(PC) Mitchell v. Davey

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. California
DecidedMarch 27, 2020
Docket1:16-cv-01148
StatusUnknown

This text of (PC) Mitchell v. Davey ((PC) Mitchell v. Davey) 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) Mitchell v. Davey, (E.D. Cal. 2020).

Opinion

5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 6 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 7

8 JOHN E. MITCHELL, Case No. 1:16-cv-01148-DAD-EPG (PC) 9 Plaintiff, FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS, 10 RECOMMENDING THAT PLAINTIFF’S v. MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT 11 BE GRANTED AND THAT CRM M.S. ROBICHEAUX, DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR 12 SUMMARY JUDGMENT BE DENIED Defendant. 13 (ECF NOS. 128 & 130)

14 FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON MISCELLANEOUS MOTIONS 15 (ECF NOS. 112, 135, 136, 141, 143, 147, & 16 148)

17 OBJECTIONS, IF ANY, DUE WITHIN TWENTY-ONE DAYS 18 ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT’S 19 REQUEST FOR RULING AS MOOT AND REQUIRING DEFENDANT TO SERVE 20 PLAINTIFF WITH A COPY OF HER RESPONSES TO PLAINTIFF’S 21 DISCOVERY REQUESTS

22 (ECF NO. 149) 23 John E. Mitchell (“Plaintiff”) is a state prisoner proceeding pro se in this civil rights 24 action filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. This case now proceeds on Plaintiff’s original 25 complaint, which was filed on August 5, 2016. (ECF No. 1). This case is proceeding on 26 Plaintiff’s claim against defendant Robicheaux (“Defendant”) for violation of Plaintiff’s First 27 Amendment free exercise rights. (ECF Nos. 26 & 93). 28 On August 22, 2019, Plaintiff moved for summary judgment on his claim against 1 Defendant. (ECF No. 128). On September 12, 2019, Defendant filed her opposition to the 2 motion. (ECF No. 133). On October 10, 2019, Plaintiff filed his reply. (ECF No. 139). 3 On August 23, 2019, Defendant moved for summary judgment. (ECF No. 130). On 4 September 9, 2019, Plaintiff filed his opposition to the motion. (ECF No. 132). On September 5 16, 2019, Defendant filed her reply. (ECF No. 134). On February 12, 2020, Defendant filed a 6 request for ruling on her motion for summary judgment. (ECF No. 149).1 7 The motions for summary judgment are now before the Court. Also before the Court 8 are: Plaintiff’s motion for a stay of proceedings/injunctive order (ECF No. 135); Plaintiff’s 9 motion under the All Writs Act (ECF No. 136); Plaintiff’s motion for court order and/or 10 intervention (ECF No. 141); Plaintiff’s motion for a preliminary injunction/TRO (ECF No. 11 143); Plaintiff’s motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction (ECF No. 12 147); and Plaintiff’s motions for leave to submit a supplemental civil complaint pursuant to 13 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(d) (ECF Nos. 112 & 148). 14 For the reasons that follow, the Court will recommend that Plaintiff’s motion for 15 summary judgment be granted as to liability, with the amount of damages to be determined at 16 trial.2 17 The Court will also recommend that all of Plaintiff’s other pending motions, as well as 18 Defendant’s motion for summary judgment, be denied. 19 I. BACKGROUND 20 a. Summary of Plaintiff’s Complaint 21 On June 9, 2015, Plaintiff was transferred from the Substance Abuse Treatment Facility 22 (SATF) to California State Prison, Corcoran (CSP-COR). At CSP-COR, Plaintiff’s First 23 Amendment free exercise rights were infringed, because during Ramadan he could not obtain 24 meals consistent with the religion of Islam. Defendant was in charge of providing such meals. 25 26 1 As the Court is issuing findings and recommendations on Defendant’s motion for summary judgment, Defendant’s request for ruling will be denied as moot. 27 2 The Court is hopeful that damages may be resolved by mutual agreement, potentially with the benefit of a settlement conference, rather than proceeding to trial. The Court will therefore also recommend that the parties 28 be ordered to confer about damages and to submit a status report fourteen days after the district judge rules on these findings and recommendations. 1 However, she knowingly ignored information in Plaintiff’s C-File in order to withhold such 2 meals from Plaintiff. 3 b. Surviving Claim 4 This case is now proceeding only on Plaintiff’s claim against Defendant for violation of 5 Plaintiff’s First Amendment free exercise rights. (ECF Nos. 26 & 93). 6 II. MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT 7 a. Legal Standards 8 i. Summary Judgment 9 Summary judgment in favor of a party is appropriate when there “is no genuine dispute 10 as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. 11 P. 56(a); Albino v. Baca (“Albino II”), 747 F.3d 1162, 1169 (9th Cir. 2014) (en banc) (“If there 12 is a genuine dispute about material facts, summary judgment will not be granted.”). A party 13 asserting that a fact cannot be disputed must support the assertion by “citing to particular parts 14 of materials in the record, including depositions, documents, electronically stored information, 15 affidavits or declarations, stipulations (including those made for purposes of the motion only), 16 admissions, interrogatory answers, or other materials, or showing that the materials cited do not 17 establish the absence or presence of a genuine dispute, or that an adverse party cannot produce 18 admissible evidence to support the fact.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(1). 19 A party moving for summary judgment “bears the initial responsibility of informing the 20 district court of the basis for its motion, and identifying those portions of ‘the pleadings, 21 depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if 22 any,’ which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact.” Celotex 23 Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323 (1986) (quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c)). If the moving party 24 moves for summary judgment on the basis that a material fact lacks any proof, the Court must 25 determine whether a fair-minded jury could reasonably find for the non-moving party. 26 Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 252 (1986) (“The mere existence of a scintilla 27 of evidence in support of the plaintiff’s position will be insufficient; there must be evidence on 28 which the jury could reasonably find for the plaintiff.”). “[A] complete failure of proof 1 concerning an essential element of the nonmoving party’s case necessarily renders all other 2 facts immaterial.” Celotex, 477 U.S. at 322. Additionally, “[a] summary judgment motion 3 cannot be defeated by relying solely on conclusory allegations unsupported by factual data.” 4 Taylor v. List, 880 F.2d 1040, 1045 (9th Cir. 1989). 5 In reviewing the evidence at the summary judgment stage, the Court “must draw all 6 reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party.” Comite de 7 Jornaleros de Redondo Beach v. City of Redondo Beach, 657 F.3d 936, 942 (9th Cir. 2011). It 8 need only draw inferences, however, where there is “evidence in the record … from which a 9 reasonable inference … may be drawn…”; the court need not entertain inferences that are 10 unsupported by fact. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 330 n. 2 (citation omitted). Additionally, “[t]he 11 evidence of the non-movant is to be believed….” Anderson, 477 U.S. at 255. Moreover, the 12 Court must liberally construe Plaintiff’s filings because he is a prisoner proceeding pro se in 13 this action. Thomas v.

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

Related

Hitchman Coal & Coke Co. v. Mitchell
245 U.S. 229 (Supreme Court, 1916)
United States v. New York Telephone Co.
434 U.S. 159 (Supreme Court, 1977)
Califano v. Yamasaki
442 U.S. 682 (Supreme Court, 1979)
Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc.
477 U.S. 242 (Supreme Court, 1986)
O'Lone v. Estate of Shabazz
482 U.S. 342 (Supreme Court, 1987)
Thomas v. Ponder
611 F.3d 1144 (Ninth Circuit, 2010)
Joe Lowell McElyea Jr. v. Governor Bruce Babbitt
833 F.2d 196 (Ninth Circuit, 1987)
Taylor v. List
880 F.2d 1040 (Ninth Circuit, 1989)
Dawud Halisi Malik v. Neal Brown
16 F.3d 330 (Ninth Circuit, 1994)
Shawna Hartmann v. California Department of Corr.
707 F.3d 1114 (Ninth Circuit, 2013)
Merriweather v. Zamora
569 F.3d 307 (Sixth Circuit, 2009)
Capitol Records, LLC v. Bluebeat, Inc.
765 F. Supp. 2d 1198 (C.D. California, 2010)
Juan Albino v. Lee Baca
747 F.3d 1162 (Ninth Circuit, 2014)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
(PC) Mitchell v. Davey, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pc-mitchell-v-davey-caed-2020.