Richardson v. Diaz

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• Decided: November 17, 2025
• Docket: 24-1247
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS NOV 17 2025 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

PATRICK L. RICHARDSON, No. 24-1247 D.C. No. 2:20-cv-08030-HDV-JC Plaintiff - Appellant,

v. MEMORANDUM* RALPH DIAZ, Secretary and Director of California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, individual and official capacity; et al.,

Defendants - Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California Hernan Diego Vera, District Judge, Presiding

Submitted November 12, 2025**

Before: SCHROEDER, RAWLINSON, and NGUYEN, Circuit Judges.

California state prisoner Patrick L. Richardson appeals pro se from the

district court’s judgment dismissing his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action alleging deliberate

* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3. ** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2). indifference and retaliation. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We

review de novo. Wilhelm v. Rotman, 680 F.3d 1113, 1118 (9th Cir. 2012)

(dismissal under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A); Watison v. Carter, 668 F.3d 1108, 1112 (9th

Cir. 2012) (dismissal under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)). We affirm.

The district court properly dismissed Richardson’s individual capacity

claims because Richardson failed to allege facts sufficient to show that any

defendant was deliberately indifference to his serious medical needs or took

adverse action against him because of his protected conduct. See Brodheim v. Cry,

584 F.3d 1262, 1269 (9th Cir. 2009) (setting forth elements of a retaliation claim in

the prison context); Toguchi v. Chung, 391 F.3d 1051, 1057-58 (9th Cir. 2004)

(explaining that prison officials act with deliberate indifference only if they know

of and disregard an excessive risk to the prisoner’s health, and that a difference of

medical opinion is insufficient to establish deliberate indifference).

The district court properly dismissed Richardson’s official capacity claims

as barred by sovereign immunity. See Brown v. Cal. Dep’t of Corr., 554 F.3d 747,

752 (9th Cir. 2009) (explaining that the State of California enjoys Eleventh

Amendment immunity with respect to § 1983 claims in federal court).

The district court properly dismissed as moot Richardson’s claims for

injunctive relief. See Dilley v. Gunn, 64 F.3d 1365, 1368-69 (9th Cir. 1995)

(explaining that a prisoner’s transfer to a different state prison moots claims for

2 24-1247 injunctive relief absent certain exceptions).

AFFIRMED.

3 24-1247