(PC)Almaraz v. County of San Joaquin ( 2021 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 JOSE LUIS ALMARAZ, No. 2: 20-cv-2444 KJN P 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER AND FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 14 COUNTY OF SAN JOAQUIN, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff is a county prisoner, proceeding without counsel, with a civil rights action 18 pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Attached to plaintiff’s complaint is a request to bring this action as 19 a class action. (ECF No. 1 at 20-26.) For the reasons stated herein, the undersigned recommends 20 that plaintiff’s request to bring a class action be denied. 21 Plaintiff is a non-lawyer proceeding without counsel. It is well established that a 22 layperson cannot ordinarily represent the interests of a class. See McShane v. United States, 366 23 F.2d 286 (9th Cir. 1966). This rule becomes almost absolute when, as here, the putative class 24 representative is incarcerated and proceeding pro se. Oxendine v. Williams, 509 F.2d 1405, 1407 25 (4th Cir. 1975). In direct terms, plaintiff cannot “fairly and adequately protect the interests of the 26 class,” as required by Rule 23(a)(4) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. See Martin v. 27 Middendorf, 420 F. Supp. 779 (D.D.C. 1976). This action, therefore, will not be construed as a 28 class action and instead will be construed as an individual civil suit brought by plaintiff. 1 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Clerk of the Court shall appoint a 2 | district judge to this action; 3 IT IS HEREBY RECOMMENDED that plaintiff's request to bring a class action be 4 | denied. 5 These findings and recommendations are submitted to the United States District Judge 6 | assigned to the case, pursuant to the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(). Within fourteen days 7 | after being served with these findings and recommendations, plaintiff may file written objections 8 | with the court and serve a copy on all parties. Such a document should be captioned 9 | “Objections to Magistrate Judge’s Findings and Recommendations.” Plaintiff is advised that 10 | failure to file objections within the specified time may waive the right to appeal the District 11 | Court’s order. Martinez v. Y1st, 951 F.2d 1153 (9th Cir. 1991). 12 || Dated: March 9, 2021 8 Aectl Aharon 14 KENDALL J. NE UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 15 16 Alm2444.cla 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28