Tabaoda v. Derr

District Court, D. Hawaii·Decided April 29, 2022·No. 1:22-cv-00125·Unknown

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF HAWAII TIMOTHY TABAODA, CIVIL NO. 22-00125 LEK-RT #04609-122, ORDER DISMISSING COMPLAINT Plaintiff, WITH PARTIAL LEAVE GRANTED TO AMEND vs.

ESTELA DERR, et al.,

Defendants.

ORDER DISMISSING COMPLAINT WITH PARTIAL LEAVE GRANTED TO AMEND

Before the Court is a Prisoner Civil Rights Complaint (“Complaint”), ECF No. 1, filed by pro se Plaintiff Timothy Tabaoda (“Tabaoda”) pursuant to Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388 (1971). Tabaoda alleges that two officials1 at the Federal Detention Center in Honolulu, Hawaii (“FDC Honolulu”) violated the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment by housing him in the special housing unit (“SHU”) for nearly a month in early 2022. Id. at PageID # 5–6. For the following reasons, the

1 Tabaoda names as Defendants Warden Estela Derr and Lieutenant Shawn Tabor in both their individual and official capacities. ECF No. 1 at 1–2. Although Tabaoda uses the spelling “Tabar” later in the Complaint, see ECF No. 1 at PageID # 5–6, the Court employs the spelling used in the caption and in the section naming the defendants, see id. at PageID # 1–2. Complaint is DISMISSED for failure to state a claim for relief, albeit with partial leave granted to amend. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a)–(b). If Tabaoda wants this

action to proceed, he must file an amended pleading that cures the noted deficiencies in his claims on or before May 30, 2022. In the alternative, Tabaoda may voluntarily dismiss this action pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(1).

I. STATUTORY SCREENING Because Tabaoda is a prisoner seeking relief against a government official,

the Court screens his Complaint pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a).2 The Court must dismiss claims that are frivolous, malicious, fail to state a claim for relief, or seek damages from defendants who are immune from suit. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b); Byrd v. Phx. Police Dep’t, 885 F.3d 639, 641 (9th Cir. 2018).

Screening under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a) involves the same standard as that under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). See Wilhelm v. Rotman, 680 F.3d

1113, 1121 (9th Cir. 2012). Rule 12(b)(6) is read in conjunction with Rule 8(a). Zixiang Li v. Kerry, 710 F.3d 995, 998–99 (9th Cir. 2013). Under Rule 8, a complaint must contain a “short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). Detailed factual allegations

are not required, but a complaint must allege enough facts to provide both “fair

2 Tabaoda paid the fees associated with this suit and is not proceeding in forma pauperis. See ECF No. 3. notice” of the claim asserted and “the grounds upon which the claim rests.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 & n.3 (2007) (citation and quotation

marks omitted); see also Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (stating that Rule 8’s pleading standard “demands more than an unadorned, the defendant unlawfully-harmed-me accusation”). “A pleading that offers ‘labels and

conclusions’ or ‘a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do.’” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678. Moreover, “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Id. Rule 8 “does not unlock the doors of discovery for a plaintiff armed with nothing

more than conclusions.” Id. at 678–79. Under Rule 12(b)(6), a complaint must “contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Id. at 678

(internal quotation marks omitted); Wilhelm, 680 F.3d at 1121. “A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.”

Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678. Although this plausibility standard is not akin to a “probability requirement,” it asks for “more than a sheer possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully.” Id. “[W]here the well-pleaded facts do not

permit the court to infer more than the mere possibility of misconduct, the complaint has alleged—but it has not ‘show[n]’—‘that the pleader is entitled to relief.’” Id. at 679. Determining whether a complaint states a plausible claim for relief is “a context-specific task that requires the reviewing court to draw on its

judicial experience and common sense.” Id. Pro se litigants’ pleadings must be liberally construed, and all doubts should be resolved in their favor. Hebbe v. Pliler, 627 F.3d 338, 342 (9th Cir. 2010). In

dismissing for failure to state a claim, “a district court should grant leave to amend . . . unless it determines that the pleading could not possibly be cured by the allegation of other facts.” Yagman v. Garcetti, 852 F.3d 859, 863 (9th Cir. 2017).

II. TABAODA’S CLAIMS3 Tabaoda alleges that Tabor issued him and “incident report” and moved him

to the SHU on February 15, 2022. ECF No. 1 at PageID # 5. Tabor stated in the incident report stated that Tabaoda appeared to be “under the influence of an illicit substance.” Id. Tabaoda consented to a urinalysis, and the test came back negative

“within minutes.” Id. “[N]early a month” later, the alleged violations identified in the incident report were dismissed. Id. Tabor later gave Tabaoda a “lesser incident report” that “carried no additional punishment.” Id. at PageID # 5–6. According to Tabaoda, the lesser incident report affects his “security level and

[jeopardizes] his ‘camp’ status.” Id. at PageID # 6.

3 Tabaoda’s factual allegations are accepted as true for purposes of screening. See Nordstrom v. Ryan, 72 F.3d 903, 908 (9th Cir. 2014). Tabaoda requests (1) $5,000; (2) an “Order of Protection against both Defendants preventing them from harassing or retaliating against the Plaintiff”;

and (3) that “the Court order the Defendants to vacate the . . . incident report that was issued after the first incident report was dismissed.” ECF No. 1 at PageID # 9. III. DISCUSSION

A. Legal Framework for Bivens Claims

In Bivens, the Supreme Court “recognized for the first time an implied right of action for damages against federal officers alleged to have violated a citizen’s constitutional rights.” Hernandez v. Mesa, 137 S. Ct. 2003, 2006 (2017) (per curiam). Bivens involved a suit against individual federal agents who violated the

Fourth Amendment’s prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures. 403 U.S. at 389–90. Since Bivens, the Supreme Court has expanded this implied cause of action twice. See Davis v. Passman, 442 U.S. 228 (1979) (suit under the Fifth

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

Tabaoda v. Derr, (D. Haw. 2022).

Tabaoda v. Derr (Tabaoda v. Derr) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Davis v. Passman
442 U.S. 228 (Supreme Court, 1979)
Carlson v. Green
446 U.S. 14 (Supreme Court, 1980)
Chappell v. Wallace
462 U.S. 296 (Supreme Court, 1983)
Bush v. Lucas
462 U.S. 367 (Supreme Court, 1983)
United States v. Stanley
483 U.S. 669 (Supreme Court, 1987)
Schweiker v. Chilicky
487 U.S. 412 (Supreme Court, 1988)
Hudson v. McMillian
503 U.S. 1 (Supreme Court, 1992)
Federal Deposit Insurance v. Meyer
510 U.S. 471 (Supreme Court, 1994)
Correctional Services Corp. v. Malesko
534 U.S. 61 (Supreme Court, 2001)
Wilkie v. Robbins
551 U.S. 537 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly
550 U.S. 544 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Ashcroft v. Iqbal
556 U.S. 662 (Supreme Court, 2009)
Hebbe v. Pliler
627 F.3d 338 (Ninth Circuit, 2010)
Kathleen Hansen v. Ronald L. Black
885 F.2d 642 (Ninth Circuit, 1989)
Toguchi v. Soon Hwang Chung
391 F.3d 1051 (Ninth Circuit, 2004)
Rhodes v. Robinson
408 F.3d 559 (Ninth Circuit, 2005)
Wilhelm v. Rotman
680 F.3d 1113 (Ninth Circuit, 2012)