(PC) Walker v. Salinas Valley Prison ( 2020 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 KEVIN D. WALKER, Case No. 1:20-cv-00546-JLT (PC) 12 Plaintiff, FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS TO DENY PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR 13 v. SUMMARY JUDGMENT AS PREMATURE 14 SALINAS VALLEY PRISON, et al., (Doc. 9) 15 Defendants. 14-DAY DEADLINE 16 Clerk of the Court to Assign a District Judge 17 18 Plaintiff has filed a motion for summary judgment. (Doc. 9.) Plaintiff is appearing pro se 19 and his complaint is subject to screening. The Court has not yet screened the complaint and no 20 defendants have appeared in this action. 21 As explained in the Court’s First Informational Order, per 28 U.S.C. § 1915A, the Court is 22 required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief against a governmental entity or 23 an officer or employee of a governmental entity. (Doc. 3 at 3.) A pro se plaintiff may not proceed 24 with such a legal action until the Court screens the plaintiff’s complaint and finds that it states a 25 cognizable claim for relief. (Id.) Because Plaintiff is a prisoner appearing pro se and sues 26 governmental entities, his complaint is subject to screening and he may not proceed in this case 27 until the screening is complete. If the Court finds that the complaint states a cognizable claim for relief, it will direct service on the appropriate defendants at that time. (See id.) 1 Based on the foregoing, the Court RECOMMENDS that Plaintiff’s motion for summary 2 judgment be DENIED as premature. The Court DIRECTS the Clerk of the Court to assign a 3 district judge to this action. 4 These Findings and Recommendations will be submitted to the United States District 5 Judge assigned to this case, pursuant to the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(l). Within 14 days 6 of the date of service of these Findings and Recommendations, Plaintiff may file written 7 objections with the Court. The document should be captioned, “Objections to Magistrate Judge’s 8 Findings and Recommendations.” Failure to file objections within the specified time may result in 9 waiver of rights on appeal. Wilkerson v. Wheeler, 772 F.3d 834, 839 (9th Cir. 2014) (citing 10 Baxter v. Sullivan, 923 F.2d 1391, 1394 (9th Cir. 1991)). 11 IT IS SO ORDERED. 12 13 Dated: June 11, 2020 /s/ Jennifer L. Thurston UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27