(PC) Ticer v. Ojeda

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. California
DecidedNovember 2, 2021
Docket1:20-cv-01202
StatusUnknown

This text of (PC) Ticer v. Ojeda ((PC) Ticer v. Ojeda) 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) Ticer v. Ojeda, (E.D. Cal. 2021).

Opinion

1 2 3 4

8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

11 TIMOTHY TICER, 1:20-cv-01202-GSA-PC

12 Plaintiff, SCREENING ORDER

13 vs. ORDER DISMISSING COMPLAINT FOR FAILURE TO STATE A CLAIM, WITH 14 OJEDA, et al., LEAVE TO AMEND

15 Defendants. (ECF No. 1.)

16 THIRTY DAYS TO FILE FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT 17

18 19 I. BACKGROUND 20 Timothy Ticer (“Plaintiff”) is a state prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis with this 21 civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized 22 Persons Act of 2000 (“RLUIPA”), 42 U.S.C. § 2000cc-1. Plaintiff filed the Complaint 23 commencing this action on August 26, 2020. (ECF No. 1.) The Complaint is now before the 24 court for screening. 28 U.S.C. § 1915. 25 II. SCREENING REQUIREMENT 26 The Court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief against a 27 governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). The 28 1 Court must dismiss a complaint or portion thereof if the prisoner has raised claims that are legally 2 “frivolous or malicious,” that fail to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or that seek 3 monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1),(2). 4 “Notwithstanding any filing fee, or any portion thereof, that may have been paid, the court shall 5 dismiss the case at any time if the court determines that the action or appeal fails to state a claim 6 upon which relief may be granted.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii). 7 A complaint is required to contain “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that 8 the pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). Detailed factual allegations are not 9 required, but “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere 10 conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (citing Bell 11 Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007)). While a plaintiff’s allegations are taken 12 as true, courts “are not required to indulge unwarranted inferences.” Doe I v. Wal-Mart Stores, 13 Inc., 572 F.3d 677, 681 (9th Cir. 2009) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). To state 14 a viable claim, Plaintiff must set forth “sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim 15 to relief that is plausible on its face.’” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678-79; Moss v. U.S. Secret Service, 16 572 F.3d 962, 969 (9th Cir. 2009). While factual allegations are accepted as true, legal 17 conclusions are not. Id. The mere possibility of misconduct falls short of meeting this 18 plausibility standard. Id. 19 III. SUMMARY OF COMPLAINT 20 Plaintiff is presently incarcerated at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility 21 and State Prison (SATF), in Corcoran, California, in the custody of the California Department of 22 Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), where the events at issue in the Complaint allegedly 23 occurred. Plaintiff names as defendants Chaplain Ojeda, Chaplain D. Hetebrinks, and Warden 24 Stuart Sherman (collectively, “Defendants”). Defendants are all sued in their individual 25 capacities. 26 A summary of Plaintiff’s allegations follows: 27 Plaintiff is of Muslim faith and he embraced its five pillars, duties, and community 28 prayers. Plaintiff is entitled to receive and have his religious service of Jumu’ah on Fridays. 1 Defendants Ojeda, Hetebrinks, and Sherman violated Plaintiff’s religious rights by delaying and 2 denying Jumu’ah services on Fridays. Plaintiff’s religion requires community prayers, such as 3 Jumu’ah on Fridays for Muslims, which is similar to services for Christian and Jewish faiths on 4 Sundays and Saturdays, respectively. 5 Defendants refused to accommodate Plaintiff’s religious services but will accommodate 6 Christian and Jewish religious services. Plaintiff is being treated unequally. Defendants’ conduct 7 is discriminatory. Defendants treat Plaintiff differently than Jewish and Christian inmates 8 without any rational basis for the disparate treatment. 9 Defendants denied Plaintiff the practice of his faith by denying his Jumu’ah services by 10 preventing him from engaging in his duties and beliefs he sincerely believes in, consistent with 11 his faith. Defendants violated Plaintiff’s equal protection rights. Plaintiff’s sincerely held 12 religious beliefs are entitled to Constitutional protection. Plaintiff seeks declaratory relief stating 13 that he is entitled to have his Jumu’ah services on Fridays while he is a CDCR inmate. 14 Plaintiff’s Islam rights were violated in July, 9/6, 13, 20 and October 4, 2019 because 15 Defendants denied Plaintiff his Jumu’ah services on Fridays. Defendants do not deny Christian 16 and Jewish Inmates their religious services when they are participating in their religious belief. 17 Plaintiff was similarly situated to Jewish and Christian inmates but was being treated unequally. 18 Defendants’ conduct was discriminatory. Defendants treated Plaintiff differently than Jewish 19 and Christian inmates without any rational basis for the disparate treatment. 20 Plaintiff seeks as relief a declaratory judgment, monetary damages including punitive 21 damages, costs of suit, and reasonable attorney’s fees. 22 IV. PLAINTIFF’S CLAIMS 23 A. 42 U.S.C. § 1986 24 The Civil Rights Act under which this action was filed provides:

25 Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to 26 be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities 27 secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress . . . . 28 1 42 U.S.C. § 1983. 2 “[Section] 1983 ‘is not itself a source of substantive rights,’ but merely provides ‘a 3 method for vindicating federal rights elsewhere conferred.’” Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 4 393-94 (1989) (quoting Baker v. McCollan, 443 U.S. 137, 144 n.3 (1979)); see also Chapman v. 5 Houston Welfare Rights Org., 441 U.S. 600, 618 (1979); Hall v. City of Los Angeles, 697 F.3d 6 1059, 1068 (9th Cir. 2012); Crowley v. Nevada, 678 F.3d 730, 734 (9th Cir. 2012); Anderson v. 7 Warner, 451 F.3d 1063, 1067 (9th Cir. 2006).

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Bluebook (online)
(PC) Ticer v. Ojeda, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pc-ticer-v-ojeda-caed-2021.