(PC) Porter v. Rivera

District Court, E.D. California·Decided October 29, 2024·No. 1:24-cv-00599·Unknown

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 10 11 SUMPTER PORTER, No. 1:24-cv-00599-JLT-SAB (PC) 12 Plaintiff, FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS RECOMMENDING DISMISSAL OF ACTION 13 v. (ECF No. 17) 14 LAQUIN RIVERA, et al.,

15 Defendants.

17 Plaintiff is proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis in this action filed pursuant to 42 18 U.S.C. § 1983. 19 Plaintiff’s complaint in this action was filed on May 20, 2024. (ECF No. 1.) 20 On June 6, 2024, the Court screened the complaint, found that Plaintiff failed to state a 21 cognizable claim for relief, and granted Plaintiff thirty days to file an amended complaint. (ECF 22 No. 7.) 23 Plaintiff filed a first amended complaint on June 17, 2024. (ECF No. 11.) On July 1, 24 2024, the Court screened Plaintiff’s first amended complaint, found no cognizable claims, and 25 granted Plaintiff thirty days to file a second amended complaint. (ECF No. 13.) 26 Plaintiff filed a second amended complaint on August 9, 2024. (ECF No. 15.) On August 27 23, 2024, the Court screened Plaintiff’s second amended complaint, again found no cognizable 28 1 claims, and granted Plaintiff one final opportunity to amend the complaint. (ECF No. 16.) 2 Plaintiff failed to file a third amended complaint or otherwise respond to the August 23, 3 2024 order. Therefore, on October 2, 2024, he Court issued an order for Plaintiff to show cause 4 why the action should not be dismissed. (ECF No. 17.) Plaintiff has failed to respond to the 5 order to show cause and the time to do so has now passed.1 Accordingly, dismissal of the action 6 is warranted. 7 I. 9 The Court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief against a 10 governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). The 11 Court must dismiss a complaint or portion thereof if the prisoner has raised claims that are legally 12 “frivolous or malicious,” that “fail[] to state a claim on which relief may be granted,” or that 13 “seek[] monetary relief against a defendant who is immune from such relief.” 28 U.S.C. § 14 1915(e)(2)(B); see also 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b). 15 A complaint must contain “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the 16 pleader is entitled to relief. . . .” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). Detailed factual allegations are not 17 required, but “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere 18 conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (citing Bell 19 Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007)). Moreover, Plaintiff must demonstrate 20 that each defendant personally participated in the deprivation of Plaintiff’s rights. Jones v. 21 Williams, 297 F.3d 930, 934 (9th Cir. 2002). 22 Prisoners proceeding pro se in civil rights actions are entitled to have their pleadings 23 liberally construed and to have any doubt resolved in their favor. Wilhelm v. Rotman, 680 F.3d 24 1113, 1121 (9th Cir. 2012) (citations omitted). To survive screening, Plaintiff’s claims must be 25 facially plausible, which requires sufficient factual detail to allow the Court to reasonably infer 26 1 The Court’s October 2, 2024, order was returned by the United States Postal Office as undeliverable with a notation 27 of “paroled.” See Local Rule 182(f) (“Each appearing attorney and pro se party is under a continuing duty to notify the Clerk and all other parties of any change of address or telephone number of the attorney or the pro se party. 28 Absent such notice, service of documents at the prior address of the attorney or pro se party shall be fully effective.”) 1 that each named defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678-79; Moss 2 v. U.S. Secret Service, 572 F.3d 962, 969 (9th Cir. 2009). The “sheer possibility that a defendant 3 has acted unlawfully” is not sufficient, and “facts that are ‘merely consistent with’ a defendant’s 4 liability” falls short of satisfying the plausibility standard. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678; Moss, 572 F.3d 5 at 969. 6 II. 8 The Court accepts Plaintiff’s allegations in his complaint as true only for the purpose of 9 the screening requirement under 28 U.S.C. § 1915. 10 Plaintiff names officer Laquin Rivera, officer Gomez, officer Hilderbrand, sergeant 11 Garcia, and Warden of North Kern State Prison (NKSP), as Defendants. 12 “I was kick [sic] punch and pepper sprayed in my mouth and facial area, and drag by the 13 same ones unto [sic] the program office, and made to strip out and stand in a cage until they let 14 me go back to my building.” (ECF No. 15 at 2.) 15 Officer Rivera pepper sprayed Plaintiff in the mouth and face and the other three officers 16 punched and kicked him in the head and ribs. Rivera also watched Plaintiff be dragged out of the 17 building. 18 Plaintiff requests that Defendants be fired from their employment and monetary damages 19 for his pain and suffering. 22 A. Excessive Force 23 When prison officials use excessive force against prisoners, they violate the inmates’ 24 Eighth Amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment.” Clement v. Gomez, 298 25 F.3d 898, 903 (9th Cir. 2002). To establish a claim for the use of excessive force in violation of 26 the Eighth Amendment, a plaintiff must establish that prison officials applied force maliciously 27 and sadistically to cause harm, rather than in a good-faith effort to maintain or restore discipline. 28 Hudson v. McMillian, 503 U.S. 1, 6–7 (1992). In making this determination, the court may 1 evaluate (1) the need for application of force, (2) the relationship between that need and the 2 amount of force used, (3) the threat reasonably perceived by the responsible officials, and (4) any 3 efforts made to temper the severity of a forceful response. Id. at 7; see also id. at 9–10 (“The 4 Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment necessarily excludes from 5 constitutional recognition de minimis uses of physical force, provided that the use of force is not 6 of a sort repugnant to the conscience of mankind.” (internal quotation marks and citations 7 omitted)). 8 As in Plaintiff’s original complaint, the second amended complaint is devoid of any 9 allegations detailing the factual circumstances surrounding the alleged use of force. Context is 10 important in excessive force cases because, without such allegations, the Court cannot determine 11 whether Defendant’s use of force was applied “in a good faith effort to maintain or restore 12 discipline or maliciously and sadistically for the very purpose of causing harm.” Bearchild v. 13 Cobban, 947 F.3d 1130, 1140 (9th Cir. 2020) (quoting Hudson, 503 U.S. at 6). Consequently, 14 given the lack of factual allegations, the Court cannot determine whether Plaintiff states a 15 plausible claim for relief. Accordingly, Plaintiff fails to state a cognizable claim for excessive 16 force. 17 B.

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