(PC) Minor v. Sacramento County Main Jail ( 2021 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 LAMAR J. MINOR, No. 2:21-cv-0941 KJM AC P 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER 14 SACRAMENTO COUNTY MAIN JAIL, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 18 Plaintiff, a county prisoner proceeding pro se, seeks relief pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 19 and has filed a first amended complaint. 20 I. Statutory Screening of Prisoner Complaints 21 The court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief against a 22 governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). The 23 court must dismiss a complaint or portion thereof if the prisoner has raised claims that are 24 “frivolous, malicious, or fail[] to state a claim upon which relief may be granted,” or that “seek[] 25 monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b). 26 A claim “is [legally] frivolous where it lacks an arguable basis either in law or in fact.” 27 Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 325 (1989); Franklin v. Murphy, 745 F.2d 1221, 1227-28 (9th 28 Cir. 1984). “[A] judge may dismiss . . . claims which are ‘based on indisputably meritless legal 1 theories’ or whose ‘factual contentions are clearly baseless.’” Jackson v. Arizona, 885 F.2d 639, 2 640 (9th Cir. 1989) (quoting Neitzke, 490 U.S. at 327), superseded by statute on other grounds as 3 stated in Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 1130 (9th Cir. 2000). The critical inquiry is whether a 4 constitutional claim, however inartfully pleaded, has an arguable legal and factual basis. 5 Franklin, 745 F.2d at 1227-28 (citations omitted). 6 “Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2) requires only ‘a short and plain statement of the 7 claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief,’ in order to ‘give the defendant fair notice of 8 what the . . . claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.’” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 9 U.S. 544, 555 (2007) (alteration in original) (quoting Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 47 (1957)). 10 “Failure to state a claim under § 1915A incorporates the familiar standard applied in the context 11 of failure to state a claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6).” Wilhelm v. Rotman, 12 680 F.3d 1113, 1121 (9th Cir. 2012) (citations omitted). In order to survive dismissal for failure 13 to state a claim, a complaint must contain more than “a formulaic recitation of the elements of a 14 cause of action;” it must contain factual allegations sufficient “to raise a right to relief above the 15 speculative level.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555 (citations omitted). “‘[T]he pleading must contain 16 something more . . . than . . . a statement of facts that merely creates a suspicion [of] a legally 17 cognizable right of action.’” Id. (alteration in original) (quoting 5 Charles Alan Wright & Arthur 18 R. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 1216 (3d ed. 2004)). 19 “[A] complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to 20 relief that is plausible on its face.’” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (quoting 21 Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570). “A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual 22 content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the 23 misconduct alleged.” Id. (citing Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556). In reviewing a complaint under this 24 standard, the court must accept as true the allegations of the complaint in question, Hosp. Bldg. 25 Co. v. Trs. of the Rex Hosp., 425 U.S. 738, 740 (1976) (citation omitted), as well as construe the 26 pleading in the light most favorable to the plaintiff and resolve all doubts in the plaintiff’s favor, 27 Jenkins v. McKeithen, 395 U.S. 411, 421 (1969) (citations omitted). 28 //// 1 II. First Amended Complaint 2 The first amended complaint alleges that “Defendants Sacramento County Main Jail, et 3 al.” violated plaintiff’s constitutional rights when they failed to implement COVID-19 prevention 4 measures when he initially arrived at the jail and he tested positive for COVID-19 approximately 5 a month and a half later. ECF No. 8 at 3-4. When he grieved the matter, he received the 6 following response: “THE UNFORTUNATE NATURE OF A DETENTION facility prevents the 7 implementation of SOME of the PRACTICES THAT ARE MORE easily exercised by NON- 8 incarcerated people.” Id. at 3. 9 III. Failure to State a Claim 10 As an initial matter, to the extent plaintiff’s use of “et al.” indicates his intention that there 11 be other defendants, he has identified only the Sacramento County Main Jail as a defendant and it 12 is therefore the only defendant. While “municipalities and other local government units . . . [are] 13 among those persons to whom § 1983 applies,” Monell v. Dep’t of Soc. Servs., 436 U.S. 658, 690 14 (1978), “a municipality can be liable under § 1983 only where its policies are the ‘moving force 15 [behind] the constitutional violation,’” City of Canton v. Harris, 489 U.S. 378, 389 (1989) 16 (alteration in original) (quoting Monell, 436 U.S. at 694 and Polk County. v. Dodson, 454 U.S. 17 312, 326 (1981)). There must be “a direct causal link between a municipal policy or custom and 18 the alleged constitutional deprivation.” Id. at 385. Although plaintiff alleges that the jail failed to 19 implement proper protocols, he does not allege facts regarding how the jail’s practices were 20 deficient, and the complaint fails to demonstrate any violation of plaintiff’s rights given the 21 generality of the allegations and lack of explanation as to how the conditions affected him 22 personally. The fact that the jail was not able to implement all practices recommended by the 23 Center for Disease Control for non-incarcerated persons does not demonstrate a violation of 24 plaintiff’s constitutional rights. Plaintiff must identify specific failures that he believes violated 25 his rights. Additionally, the fact that plaintiff contracted COVID-19, by itself, does not state a 26 claim for the violation of his constitutional rights. Plaintiff will be given one final opportunity to 27 amend the complaint. 28 //// 1 IV. Leave to Amend 2 If plaintiff chooses to file a second amended complaint, he must demonstrate how the 3 conditions about which he complains resulted in a deprivation of his constitutional rights. Rizzo 4 v. Goode, 423 U.S. 362, 370-71 (1976). Also, the complaint must allege in specific terms how 5 each named defendant is involved. Arnold v. Int’l Bus. Machs. Corp., 637 F.2d 1350, 1355 (9th 6 Cir. 1981). There can be no liability under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 unless there is some affirmative link 7 or connection between a defendant’s actions and the claimed deprivation. Id.; Johnson v. Duffy, 8 588 F.2d 740, 743 (9th Cir. 1978). Furthermore, “[v]ague and conclusory allegations of official 9 participation in civil rights violations are not sufficient.” Ivey v. Bd. of Regents, 673 F.2d 266, 10 268 (9th Cir. 1982) (citations omitted). 11 Plaintiff is also informed that the court cannot refer to a prior pleading in order to make 12 his second amended complaint complete. Local Rule 220 requires that an amended complaint be 13 complete in itself without reference to any prior pleading. This is because, as a general rule, an 14 amended complaint supersedes the original complaint. Loux v. Rhay, 375 F.2d 55, 57 (9th Cir. 15 1967) (citations omitted), overruled in part by Lacey v. Maricopa County, 693 F.3d 896, 928 (9th 16 Cir. 2012) (claims dismissed with prejudice and without leave to amend do not have to be re-pled 17 in subsequent amended complaint to preserve appeal). Once plaintiff files an amended complaint, 18 any prior complaints no longer serve any function in the case. Therefore, in an amended 19 complaint, as in an original complaint, each claim and the involvement of each defendant must be 20 sufficiently alleged. 21 V. Plain Language Summary of this Order for a Pro Se Litigant 22 You are being given one last chance to amend the complaint because the facts you have 23 alleged in the complaint are not enough to state a claim for relief. You need to provide more 24 specific information about what the jail did not do and how the conditions affected you. 25 If you choose to amend your complaint, the second amended complaint must include all of 26 the claims you want to make because the court will not look at the claims or information in the 27 original or first amended complaint. Any claims and information not in the second amended 28 complaint will not be considered. 1 In accordance with the above, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 2 1. The first amended complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, 3 || see 28 U.S.C. § 1915A, and will not be served. 4 2. Within thirty days from the date of service of this order, plaintiff may file an amended 5 || complaint that complies with the requirements of the Civil Rights Act, the Federal Rules of Civil 6 || Procedure, and the Local Rules of Practice. The amended complaint must bear the docket 7 || number assigned this case and must be labeled “Second Amended Complaint.” Plaintiff must file 8 | an original and two copies of the amended complaint. Failure to file an amended complaint in 9 || accordance with this order will result in a recommendation that this action be dismissed. 10 3. The Clerk of the Court is directed to send plaintiff a copy of the prisoner complaint 11 | form used in this district. 12 | DATED: June 23, 2021 ~ 13 —Clore ALLISON CLAIRE 14 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28