Randall Rodgers v. Felipe Martinez Jr. ( 2019 )

1 JS-6 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 RANDALL RODGERS, ) NO. CV 19-9118-MWF (KS) 11 ) Plaintiff, 12 ) v. ) 13 ) ORDER AND JUDGMENT OF DISMISSAL 14 FELIPE MARTINEZ, Jr., ) ) 15 Defendants. ) 16 _________________________________ ) 17 18 On October 23, 2019, Plaintiff, a federal prisoner incarcerated at the United States 19 Penitentiary in Lompoc, California and proceeding pro se, filed a civil rights complaint (the 20 “Complaint”). (Dkt. No. 1.) The Complaint alleges the following: Plaintiff was denied access 21 to the law library on multiple occasions; the law library computer was down for an extended 22 period of time, most likely because prison staff purposefully broke the computer; the Lompoc 23 Special Housing Unit has turned into a fight club with staff members staging fights between 24 inmates; and inmates have not received at least four hours a week of recreation. (Id.) The 25 Complaint does not identify the individuals whom Plaintiff believes are liable for each act of 26 wrongdoing alleged, nor does it identify the laws or constitutional provisions that Plaintiff 27 believes have been violated. (See generally id.) As such, the Complaint violates Rule 8 of the 28 Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and is subject to dismissal for failure to state a claim upon 1 which relief can be granted. See FED. R. CIV. P. 8; United States ex rel. Cafasso v. Gen. 2 Dynamics C4 Sys., Inc., 637 F.3d 1047, 1059 (9th Cir. 2011) (complaint violates Rules 8 if a 3 defendant would have difficulty understanding and responding to it); see also 28 U.S.C. § 4 1915A(b) (Congress requires district courts to dismiss civil rights complaints brought by 5 prisoners if the court determines that the complaint, or any portion thereof, fails to state a claim 6 upon which relief can be granted). 7 8 Also on October 23, 2019, the Court notified Plaintiff that he had failed to pay the filing 9 fee and had not filed a request to proceed in forma pauperis. (Dkt. No. 2.) On November 8, 10 2019, after more than two weeks had passed and Plaintiff had not responded to the Court’s 11 notification, the Court ordered Plaintiff to show cause, no later than November 29, 2019, why 12 the action should not be dismissed for failure to pay the filing fee or obtain authorization to 13 proceed without prepayment of the fee. 14 15 More than 30 days have now passed since the Court issued its October 23, 2019 Order, 16 and more than two weeks have passed since Plaintiff’s deadline for paying the filing fee or 17 filing a request to proceed without prepayment of the fee. To date, Plaintiff has neither paid 18 the filing fee nor requested to proceed in forma pauperis. Instead, on November 26, 2019, 19 Plaintiff initiated a second lawsuit, Rodgers v. Martinez, CV 19-10101-MWF (KS), in which 20 he: sues the same person, Warden Felipe Martinez, Jr.; presents the same factual allegations; 21 filed an application to proceed in forma pauperis; and received authorization to proceed 22 without prepayment of the filing fee. (See generally Rodgers v. Martinez, CV 19-101010- 23 MWF (KS), Dkt. Nos. 1, 2, 4.) However, Plaintiff has no right to maintain two separate actions 24 involving the same subject matter at the same time in the same court and against the same 25 defendant. See Adams v. Cal. Dep't of Health Servs., 487 F.3d 684, 688 (9th Cir. 2007), 26 overruled on other grounds by Taylor v. Sturgell, 553 U.S. 880, 904 (2008). 27 28 In light of the foregoing, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that this 2 || action is DISMISSED. This Order is without prejudice to Plaintiffs litigation in Rodgers v. 3 || Martinez, CV 19-10101-MWE (KS), which is currently awaiting a First Amended Complaint. 4 || (See Rodgers v. Martinez, CV 19-10101-MWF (KS), Dkt. No. 5 (Dec. 5, 2019) (dismissing 5 || the complaint for failure to state a claim and ordering the plaintiff to file a First Amended 6 |} Complaint no later than January 4, 2020).) 7 8 || DATED: 12/17/2019 9 Cf. Ky find) MICHAEW W. FICZGERALD UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 12 13 Presented by: 14 15 1s | Doan £: Fsensn 7 KAREN L. STEVENSON UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28