Randy Matthew Cordero v. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

District Court, S.D. California·Decided November 4, 2021·No. 3:21-cv-01609·Unknown

Opinion

RANDY MATTHEW CORDERO, Case No.: 3:21-cv-1609-CAB-MSB CDCR #T-37551 ORDER: (1) GRANTING MOTION Plaintiff, PAUPERIS [Doc. No. 10] AND vs. (2) DISMISSING COMPLAINT

FOR FAILING TO STATE A CLAIM PURSUANT TO 28 U.S.C. CORRECTIONS AND § 1915(e)(2)(B) AND § 1915A(b) REHABILITATION, Defendant. I. Introduction and Procedural History On September 17, 2021, Randy Matthew Cordero (“Plaintiff” or “Cordero”), a state inmate currently incarcerated at California State Prison, Los Angeles (“LAC”)1 and proceeding pro se, filed a document entitled “Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus By a / / /

1 At the time of filing, Cordero was an inmate at R.J. Donovan Correctional Facility (“RJD”). Person in State Custody 28 U.S.C. § 2254” in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. See ECF No. 1 at 1. On April 1, 2021, based on preliminary review by the Court in the Central District, as “Order Regarding Screening” was issued. ECF No. 4. In the Order, the Court stated that the Petition was subject to dismissal for failure to state a cognizable claim for habeas relief. Id. at 2. The Screening Order gave Cordero three options: (1) to convert the Petition to a Civil Rights Complaint, (2) proceed on the Petition, or (3) request voluntary dismissal of the action without prejudice. Id. at 3–5. Cordero did not file a response to the Screening Order. On May 21, 2021, the Court dismissed the petition. ECF No. 5. The Court found that the claims raised by Cordero “solely challenge the condition of his confinement in that the allegations relate to specific conditions at RJ Donovan Correctional Facility.” Id. at 3. The Court further stated that “despite being notified” that he could consent to having the Petition “convert[ed] to a civil rights complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983,” Cordero failed to “provide his consent.” Id. at 4. Cordero filed to two “letters” with the Court in response to the dismissal. See ECF Nos. 6 & 7. In them, he stated that he received the May 21, 2021 Dismissal Order but had not received the April 1, 2021 Screening Order providing him with an opportunity to choose an option. See id. Based on the letters, the Court granted Cordero leave to file a response to the Screening Order. See ECF No. 8. On June 17, 2021, Cordero filed a notice stating that he had been transferred from RJD to CSP Sacramento. ECF No. 9. Cordero filed a Request to Proceed In Forma Pauperis on June 29, 2021. ECF No. 10. On July 30, 2021, Cordero filed another letter in which he stated that “I mailed my 42 U.S.C. § 1983 to you on June 17, 2021 because the Court’s Magistrate Judge gave me an order to respond by July 6, 2021.” ECF No. 12 at 1. He filed another letter on August 3, 2021, referring to the “civil rights complaint” that he mailed to the court “on or around June 16, 2021,” but that was not on the docket. See ECF No. 13. In that letter, Cordero alleged that on June 16, 2021 a correctional officer refused to process his legal mail as confidential. Id. at 1. As a result, Cordero filed a grievance, after which, he alleges, RJD correctional officers began retaliating against him. Id. On September 14, 2021, the United States District Court for the Central District of California construed Cordero’s July 30, 2021 and August 3, 2021 letters as providing the necessary “informed consent” and converted the habeas action to a civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. ECF No. 14 at 5. In the same order, the Court concluded that because Cordero’s claims related to events which occurred while he was an inmate at RJD and contained references to correctional officers who appeared to work at RJD,2 venue was proper in the Southern District of California and the case was transferred here. Id. at 6. II. Motion to Proceed In Forma Pauperis All parties instituting any civil action, suit or proceeding in a district court of the United States, except an application for writ of habeas corpus, must pay a filing fee of $402.3 See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a). The action may proceed despite a plaintiff’s failure to prepay the entire fee only if he is granted leave to proceed IFP pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). See Andrews v. Cervantes, 493 F.3d 1047, 1051 (9th Cir. 2007); Rodriguez v. Cook, 169 F.3d 1176, 1177 (9th Cir. 1999). However, the Prison Litigation Reform Act’s (“PLRA”) amendments to § 1915 require that all prisoners who proceed IFP to pay the entire fee in “increments” or “installments,” Bruce v. Samuels, 577 U.S. 82, 83–84 (2016); Williams v. Paramo, 775 F.3d 1182, 1185 (9th Cir. 2015), and regardless of 2 In its Order, the District Court for the Central District noted that “although the individuals were not named as defendants, the correctional officers whom [Cordero] identifies in the Petition work at R.J. Donovan Correctional Facility and may reside in the southern District of California. ECF No. 14 at 5. 3 In addition to the $350 statutory fee, civil litigants must pay an additional administrative fee of $52. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) (Judicial Conference Schedule of Fees, District Court Misc. Fee Schedule, § 14 (eff. Dec. 1, 2021)). The additional $52 administrative fee does not apply to whether their action is ultimately dismissed. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1) & (2); Taylor v. Delatoore, 281 F.3d 844, 847 (9th Cir. 2002). Section 1915(a)(2) requires all persons seeking to proceed without full prepayment of fees to file an affidavit that includes a statement of all assets possessed and demonstrates an inability to pay. See Escobedo v. Applebees, 787 F.3d 1226, 1234 (9th Cir. 2015). In support of this affidavit, the PLRA also requires prisoners to submit a “certified copy of the trust fund account statement (or institutional equivalent) for . . . the 6-month period immediately preceding the filing of the complaint.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2); Andrews v. King, 398 F.3d 1113, 1119 (9th Cir. 2005). From the certified trust account statement, the Court assesses an initial payment of 20% of (a) the average monthly deposits in the account for the past six months, or (b) the average monthly balance in the account for the past six months, whichever is greater, unless the prisoner has no assets. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1); 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(4). The institution having custody of the prisoner then collects subsequent payments, assessed at 20% of the preceding month’s income, in any month in which his account exceeds $10, and forwards those payments to the Court until the entire filing fee is paid. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2); Bruce, 577 U.S. at 84. In support of his IFP Motion, Cordero has submitted a copy of his California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (“CDCR”) Inmate Statement Report. ECF No. 10. He has failed, however, to include a signed Prison Certificate completed by an accounting officer at the prison

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