(PC)Calderon v. Allison

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. California
DecidedJanuary 20, 2022
Docket2:21-cv-01896
StatusUnknown

This text of (PC)Calderon v. Allison ((PC)Calderon v. Allison) 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)Calderon v. Allison, (E.D. Cal. 2022).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 JUAN C. CALDERON, No. 2:21-cv-01896-CKD P 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER 14 K. ALLISON, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding pro se in this civil rights action filed pursuant to 42 18 U.S.C. § 1983. This proceeding was referred to this court by Local Rule 302 pursuant to 28 19 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1). 20 Plaintiff requests leave to proceed in forma pauperis. As plaintiff has submitted a 21 declaration that makes the showing required by 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a), his request will be granted. 22 Plaintiff is required to pay the statutory filing fee of $350.00 for this action. 28 U.S.C. §§ 23 1914(a), 1915(b)(1). By separate order, the court will direct the appropriate agency to collect the 24 initial partial filing fee from plaintiff’s trust account and forward it to the Clerk of the Court. 25 Thereafter, plaintiff will be obligated for monthly payments of twenty percent of the preceding 26 month’s income credited to plaintiff’s prison trust account. These payments will be forwarded by 27 the appropriate agency to the Clerk of the Court each time the amount in plaintiff’s account 28 exceeds $10.00, until the filing fee is paid in full. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2). 1 I. Motion for the Appointment of Counsel 2 As part of his complaint, plaintiff requests the appointment of counsel. ECF No. 1 at 22- 3 23. District courts lack authority to require counsel to represent indigent prisoners in section 4 1983 cases. Mallard v. United States Dist. Court, 490 U.S. 296, 298 (1989). In exceptional 5 circumstances, the court may request an attorney to voluntarily represent such a plaintiff. See 28 6 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1); Terrell v. Brewer, 935 F.2d 1015, 1017 (9th Cir. 1991); Wood v. 7 Housewright, 900 F.2d 1332, 1335-36 (9th Cir. 1990). When determining whether “exceptional 8 circumstances” exist, the court must consider plaintiff’s likelihood of success on the merits as 9 well as the ability of the plaintiff to articulate his claims pro se in light of the complexity of the 10 legal issues involved. Palmer v. Valdez, 560 F.3d 965, 970 (9th Cir. 2009) (district court did not 11 abuse discretion in declining to appoint counsel). The burden of demonstrating exceptional 12 circumstances is on the plaintiff. Id. Circumstances common to most prisoners, such as lack of 13 legal education and limited law library access, do not establish exceptional circumstances that 14 warrant a request for voluntary assistance of counsel. 15 Having considered the factors under Palmer, the court finds that plaintiff has failed to 16 meet his burden of demonstrating exceptional circumstances warranting the appointment of 17 counsel at this time. 18 II. Screening Requirement 19 The court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief against a 20 governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). The 21 court must dismiss a complaint or portion thereof if the prisoner has raised claims that are legally 22 “frivolous or malicious,” that fail to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or that seek 23 monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1),(2). 24 A claim is legally frivolous when it lacks an arguable basis either in law or in fact. 25 Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 325 (1989); Franklin v. Murphy, 745 F.2d 1221, 1227-28 (9th 26 Cir. 1984). The court may, therefore, dismiss a claim as frivolous where it is based on an 27 indisputably meritless legal theory or where the factual contentions are clearly baseless. Neitzke, 28 490 U.S. at 327. The critical inquiry is whether a constitutional claim, however inartfully 1 pleaded, has an arguable legal and factual basis. See Jackson v. Arizona, 885 F.2d 639, 640 (9th 2 Cir. 1989); Franklin, 745 F.2d at 1227. 3 In order to avoid dismissal for failure to state a claim a complaint must contain more than 4 “naked assertions,” “labels and conclusions” or “a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause 5 of action.” Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555-557 (2007). In other words, 6 “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory 7 statements do not suffice.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009). Furthermore, a claim 8 upon which the court can grant relief has facial plausibility. Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570. “A 9 claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw 10 the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. 11 at 678. When considering whether a complaint states a claim upon which relief can be granted, 12 the court must accept the allegations as true, Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 93-94 (2007), and 13 construe the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, see Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 14 U.S. 232, 236 (1974). 15 III. Allegations in the Complaint 16 Plaintiff is a Mexican national serving a 21 year-to-life sentence at Mule Creek State 17 Prison (“MCSP”). Named as defendants in this action are the Director of the CDCR, the Warden 18 and Associate Warden of MCSP, as well as various John Doe medical and correctional officers 19 employed at the prison. The factual allegations in the complaint are based on events that 20 commenced after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. ECF No. 1 at 7. Plaintiff alleges 21 that since that time defendants have engaged in a targeted conspiracy to harass him and to deprive 22 him of his constitutional rights. Plaintiff specifically contends that he was deliberately exposed to 23 the chicken pox and COVID-19 viruses at various times, and then denied adequate medical care. 24 In retaliation for his filing of grievances, plaintiff’s cell has been searched and his property has 25 been destroyed. Plaintiff additionally alleges that he has been assaulted by numerous cellmates 26 who learned of plaintiff’s commitment offense from defendants who failed to protect him from 27 these acts of violence. In his last claim for relief, plaintiff contends that defendants “have 28 conspiratorially censored, obstructed and disposed of most, or all of [p]laintiff’s outgoing mail 1 without any legitimate penological jurisdiction.” ECF No. 1 at 18. By way of relief, plaintiff 2 seeks declaratory and injunctive relief as well as compensatory damages. 3 IV. Legal Standards 4 The following legal standards are being provided to plaintiff based on his pro se status as 5 well as the nature of the allegations in his complaint. 6 A.

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Bluebook (online)
(PC)Calderon v. Allison, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pccalderon-v-allison-caed-2022.