 1915(g). Lomax, 140 S. Ct. at 1727. To determine whether a dismissal counts as a strike, a reviewing court looks to the dismissing court’s actions and the reasons underlying the dismissal. Knapp v. Hogan, 738 F.3d 1106, 1109 (9th Cir. 2013). For a dismissal to count as a strike, the dismissal had to be on a “prior occasion,” meaning the it occurred before plaintiff initiated the instant case. See § 1915(g). A dismissal counts as a strike when the dismissal of the action was for frivolity, maliciousness, or for failure to state a claim, or an appeal dismissed for the same reasons. Lomax, 140 S. Ct. at 1723 (citing Section 1915(g)); see also Washington v. Los Angeles Cty. Sheriff’s Dep’t, 833 F.3d 1048 (9th Cir. 2016) (reviewing dismissals that count as strikes); Coleman v. Tollefson, 135 S. Ct. 1759, 1761 (2015) (dismissal that is on appeal counts as a strike during the pendency of the appeal). When a district court disposes of an in forma pauperis complaint requiring the full filing fee, then such a complaint is “dismissed” for purposes of §1915(g). Louis Butler O’Neal v. Price, 531 F.3d 1146, 1153 (9th Cir. 2008). A dismissal for failure to state a claim relying on qualified immunity counts as a strike. Reberger v. Baker, 657 F. App’x 681, 683-84 (9th Cir. Aug. 9, 2016). Although not exhaustive, dismissals that do not count as § 1915(g) strikes include: dismissals of habeas corpus petitions, unless the habeas was purposefully mislabeled to avoid the three strikes provision. See generally El-Shaddai v. Zamora, 833 F.3d 1036, 1046 (9th Cir. 2016) (dismissals of habeas cases do not count as strikes, noting exception). A denial or dismissal of writs of mandamus petitions, the Younger2 abstention doctrine, and Heck v. Humphrey3 generally do not count as a strike, but in some instances Heck dismissals may count as a strike. See Washington v. Los Angeles Cty. Sheriff’s De

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