(PC) Talamantes v. Merced County Jail ( 2021 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 JEFFREY TALAMANTES, 1:20-cv-01643-DAD-GSA-PC 12 Plaintiff, FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS, RECOMMENDING THAT PLAINTIFF’S 13 vs. MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTIVE RELIEF BE DENIED 14 MERCED COUNTY JAIL, et al., (ECF No. 8.) 15 Defendants. OBJECTIONS, IF ANY, DUE WITHIN FOURTEEN DAYS 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 I. BACKGROUND 23 Jeffrey Talamantes (“Plaintiff”) is a prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis in 24 this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff filed the Complaint commencing 25 this action on November 18, 2020. (ECF No. 1.) The Complaint awaits the court’s requisite 26 screening under 28 U.S.C. § 1915. 27 On April 26, 2021, Plaintiff filed a request for the court to compel staff at Merced County 28 Jail to provide him with copies of all of the grievances he submitted. Plaintiff also reports that 1 he has been retaliated against by staff at Merced County Jail causing him to serve more time and 2 to be classified as a violent offender.1 3 To the extent that Plaintiff seeks a court order compelling jail officers or staff to act on 4 his behalf or to refrain from retaliating against him, the court construes Plaintiff’s request as a 5 motion for preliminary injunctive relief. II. PRELIMINARY INJUNCTIVE RELIEF 6 “A plaintiff seeking a preliminary injunction must establish that he is likely to succeed 7 on the merits, that he is likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of preliminary relief, that 8 the balance of equities tips in his favor, and that an injunction is in the public interest.” Winter 9 v. Nat. Res. Def. Council, Inc., 555 U.S. 7, 24 (2008) (citations omitted). An injunction may 10 only be awarded upon a clear showing that the plaintiff is entitled to relief. Id. at 22 (citation 11 omitted) (emphasis added). 12 Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction and in considering a request for 13 preliminary injunctive relief, the Court is bound by the requirement that as a preliminary matter, 14 it have before it an actual case or controversy. City of Los Angeles v. Lyons, 461 U.S. 95, 102, 15 103 S.Ct. 1660, 1665 (1983); Valley Forge Christian Coll. v. Ams. United for Separation of 16 Church and State, Inc., 454 U.S. 464, 471, 102 S.Ct. 752, 757-58 (1982). If the Court does not 17 have an actual case or controversy before it, it has no power to hear the matter in question. Id. 18 III. ANALYSIS 19 To the extent that Plaintiff seeks a court order compelling officers or staff at Merced 20 County Jail to act on his behalf or refrain from retaliating against him, the court lacks jurisdiction 21 to issue such an order because the order would not remedy any of the claims upon which this 22 case proceeds. This case was filed against defendants employed at the Merced County Jail based 23 on events occurring before November 18, 2020 at the Merced County Jail in Merced, California. 24 Plaintiff now requests a court order protecting him from present and future actions by officers at 25 26 1 Any relief affecting Plaintiff’s conviction or sentence is not available in this § 1983 27 action. It has long been established that state prisoners cannot challenge the fact or duration of their confinement in a section 1983 action and their sole remedy lies in habeas corpus relief. Wilkinson v. 28 Dotson, 544 U.S. 74, 78 (2005). 1 the Merced County Jail. Because such an order would not remedy any of the claims in this case, 2 which are based upon events occurring before November 18, 2020, the court lacks jurisdiction 3 to issue the order sought by Plaintiff, and Plaintiff’s motion must be denied. 4 Furthermore, no defendants have yet appeared in this action, hence the court does not 5 have jurisdiction to order injunctive relief which would require directing individuals not before the Court to take action. Zepeda v. United States Immigration & Naturalization Serv., 753 F.2d 6 719, 727 (9th Cir. 1985) (“A federal court may issue an injunction if it has personal jurisdiction 7 over the parties and subject matter jurisdiction over the claim; it may not attempt to determine 8 the rights of persons not before the court.”). 9 Moreover, Plaintiff’s motion for preliminary injunctive relief against officials at Merced 10 County Jail should be denied as moot because Plaintiff is no longer in custody there.2 When 11 Plaintiff filed this case he was incarcerated at the Merced County Jail. Plaintiff is currently 12 incarcerated at Corcoran State Prison. Where a prisoner is challenging conditions of confinement 13 and is seeking injunctive relief, transfer to another prison renders the request for injunctive relief 14 moot absent some evidence of an expectation of being transferred back. See Preiser v. Newkirk, 15 422 U.S. 395, 402-03 (1975); Johnson v. Moore, 948 F.2d 517, 519 (9th Cir. 1991) (per curiam); 16 see also Andrews v. Cervantes, 493 F.3d 1047, 1053 n.5 (9th Cir. 2007). Here, there is no 17 evidence that Plaintiff expects to be transferred back to the Merced County Jail. Therefore, 18 Plaintiff’s motion should be denied as moot. 19 IV. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 20 Based on the foregoing, IT IS HEREBY RECOMMENDED that Plaintiff’s motion for 21 preliminary injunctive relief, filed on April 26, 2021, be DENIED. 22 These findings and recommendations are submitted to the United States District Judge 23 assigned to the case, pursuant to the provisions of Title 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(l). Within fourteen 24 (14) days after the date of service of these findings and recommendations, Plaintiff may file 25 written objections with the court. Such a document should be captioned "Objections to 26 Magistrate Judge’s Findings and Recommendations.” Plaintiff is advised that failure to file 27 2 On April 1, 2021, Plaintiff filed a notice of change of his address to Corcoran State Prison in Corcoran, 28 California. (ECF No. 7.) 1 objections within the specified time may result in the waiver of rights on appeal. Wilkerson v. 2 Wheeler, 772 F.3d 834, 838-39 (9th Cir. 2014) (citing Baxter v. Sullivan, 923 F.2d 1391, 1394 3 (9th Cir. 1991)). 4 IT IS SO ORDERED. 5 6 Dated: April 28, 2021 /s/ Gary S. Austin UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28