(PC)Sierra v. Patterson

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. California
DecidedJanuary 9, 2024
Docket2:23-cv-02548
StatusUnknown

This text of (PC)Sierra v. Patterson ((PC)Sierra v. Patterson) 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)Sierra v. Patterson, (E.D. Cal. 2024).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 FRANCISCO SIERRA, No. 2:23-cv-2548 KJN P 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER 14 T. PATTERSON, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff is a state prisoner, proceeding pro se. Plaintiff seeks relief pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 18 § 1983, and requested leave to proceed in forma pauperis pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915. This 19 proceeding was referred to this court by Local Rule 302 pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1). 20 Plaintiff originally filed this action in the United States District Court for the Northern 21 District of New York. On November 6, 2023, the District Court for the Northern District of New 22 York transferred this action to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of 23 California. 24 Plaintiff submitted a declaration that makes the showing required by 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). 25 Accordingly, the request to proceed in forma pauperis is granted. 26 Plaintiff is required to pay the statutory filing fee of $350.00 for this action. 28 U.S.C. 27 §§ 1914(a), 1915(b)(1). By this order, plaintiff is assessed an initial partial filing fee in 28 accordance with the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1). By separate order, the court will direct 1 the appropriate agency to collect the initial partial filing fee from plaintiff’s trust account and 2 forward it to the Clerk of the Court. Thereafter, plaintiff is obligated to make monthly payments 3 of twenty percent of the preceding month’s income credited to plaintiff’s trust account. These 4 payments will be forwarded by the appropriate agency to the Clerk of the Court each time the 5 amount in plaintiff’s account exceeds $10.00, until the filing fee is paid in full. 28 U.S.C. 6 § 1915(b)(2). 7 The court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief against a 8 governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). The 9 court must dismiss a complaint or portion thereof if the prisoner raised claims that are legally 10 “frivolous or malicious,” that fail to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or that seek 11 monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1), (2). 12 A claim is legally frivolous when it lacks an arguable basis either in law or in fact. 13 Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 325 (1989); Franklin v. Murphy, 745 F.2d 1221, 1227-28 (9th 14 Cir. 1984). The court may, therefore, dismiss a claim as frivolous when it is based on an 15 indisputably meritless legal theory or where the factual contentions are clearly baseless. Neitzke, 16 490 U.S. at 327. The critical inquiry is whether a constitutional claim, however inartfully 17 pleaded, has an arguable legal and factual basis. See Jackson v. Arizona, 885 F.2d 639, 640 (9th 18 Cir. 1989), superseded by statute as stated in Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 1130-31 (9th Cir. 19 2000) (“[A] judge may dismiss [in forma pauperis] claims which are based on indisputably 20 meritless legal theories or whose factual contentions are clearly baseless.”); Franklin, 745 F.2d at 21 1227. 22 Rule 8(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure “requires only ‘a short and plain 23 statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief,’ in order to ‘give the 24 defendant fair notice of what the . . . claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.’” Bell Atlantic 25 Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007) (quoting Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 47 (1957)). 26 In order to survive dismissal for failure to state a claim, a complaint must contain more than “a 27 formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action;” it must contain factual allegations 28 sufficient “to raise a right to relief above the speculative level.” Bell Atlantic, 550 U.S. at 555. 1 However, “[s]pecific facts are not necessary; the statement [of facts] need only ‘give the 2 defendant fair notice of what the . . . claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.’” Erickson v. 3 Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 93 (2007) (quoting Bell Atlantic, 550 U.S. at 555, citations and internal 4 quotations marks omitted). In reviewing a complaint under this standard, the court must accept as 5 true the allegations of the complaint in question, Erickson, 551 U.S. at 93, and construe the 6 pleading in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236 7 (1974), overruled on other grounds, Davis v. Scherer, 468 U.S. 183 (1984). 8 Attached to plaintiff’s complaint is a pleading titled “Request to Transfer Cases to 9 Another District.” (ECF No. 1 at 5-9.) As discussed above, on November 6, 2023, the District 10 Court for the Northern District of New York transferred this action to the District Court for the 11 Eastern District of California. Accordingly, the undersigned need not consider plaintiff’s request 12 to transfer. 13 It appears that the documents attached to plaintiff’s complaint following plaintiff’s request 14 to transfer are exhibits. (Id. at 10-37.) The court is not required to review exhibits to determine 15 what plaintiff’s charging allegations are as to each named defendant. Accordingly, in screening 16 plaintiff’s complaint, the undersigned considers only the allegations contained in the complaint 17 itself. (Id. at 1-4.) 18 Named as defendants are California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation 19 (“CDCR”) Director Spearman and Mule Creek State Prison (“MCSP”) Superintendent Covello. 20 (Id. at 2.) Plaintiff also appears to name as defendants all defendants named in case nos. 2:22-cv- 21 0488 TLN KJN P, and 2:22-cv-2396 JAM DMC P. (Id.) 22 Plaintiff is informed that Local Rule 220 requires complaints to be complete without 23 reference to another pleading or action. For this reason, plaintiff must identify each named 24 defendant. In other words, plaintiff may not refer to other actions to identify the defendants in the 25 instant action. Accordingly, the court will not consider plaintiff’s claims against the defendants 26 named in cases 2:22-cv-0488 and 2:22-cv-2396. If plaintiff files an amended complaint, he shall 27 identify each defendant by name without reference to other pleadings or actions.

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Related

Conley v. Gibson
355 U.S. 41 (Supreme Court, 1957)
Scheuer v. Rhodes
416 U.S. 232 (Supreme Court, 1974)
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Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Servs.
436 U.S. 658 (Supreme Court, 1978)
Davis v. Scherer
468 U.S. 183 (Supreme Court, 1984)
West v. Atkins
487 U.S. 42 (Supreme Court, 1988)
Neitzke v. Williams
490 U.S. 319 (Supreme Court, 1989)
Lewis v. Casey
518 U.S. 343 (Supreme Court, 1996)
Erickson v. Pardus
551 U.S. 89 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly
550 U.S. 544 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Ivey v. Board of Regents of University of Alaska
673 F.2d 266 (Second Circuit, 1982)
Harry Franklin v. Ms. Murphy and Hoyt Cupp
745 F.2d 1221 (Ninth Circuit, 1984)
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In re Bordelon
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Lopez v. Smith
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Bluebook (online)
(PC)Sierra v. Patterson, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pcsierra-v-patterson-caed-2024.