Rhodes v. State of California

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedJuly 11, 2022
Docket5:22-cv-00905
StatusUnknown

This text of Rhodes v. State of California (Rhodes v. State of California) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rhodes v. State of California, (N.D. Cal. 2022).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 KENNETH D. RHODES, Case No. 22-cv-00905-JSC

8 Plaintiff, ORDER OF SERVICE; v. 9 INSTRUCTIONS TO CLERK 10 STATE OF CALIFORNIA, et al.,

Defendants. 11

12 Plaintiff, a California prisoner, filed this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 on 13 his own without representation by an attorney. (ECF No. 1.) For the reasons explained below, 14 certain claims and Defendants are dismissed and certain claims are ordered served upon other 15 Defendants. 16 STANDARD OF REVIEW 17 Federal courts must engage in a preliminary screening of cases in which prisoners seek 18 redress from a governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity. 28 U.S.C. § 19 1915A(a). The Court must identify cognizable claims or dismiss the complaint, or any portion of 20 the complaint, if the complaint “is frivolous, malicious, or fails to state a claim upon which relief 21 may be granted,” or “seeks monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief.” Id. 22 § 1915A(b). Pleadings filed by parties representing themselves must be liberally construed. 23 Balistreri v. Pacifica Police Dep't, 901 F.2d 696, 699 (9th Cir. 1990). 24 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2) requires only “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” “Specific facts are not necessary; the 25 statement need only give the defendant fair notice of what the . . . . claim is and the grounds upon 26 which it rests.” Erickson v. Pardus, 127 S. Ct. 2197, 2200 (2007) (citations omitted). Although to 27 1 provide the grounds of his entitle[ment] to relief requires more than labels and conclusions, and a 2 formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do. . . . Factual allegations must 3 be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level.” Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 4 127 S. Ct. 1955, 1964-65 (2007) (citations omitted). A complaint must proffer “enough facts to 5 state a claim for relief that is plausible on its face.” Id. at 1974. 6 To state a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a plaintiff must allege two elements: (1) that a 7 right secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States was violated, and (2) that the alleged 8 violation was committed by a person acting under the color of state law. West v. Atkins, 487 U.S. 42, 48 (1988). 9 If a court dismisses a complaint for failure to state a claim, it should “freely give 10 leave” to amend “when justice so requires.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(2). A court has discretion to 11 deny leave to amend due to “undue delay, bad faith or dilatory motive on the part of the movant, 12 repeated failure to cure deficiencies by amendment previously allowed, undue prejudice to the 13 opposing party by virtue of allowance of the amendment, [and] futility of amendment.” 14 Leadsinger, Inc. v. BMG Music Pub., 512 F.3d 522, 532 (9th Cir. 2008). 15

16 LEGAL CLAIMS 17 A. Allegations of the Complaint 18 Defendants were involved in the decision to transfer over 100 prisoners, some of whom 19 were infected with COVID-19, from the California Institution for Men (“CIM”) to San Quentin 20 State Prison (“SQSP”) in May 2020. ECF No. 1 at 19. Defendants failed to take adequate safety 21 precautions before, during, and after the transfer, including failing to test the transferring prisoners 22 or screen them for symptoms at the appropriate times, failing to implement distancing measures on 23 the transfer buses, and failing to test and isolate the transferred prisoners upon arrival. Id. Over 24 the course of three weeks, SQSP went from having no cases of COVID to 499 cases, and by late 25 July, SQSP had more than 2,000 prisoner cases and 26 prisoners had died from the virus. Id. at 26 19, 24. Defendants failed to follow the recommendations of a Marin County public health official 27 to mitigate spread, and there was “a grave lack of personal protective equipment and masks at San 1 Quentin . . . even though masks and PPE were easily obtainable.” Id. at 21-22. Defendants failed 2 to follow the recommendations of a group of public health experts, who toured SQSP at the 3 request of federal receiver Clark Kelso, to release or transfer prisoners and avoid reliance on 4 punitive housing to quarantine the sick. Id. at 22. Defendants refused offers by the Innovative 5 Genomics Institute at Berkeley and by a research laboratory at UCSF Medical Center to provide 6 free COVID testing. Id. at 23. 7 Defendants were aware of Plaintiff’s high-risk factors for COVID, including Chronic 8 Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), cardiovascular disease/hypertension, pre-diabetic status, 9 heart murmur, obesity, sleep apnea, and age. Id. at 33. Plaintiff became infected with COVID 10 around June 25, 2020. Id. 11 Plaintiff names the following Defendants: 12 1. The State of California 13 2. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (“CDCR”) 14 3. SQSP 15 4. Ralph Diaz, former secretary of CDCR 16 5. Estate of Robert S. Tharratt, former Medical Director of CDCR 17 6. Ronald Davis, Warden of SQSP 18 7. Ronald Broomfield, Acting Warden of SQSP 19 8. Clarence Cryer, Chief Executive Officer of SQSP 20 9. Alison Pachynski, Chief Medical Executive of SQSP 21 10. Shannon Garrigan, Chief Physician and Surgeon of SQSP 22 11. Louie Escobell, Health Care Chief Executive Officer of CIM 23 12. Muhammad Farooq, Chief Medical Executive for CIM 24 13. Kirk Torres, Chief Physician and Surgeon for CIM 25 14. Does 1 through 20. 26 ECF No. 1 at 4. Plaintiff sues all Defendants who are people in their individual capacities. Id. 27 Defendants Diaz, Estate of Tharratt, Davis, Broomfield, Cryer, Pachynski, Garrigan, 1 by being deliberately indifferent, either directly or via supervisory liability, to his medical and 2 safety needs; interfered with his right to familial association; interfered with his right to be free 3 from state-created danger under the Fourteenth Amendment; and violated his rights under 4 California Civil Code section 52.1. ECF No. 1 at 34-37, 42. Defendants State of California, 5 CDCR, and SQSP violated his rights under the Rehabilitation Act. Id. at 44. Plaintiff also brings 6 a negligent infliction of emotional distress claim against Defendants Diaz, Estate of Tharratt, 7 Davis, Broomfield, Cryer, Pachynski, Garrigan, Escobell, Farooq, Torres, and Does 1-20. Id. at 8 46. 9 Plaintiff seeks declaratory relief, compensatory damages, punitive damages, and costs. Id. 10 at 47. Plaintiff also seeks attorney fees, which are inapplicable as he is currently representing 11 himself without attorney assistance. Id. 12 ANALYSIS 13 A. Doe Defendants 14 Although Plaintiff lists “Does 1-20” in the caption, he has made no specific allegations 15 regarding any unknown defendants. The use of “John Doe” to identify a defendant is not favored 16 in the Ninth Circuit, see Gillespie v. Civiletti, 629 F.2d 637, 642 (9th Cir. 1980); Wiltsie v. Cal. 17 Dep’t of Corrections, 406 F.2d 515, 518 (9th Cir.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

West v. Atkins
487 U.S. 42 (Supreme Court, 1988)
Overton v. Bazzetta
539 U.S. 126 (Supreme Court, 2003)
Erickson v. Pardus
551 U.S. 89 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly
550 U.S. 544 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Dunn v. Castro
621 F.3d 1196 (Ninth Circuit, 2010)
HENRY A. v. Willden
678 F.3d 991 (Ninth Circuit, 2012)
Potter v. Firestone Tire & Rubber Co.
863 P.2d 795 (California Supreme Court, 1993)
Leadsinger, Inc. v. BMG Music Publishing
512 F.3d 522 (Ninth Circuit, 2008)
Velasquez v. Senko
643 F. Supp. 1172 (N.D. California, 1986)
Venegas v. County of Los Angeles
63 Cal. Rptr. 3d 741 (California Court of Appeal, 2007)
Lawson v. Superior Court
180 Cal. App. 4th 1372 (California Court of Appeal, 2010)
Giraldo v. Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation
168 Cal. App. 4th 231 (California Court of Appeal, 2008)
Ellen Keates v. Michael Koile
883 F.3d 1228 (Ninth Circuit, 2018)
Robert Reese, Jr. v. County of Sacramento
888 F.3d 1030 (Ninth Circuit, 2018)
Pugliese v. Dillenberg
346 F.3d 937 (Ninth Circuit, 2003)
Wiltsie v. California Department of Corrections
406 F.2d 515 (Ninth Circuit, 1968)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Rhodes v. State of California, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rhodes-v-state-of-california-cand-2022.