Salazar v. Calderin

CourtDistrict Court, D. Nevada
DecidedOctober 23, 2019
Docket2:19-cv-01870
StatusUnknown

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

Bluebook
Salazar v. Calderin, (D. Nev. 2019).

Opinion

1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 2 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 3 AMMIANUS POMPILIUS aka Anthony Case No.: 2:18-cv-01801-APG-VCF Prentice and ANTHONY SALAZAR, 4 Screening Order on Plaintiffs First Amended Complaint 5 (ECF No. 1-2) v. 6 STATE OF NEVADA EX REL, et al., 7 Defendants 8

9 Plaintiffs Ammianus Pompilius and Anthony Salazar (collectively Plaintiffs) are in the 10 custody of the Nevada Department of Corrections (NDOC). They filed a first amended 11 complaint (FAC) in state court, which the defendants removed to this court. It appears from the 12 documents and the removal statement that removal to federal court was proper. I now screen the 13 FAC (ECF No. 1-2) under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A. 14 I. SCREENING STANDARD 15 Federal courts must conduct a preliminary screening in any case in which an incarcerated 16 person seeks redress from a governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity. 17 See 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). In its review, the court must identify any cognizable claims and 18 dismiss any claims that are frivolous, malicious, fail to state a claim upon which relief may be 19 granted, or seek monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. See id. 20 § 1915A(b)(1), (2). Pro se pleadings, however, must be liberally construed. Balistreri v. 21 Pacifica Police Dep’t, 901 F.2d 696, 699 (9th Cir. 1990). To state a claim under 42 U.S.C. 22 § 1983, a plaintiff must allege two essential elements: (1) the violation of a right secured by the 23 1 Constitution or laws of the United States, and (2) that the alleged violation was committed by a 2 person acting under color of state law. See West v. Atkins, 487 U.S. 42, 48 (1988). 3 In addition to the screening requirements under § 1915A, the Prison Litigation Reform 4 Act (PLRA) requires the federal court to dismiss an incarcerated person’s claim if “the allegation 5 of poverty is untrue” or if the action “is frivolous or malicious, fails to state a claim on which

6 relief may be granted, or seeks monetary relief against a defendant who is immune from such 7 relief.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2). Dismissal of a complaint for failure to state a claim upon which 8 relief can be granted is provided for in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), and the court 9 applies the same standard under § 1915 when reviewing the adequacy of a complaint or an 10 amended complaint. When a court dismisses a complaint under § 1915(e), the plaintiff should be 11 given leave to amend the complaint with directions as to curing its deficiencies, unless it is clear 12 from the face of the complaint that the deficiencies could not be cured by amendment. See Cato 13 v. United States, 70 F.3d 1103, 1106 (9th Cir. 1995). 14 Review under Rule 12(b)(6) is essentially a ruling on a question of law. See Chappel v.

15 Lab. Corp. of Am., 232 F.3d 719, 723 (9th Cir. 2000). Dismissal for failure to state a claim is 16 proper only if it is clear that the plaintiff cannot prove any set of facts in support of the claim that 17 would entitle him or her to relief. See Morley v. Walker, 175 F.3d 756, 759 (9th Cir. 1999). In 18 making this determination, the court takes as true all allegations of material fact stated in the 19 complaint, and the court construes them in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. See Warshaw 20 v. Xoma Corp., 74 F.3d 955, 957 (9th Cir. 1996). Allegations of a pro se complainant are held to 21 less stringent standards than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers. See Hughes v. Rowe, 449 U.S. 22 5, 9 (1980). While the standard under Rule 12(b)(6) does not require detailed factual allegations, 23 a plaintiff must provide more than mere labels and conclusions. Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 1 U.S. 544, 555 (2007). A formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action is insufficient. 2 Id. 3 Additionally, a reviewing court should “begin by identifying pleadings [allegations] that, 4 because they are no more than mere conclusions, are not entitled to the assumption of truth.” 5 Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 679 (2009). “While legal conclusions can provide the

6 framework of a complaint, they must be supported with factual allegations.” Id. “When there are 7 well-pleaded factual allegations, a court should assume their veracity and then determine 8 whether they plausibly give rise to an entitlement to relief.” Id. “Determining whether a 9 complaint states a plausible claim for relief . . . [is] a context-specific task that requires the 10 reviewing court to draw on its judicial experience and common sense.” Id. 11 Finally, all or part of a complaint filed by an incarcerated person may therefore be 12 dismissed sua sponte if that person’s claims lack an arguable basis either in law or in fact. This 13 includes claims based on legal conclusions that are untenable (e.g., claims against defendants 14 who are immune from suit or claims of infringement of a legal interest which clearly does not

15 exist), as well as claims based on fanciful factual allegations (e.g., fantastic or delusional 16 scenarios). See Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 327–28 (1989); see also McKeever v. Block, 17 932 F.2d 795, 798 (9th Cir. 1991). 18 II. SCREENING OF FAC 19 Plaintiffs sue multiple defendants for events that took place while they were incarcerated 20 at High Desert State Prison (HDSP) and Ely State Prison (ESP). ECF No. 1-2 at 2. Plaintiffs sue 21 defendants Associate Warden Byrne, Caseworker M. Castro, Chaplain Calderin,1 Warden Baker, 22 1 Plaintiffs spell the chaplain’s name as both Calderin and Calderon. I will spell it 23 “Calderin” in this order. 1 State of Nevada ex rel, Nevada Department of Corrections, Director Dzurenda, Warden Filson, 2 Investigator General’s Office, Correctional Officer (C/O) Wheeler, Senior C/O Mullins, and C/O 3 Gonzales.2 Id. at 2-6. Plaintiff alleges two counts and seeks monetary and injunctive relief. Id. at 4 15, 21. 5 A. Count I

6 In count I, Plaintiffs allege the following: On February 21, 2016, Mullins directed 7 officers to search Pompilius’s cell for a second time in a week. ECF No. 1-2 at 7. Wheeler and 8 Gonzales cuffed Pompilius and his cellmate and put them in the shower. Id. Gonzales and 9 Wheeler searched Pompilius’s cell for 4.5 hours. Id. An average cell search was about 10 to 20 10 minutes. Id. When Pompilius returned to his cell, his television was broken, his personal items 11 were destroyed, and his trash can was filled with his personal property. Id. Mullins, Wheeler, 12 and Gonzales all denied Pompilius’s request for a grievance. Id.

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Salazar v. Calderin, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/salazar-v-calderin-nvd-2019.