(PC) Miles v. Hollister

District Court, E.D. California·Decided September 14, 2020·No. 2:19-cv-02151·Unknown

Opinion

GEORGIA MILES, No. 2:19-cv-2151 JAM DB P Plaintiff, v. ORDER AND FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS HOLLISTER, et al., Defendants. Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding pro se with a civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff has presented several claims that relate to her criminal case and incarceration in the Plumas County Jail. Presently before the court are numerous motions filed by plaintiff as well as her complaint for screening. On May 18, 2020, the court issued findings and recommendations recommending that this action be dismissed for failure to comply with court orders because plaintiff had not filed an application to proceed in forma pauperis or paid the filing fee. (ECF No. 17.) Thereafter, plaintiff filed a notice regarding filing fees (ECF No. 18) and a motion to set aside the filing fee (ECF No. 19). It appears from her most recent filings that plaintiff is under the mistaken impression that she is required to pay the filing fee in full. However, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1) the court may authorize litigants proceeding pro se to commence litigation of a suit provided the litigant files an application showing that they are unable to pay the filing fee. The court will deny plaintiff’s motion to cancel filing fees, vacate the findings and recommendations, and give plaintiff one final opportunity to file a properly completed application to proceed in forma pauperis. I. Legal Standards The court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief against a governmental entity or an officer or employee of a governmental entity. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). The court must dismiss a complaint or portion thereof if the prisoner has raised claims that are legally “frivolous or malicious,” that fail to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or that seek monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1) & (2). A claim is legally frivolous when it lacks an arguable basis either in law or in fact. Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 325 (1989); Franklin v. Murphy, 745 F.2d 1221, 1227-28 (9th Cir. 1984). The court may, therefore, dismiss a claim as frivolous where it is based on an indisputably meritless legal theory or where the factual contentions are clearly baseless. Neitzke, 490 U.S. at 327. The critical inquiry is whether a constitutional claim, however inartfully pleaded, has an arguable legal and factual basis. See Franklin, 745 F.2d at 1227. Rule 8(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure “requires only ‘a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief,’ in order to ‘give the defendant fair notice of what the . . . claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.’” Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007) (quoting Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 47 (1957)). However, in order to survive dismissal for failure to state a claim a complaint must contain more that “a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action;” it must contain factual allegations sufficient “to raise a right to relief above the speculative level.” Bell Atlantic, 550 U.S. at 555. In reviewing a complaint under this standard, the court must accept as true the allegations of the complaint in question, Hospital Bldg. Co. v. Rex Hospital Trustees, 425 U.S. //// 738, 740 (1976), construe the pleading in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, and resolve all doubts in the plaintiff’s favor. Jenkins v. McKeithen, 395 U.S. 411, 421 (1969). The Civil Rights Act under which this action was filed provides as follows: Every person who, under color of [state law] . . . subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States . . . to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution . . . shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress. 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The statute requires that there be an actual connection or link between the actions of the defendants and the deprivation alleged to have been suffered by plaintiff. See Monell v. Dept. of Social Servs., 436 U.S. 658 (1978); Rizzo v. Goode, 423 U.S. 362 (1976). “A person ‘subjects’ another to the deprivation of a constitutional right, within the meaning of § 1983, if he does an affirmative act, participates in another’s affirmative acts or omits to perform an act which he is legally required to do that causes the deprivation of which complaint is made.” Johnson v. Duffy, 588 F.2d 740, 743 (9th Cir. 1978). Moreover, supervisory personnel are generally not liable under § 1983 for the actions of their employees under a theory of respondeat superior and, therefore, when a named defendant holds a supervisorial position, the causal link between him and the claimed constitutional violation must be specifically alleged. See Fayle v. Stapley, 607 F.2d 858, 862 (9th Cir. 1979); Mosher v. Saalfeld, 589 F.2d 438, 441 (9th Cir. 1978). Vague and conclusory allegations concerning the involvement of official personnel in civil rights violations are not sufficient. See Ivey v. Board of Regents, 673 F.2d 266, 268 (9th Cir. 1982). II. Allegations in the Complaint Plaintiff has named as defendants in this action: (1) District Attorney Hollister; (2) Judge Gindonelle; (3) Public Defender Bill Abramson; and (4) Judge Ira Kaufman. (ECF No. 1 at 2.) Plaintiff appears to challenge decisions made in state criminal proceedings in which she is the defendant. Specifically, she objects to being found incompetent pursuant to California Penal Code § 1368 and denial of her motion to represent herself. However, plaintiff also includes allegations regarding her conditions of confinement in the Plumas County Jail. //// III. Does Plaintiff State a Claim under § 1983? A. Plaintiff Cannot Contest State Court Criminal Proceedings via § 1983 Plaintiff has named as defendants in this action individuals who are involved in state criminal proceedings in which she is the defendant. However, she also devotes considerable time to the conditions of her confinement in the Plumas County Jail. To the extent plaintiff claims that the conditions complained of violate her rights, she may state a claim. However, the complaint must be dismissed because she has not identified any specific jail officials as defendants in this action or specified how those individuals violated her rights. “‘Federal law opens two main avenues to relief on complaints related to imprisonment: a petition for habeas corpus, 28 U.S.C. § 2254, and a complaint under the Civil Rights Act of 1871, Rev. Stat. § 1979, as amended 42 U.S.C. § 1983.” Muhammad v. Close,

(PC) Miles v. Hollister, (E.D. Cal. 2020).

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

Related

Boyden v. United States
80 U.S. 17 (Supreme Court, 1872)
Landis v. North American Co.
299 U.S. 248 (Supreme Court, 1936)
Conley v. Gibson
355 U.S. 41 (Supreme Court, 1957)
Pierson v. Ray
386 U.S. 547 (Supreme Court, 1967)
Jenkins v. McKeithen
395 U.S. 411 (Supreme Court, 1969)
Younger v. Harris
401 U.S. 37 (Supreme Court, 1971)
Preiser v. Rodriguez
411 U.S. 475 (Supreme Court, 1973)
Rizzo v. Goode
423 U.S. 362 (Supreme Court, 1976)
Imbler v. Pachtman
424 U.S. 409 (Supreme Court, 1976)
Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Servs.
436 U.S. 658 (Supreme Court, 1978)
Polk County v. Dodson
454 U.S. 312 (Supreme Court, 1981)
Neitzke v. Williams
490 U.S. 319 (Supreme Court, 1989)
McCarthy v. Bronson
500 U.S. 136 (Supreme Court, 1991)
Heck v. Humphrey
512 U.S. 477 (Supreme Court, 1994)
Clinton v. Jones
520 U.S. 681 (Supreme Court, 1997)
Swierkiewicz v. Sorema N. A.
534 U.S. 506 (Supreme Court, 2002)
Muhammad v. Close
540 U.S. 749 (Supreme Court, 2004)
Shepard v. United States
544 U.S. 13 (Supreme Court, 2005)
Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly
550 U.S. 544 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Vermont v. Brillon
556 U.S. 81 (Supreme Court, 2009)