Wilson v. Allison

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedAugust 30, 2022
Docket3:22-cv-04838
StatusUnknown

This text of Wilson v. Allison (Wilson v. Allison) 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
Wilson v. Allison, (N.D. Cal. 2022).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 PETER WILSON, Case No. 22-cv-04838-JSC

8 Plaintiff, ORDER OF SERVICE; DENYING MOTION FOR TEMPORARY 9 v. RESTRAINING ORDER

10 KATHLEEN ALLISON, et al., Re. Dkt. No. 2. Defendants. 11

12 INTRODUCTION 13 Plaintiff, a California prisoner at Salinas Valley State Prison (“SVSP”) who is proceeding 14 without an attorney, filed this civil rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the Secretary of 15 the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (“CDCR”) Kathleen Allison; SVSP 16 Warden Trent Allen; SVSP Captain Lomeli; and SVSP Correctional Counselor Pizano. Plaintiff 17 has also filed a motion for a temporary restraining order (“TRO”).1 Plaintiff has been granted 18 leave to proceed in forma pauperis in a separate order. For the reasons discussed below, the 19 complaint is ordered served upon Defendants, and the motion for a TRO is DENIED. BACKGROUND 20 In his complaint, Plaintiff claims that Defendants are violating his constitutional rights by 21 forcing him to have a cellmate and removing him from protective custody. (ECF No. 1 at 2.) He 22 seeks an injunction ordering Defendants to keep him in both a single cell and protective custody. 23 (Id. at 25.) In his motion for a TRO, he requests that such injunctive relief be granted immediately 24 and remain in place until disposition of this case. (ECF No. 2 at 6.) Plaintiff attaches to his 25 complaint exhibits of his prison medical records, housing records, and correspondence between 26

27 1 Defendants have not been served or appeared. Plaintiff states that he has served a copy of the 1 him and Defendants. (ECF Nos. 1-1 - 1-3.) 2 Plaintiff alleges that he suffers from two general medical conditions: he has a spinal cord 3 injury that prevents his use of his left arm and leg and limits his head movement, and he has a 4 urological condition that makes urinating painful and slow. (ECF No. 1 at 10-12.) He alleges that 5 he uses a wheelchair and cannot physically defend himself when he is attacked. (Id. at 10, 12-13.) 6 He alleges that he was attacked by an inmate on August 11, 2020, as he entered a building in 7 Facility A at SVSP, and another inmate assaulted him in the dayroom on October 25, 2021. (Id. at 8 11, 12-13.) Plaintiff has been in CDCR custody since 2000, and he arrived at SVSP on July 12, 2019. 9 (ECF No. 1.1 at 23.) He alleges in the complaint that he has been in a single cell from 2015 to 10 2021.2 (ECF No. 1 at 13.) Prison records attached to the complaint indicate that he was placed in 11 a single cell on November 8, 2021, based upon the recommendation of mental health professionals 12 for a temporary, 90-day, single-cell placement. (ECF No. 1.3 at 2, 58.) After 90 days, on 13 February 7, 2019, and again on August 23, 2019, mental health professionals cleared him for a 14 double cell. (Id.) Nevertheless, at his annual classification hearings at SVSP on July 30, 2019, 15 and August 18, 2020, Defendant Pizano and another official who is not a Defendant approved his 16 continued placement in a single cell pending further review by other prison housing officials. 17 (ECF No. 1.1 at 23-27.) At the next annual classification hearing, on October 1, 2021, Defendant 18 Pizano approved him for a double cell with a “compatible” inmate based on a number of factors: 19 his mental health concerns no longer required single-celling, he had no in-cell fights since two 20 fights with his cellmate in 2007, he had no history of out-of-cell violence, he had no history of 21 sexual predation, and he did not pose a safety threat to a cellmate. (ECF No. 1 at 14; No. 1.2 at 22 44-45.) It appears that he was not actually moved to a double cell, however, because his TRO 23 motion indicates that he is still in a single cell (ECF No. 2 at 7), and while the exhibits set forth 24 dates as to when Plaintiff was approved for a double cell, they do not clarify whether or when he 25 26

27 2 As discussed below, the exhibits and the TRO motion suggest both that he may not have been in 1 was actually moved to a double cell. (See ECF No. 1.2 at 45; No. 1.3 at 58.) 2 Between September 2021 and March 2022, Plaintiff wrote multiple letters to Defendants 3 (as well as to the SVSP Warden who preceded Allen, and who is not a Defendant) arguing that he 4 needed a single cell to prevent attacks on him by other inmates, and he described in-cell fights in 5 2007 and in 2013 and 2014, and out-of-cell assaults in 2017, 2018, and 2021, with other inmates. 6 (ECF No. 1 at 13-16; No. 1.2 at 2-38, 47-56; No. 1.3 at 5-17, 21-48.) In his March 7, 2022, letter 7 to Plaintiff, Allen explained that Plaintiff had been approved for a single cell in 2018 for mental 8 health reasons, not because it would protect him from inmate violence, and Allen explained the 9 reasons given by classification officials, on October 1, 2021, that Plaintiff did not need a single cell. (ECF No. 1-3 at 2-3.) In April 2022, Plaintiff wrote a letter to Allen stating that his 10 urological condition necessitated a single cell. (ECF No. 1-3 at 52-53.) On May 5, 2022, Allen 11 explained that Plaintiff’s doctor did not make a medical recommendation for a single cell. (Id. at 12 55.) 13 Plaintiff had his next annual classification hearing recently, on August 9, 2022, at which 14 Defendant Pizano approved him for a double cell with a “compatible” inmate, cited the same 15 reasons as in the October 2021 decision, and also noted Plaintiff “has been Double Cell since 16 [October 1, 2021] without any issues.” (ECF No. 1-3 at 57-58.) At the August 9, 2022, hearing, 17 Pizano also approved, subject to availability, Plaintiff’s transfer to a “Non-Designated Housing 18 Program” at one of two other prisons, in which inmates “program” together regardless of whether 19 they were previously on a Sensitive Needs Yard (i.e. “SNY)3 or in General Population (i.e. “GP”). 20 (ECF No. 1.3 at 57.) 21 The complaint contains no factual allegations indicating when Plaintiff was moved into or 22 out of a SNY. It appears that he is still on an SNY because in his TRO motion, he states that he is 23 currently housed in Facility A of SVSP, which is a SNY. (ECF No. 2.) The reports from his 24 annual classification reviews at SVSP indicate that he has been housed in Facility A. (ECF No. 25 1.1 at 24-27; No. 1.2 at 44-45; No. 1.3 at 57-58.) In a letter to Allen on August 7, 2022, Plaintiff 26 27 1 states that he is in protective custody on a SNY, and he does not want to be moved to an NDPH 2 yard. (No. 1-3 at 60-61.) 3 DISCUSSSION 4 I. Screening of Complaint 5 A. Standard of Review 6 Federal courts must engage in a preliminary screening of cases in which prisoners seek 7 redress from a governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity. 28 U.S.C. § 8 1915A(a). The Court must identify cognizable claims or dismiss the complaint, or any portion of 9 the complaint, if the complaint “is frivolous, malicious, or fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted,” or “seeks monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief.” Id. 10 § 1915A(b). Pleadings filed by parties unrepresented by a lawyer must be liberally construed. 11 Balistreri v. Pacifica Police Dep't, 901 F.2d 696, 699 (9th Cir. 1990). 12 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure

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Bluebook (online)
Wilson v. Allison, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wilson-v-allison-cand-2022.