(PC) Vallery v. Degallegos

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. California
DecidedOctober 7, 2019
Docket2:19-cv-01813
StatusUnknown

This text of (PC) Vallery v. Degallegos ((PC) Vallery v. Degallegos) 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) Vallery v. Degallegos, (E.D. Cal. 2019).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 RAYNARD VALLERY, No. 2:19-CV-1813-DMC-P 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER 14 DEGALLEGOS, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff, a prisoner proceeding pro se, brings this civil rights action pursuant to 18 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Pending before the court is plaintiff’s complaint (ECF No. 1). 19 The court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief 20 against a governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity. See 28 U.S.C. 21 § 1915A(a). The court must dismiss a complaint or portion thereof if it: (1) is frivolous or 22 malicious; (2) fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted; or (3) seeks monetary relief 23 from a defendant who is immune from such relief. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1), (2). Moreover, 24 the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure require that complaints contain a “. . . short and plain 25 statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). This 26 means that claims must be stated simply, concisely, and directly. See McHenry v. Renne, 84 F.3d 27 1172, 1177 (9th Cir. 1996) (referring to Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(e)(1)). These rules are satisfied if the 28 complaint gives the defendant fair notice of the plaintiff’s claim and the grounds upon which it 1 rests. See Kimes v. Stone, 84 F.3d 1121, 1129 (9th Cir. 1996). Because plaintiff must allege 2 with at least some degree of particularity overt acts by specific defendants which support the 3 claims, vague and conclusory allegations fail to satisfy this standard. Additionally, it is 4 impossible for the court to conduct the screening required by law when the allegations are vague 5 and conclusory. 6 7 I. PLAINTIFF’S ALLEGATIONS 8 Plaintiff Raynard Vallery has named the following as defendants: 1) Degallegos, 9 2) D. Halverson, and 3) R. Neuschmid. Plaintiff is a prisoner at Solano State Prison in Vacaville, 10 California. 11 On November 27, 2019, plaintiff was called to transfer from housing facility B to 12 housing facility C. This transfer would not allow plaintiff to keep his television in the new facility 13 because of an increased risk of fire. Plaintiff was instructed by the prison staff to leave his 14 television behind and follow procedures to have it moved to a safe location. Within a few weeks, 15 plaintiff was informed that his television was confiscated and taken to storage. Plaintiff returned 16 to facility B without permission to inquire as to the status of his television. There, he was told by 17 Officer Degallegos that his television was in storage. Degallegos allegedly threatened to handcuff 18 plaintiff and issue him a citation if he entered the facility without permission again. 19 On December 13, 2017, plaintiff made an administrative inquiry to Corrections 20 Officer Martin as to the whereabouts of his television. Martin failed to respond and plaintiff 21 subsequently contacted prison representative Oliver, requesting assistance in locating his 22 television. Plaintiff was eventually told by prison staff that his television was no longer in storage. 23 Degallegos allegedly disposed of the television because plaintiff failed to fill out the necessary 24 paperwork. Plaintiff contends this was a pretext for Degallegos’ retaliation against him, and that 25 he was never given the paperwork to fill out, nor the requisite 30-day waiting period, as is 26 standard policy. 27 / / / 28 / / / 1 Plaintiff appealed Degallegos’ actions to Associate Warden D. Halverson. On 2 February 2, 2018, Halverson denied the appeal, citing 1) plaintiff’s failure to fill out the necessary 3 paperwork and 2) plaintiff’s failure to mail his television home within the allotted 30-day period. 4 Plaintiff alleges that he was never given the necessary paperwork, nor had the 30-day period 5 expired before his television was destroyed. Plaintiff claims that Halverson knowingly fabricated 6 facts to support Degallegos’ retaliation against him. 7 Plaintiff appealed Halverson’s decision to Warden R. Neuschmid. On March 13, 8 2018, Neuschmid denied the appeal on the same grounds of Halverson’s denial. Plaintiff similarly 9 alleges that Neuschmid knowingly fabricated facts to support Degallegos’ retaliation against him. 10 Lastly, plaintiff alleges that his building cluster, buildings 13, 14, and 15, prohibits 11 the possession of televisions despite the fact that buildings 16, 17, and 18 allow prisoners to keep 12 their televisions. Prison staff claim this distinction is made to prevent fire hazards, but plaintiff 13 alleges it is a pretext for unequal treatment of prisoners. 14 15 II. DISCUSSION 16 A. Retaliation 17 Plaintiff fails to make out a cognizable claim of retaliation against any of the 18 named defendants. 19 In order to state a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for retaliation, the prisoner must 20 establish that he was retaliated against for exercising a constitutional right, and that the retaliatory 21 action was not related to a legitimate penological purpose, such as preserving institutional 22 security. See Barnett v. Centoni, 31 F.3d 813, 815-16 (9th Cir. 1994) (per curiam). In meeting 23 this standard, the prisoner must demonstrate a specific link between the alleged retaliation and the 24 exercise of a constitutional right. See Pratt v. Rowland, 65 F.3d 802, 807 (9th Cir. 1995); 25 Valandingham v. Bojorquez, 866 F.2d 1135, 1138-39 (9th Cir. 1989). The prisoner must also 26 show that the exercise of First Amendment rights was chilled, though not necessarily silenced, by 27 the alleged retaliatory conduct. See Resnick v. Hayes, 213 F.3d 443, 449 (9th Cir. 2000), see also 28 Rhodes v. Robinson, 408 F.3d 559, 569 (9th Cir. 2005). Thus, the prisoner plaintiff must 1 establish the following in order to state a claim for retaliation: (1) prison officials took adverse 2 action against the inmate; (2) the adverse action was taken because the inmate engaged in 3 protected conduct; (3) the adverse action chilled the inmate’s First Amendment rights; and (4) the 4 adverse action did not serve a legitimate penological purpose. See Rhodes, 408 F.3d at 568. 5 As to the chilling effect, the Ninth Circuit in Rhodes observed: “If Rhodes had not 6 alleged a chilling effect, perhaps his allegations that he suffered harm would suffice, since harm 7 that is more than minimal will almost always have a chilling effect.” Id. at n.11. By way of 8 example, the court cited Pratt in which a retaliation claim had been decided without discussing 9 chilling. See id.

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(PC) Vallery v. Degallegos, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pc-vallery-v-degallegos-caed-2019.