(PC) Martin v. California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. California
DecidedOctober 19, 2023
Docket1:23-cv-00822
StatusUnknown

This text of (PC) Martin v. California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation ((PC) Martin v. California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation) 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) Martin v. California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation, (E.D. Cal. 2023).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 DOUGLAS M. MARTIN, No. 1:23-cv-00822-SAB (PC) 12 Plaintiff, ORDER DIRECTING CLERK OF COURT TO RANDOMLY ASSIGN A DISTRICT JUDGE 13 v. TO THIS ACTION 14 CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS CORRECTIONS & REHABILITATION, RECOMMENDING DISMISSAL OF 15 et al., CERTAIN CLAIMS AND DEFENDANTS 16 Defendants. (ECF No. 12) 17 18 Plaintiff is proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis in this action filed pursuant to 42 19 U.S.C. § 1983. 20 Currently before the Court is Plaintiff’s amended complaint, filed September 29, 2023. 21 I. 22 SCREENING REQUIREMENT 23 The Court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief against a 24 governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). The 25 Court must dismiss a complaint or portion thereof if the prisoner has raised claims that are legally 26 “frivolous or malicious,” that “fail[] to state a claim on which relief may be granted,” or that 27 “seek[] monetary relief against a defendant who is immune from such relief.” 28 U.S.C. § 28 1915(e)(2)(B); see also 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b). 1 A complaint must contain “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the 2 pleader is entitled to relief. . . .” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). Detailed factual allegations are not 3 required, but “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere 4 conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (citing Bell 5 Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007)). Moreover, Plaintiff must demonstrate 6 that each defendant personally participated in the deprivation of Plaintiff’s rights. Jones v. 7 Williams, 297 F.3d 930, 934 (9th Cir. 2002). 8 Prisoners proceeding pro se in civil rights actions are entitled to have their pleadings 9 liberally construed and to have any doubt resolved in their favor. Wilhelm v. Rotman, 680 F.3d 10 1113, 1121 (9th Cir. 2012) (citations omitted). To survive screening, Plaintiff’s claims must be 11 facially plausible, which requires sufficient factual detail to allow the Court to reasonably infer 12 that each named defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678-79; Moss 13 v. U.S. Secret Service, 572 F.3d 962, 969 (9th Cir. 2009). The “sheer possibility that a defendant 14 has acted unlawfully” is not sufficient, and “facts that are ‘merely consistent with’ a defendant’s 15 liability” falls short of satisfying the plausibility standard. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678; Moss, 572 F.3d 16 at 969. 17 II. 18 COMPLAINT ALLEGATIONS 19 The Court accepts Plaintiff’s allegations in his complaint as true only for the purpose of 20 the screening requirement under 28 U.S.C. § 1915. 21 Plaintiff names Director of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation 22 (CDCR) Connie Gipson, officer Maria Flores, and officer Oscar Rubio, as Defendants. 23 On August 9, 2022, while Plaintiff was housed at Kern Valley State Prison (KVSP), 24 during room release, officers Rubio and Flores ran the top tier program. Officer Flores called her 25 two porters over to her. Flores then announced in a loud voice while pointing at Plaintiff’s door, 26 “we’re going to bounce this piece of shit, fucken pervert T. Martin out of our building he was 27 ‘jacking off’ in front of C/O Bedolla.” This never happened, and if it did occur Plaintiff would 28 have received a Rules Violation Report and referral to the District Attorney. Plaintiff heard the 1 comment and yelled back to Flores, “watch your mouth” because it was not true. Flores 2 responded, “Yea it is, it wouldn’t have been a problem if you would have kept your little white 3 dick, your little ass inch worm, your little wet noodle in your pants.” Officer Flores and Plaintiff 4 continued to “cuss” at one another, and officer Rubio joined in cussing at Plaintiff and challenged 5 Plaintiff to go to dayroom and do something. Plaintiff replied that he would “come out and do 6 something.” Rubio then threatened to kill Plaintiff stating, “I’ll have my gunner shot you and 7 blow your fucken head off.” Plaintiff started to “flip out.” He covered his windows and told 8 officers to get a sergeant and lieutenant. Rubio then told all the inmates in B-Pod, “I was a piece 9 of shit and they needed to take care of me. I needed to be removed.” Plaintiff can only construe 10 from their actions that they intended for Plaintiff to be hurt. The threat, itself, implies officer 11 Rubio’s intent to have Plaintiff harmed. 12 Officer Flores words were specifically designed for the purpose of humiliating, degrading 13 or demeaning Plaintiff causing Plaintiff mental anguish. Plaintiff lost monetary property and 14 legal case paperwork. Plaintiff lives in fear and discontent that some officer or inmate may do 15 him harm. 16 III. 17 DISCUSSION 18 A. Director of CDCR as Defendant 19 Plaintiff names Defendant Gipson (the CDCR Director) in the caption of the complaint, 20 but Plaintiff does not claim that this Defendant personally violated his constitutional rights. 21 Respondeat superior liability is not available under section 1983. See Taylor v. List, 880 F.2d 22 1040, 1045 (9th Cir. 1989). Instead, Plaintiff must allege that the supervisory liability Defendant 23 “participated in or directed the violations, or knew of the violations and failed to act to prevent 24 them.” Id. Here, no facts are alleged to establish supervisorial liability on the part of Defendant 25 Gipson. Accordingly, Plaintiff fails to state a cognizable claim against Defendant Gipson. 26 B. Sexual Harassment 27 Sexual harassment or abuse of an inmate by a prison official is a violation of the Eighth 28 Amendment. Wood v. Beauclair, 692 F.3d 1041, 1046, 1051 (9th Cir. 2012) (citing Schwenk v. 1 Hartford, 204 F.3d 1187, 1197 (9th Cir. 2000)). In evaluating such a claim, “courts consider 2 whether ‘the official act[ed] with a sufficiently culpable state of mind’ ” -- the subjective 3 component -- “and if the alleged wrongdoing was objectively ‘harmful enough’ to establish a 4 constitutional violation” -- the objective component. Wood, 692 F.3d at 1046 (alteration in 5 original) (quoting Hudson v. McMillian, 503 U.S. 1, 8 (1992)). As “sexual assault serves no 6 valid penological purpose ... where an inmate can prove that a prison guard committed a sexual 7 assault, we presume the guard acted maliciously and sadistically for the very purpose of causing 8 harm, and the subjective component of the Eighth Amendment claim is satisfied.” Bearchild v. 9 Cobban, 947 F.3d 1130, 1144 (9th Cir. 2020) (citing Wood, 692 F.3d at 1050; Schwenk, 204 F.3d 10 at 1196 n.6).

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Bluebook (online)
(PC) Martin v. California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pc-martin-v-california-department-of-corrections-rehabilitation-caed-2023.