(PC) Enriquez v. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation ( 2023 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 DAVID ENRIQUEZ, Case No.: 1:23-cv-00767 SKO (PC) 12 Plaintiff, FIRST INFORMATIONAL ORDER IN 13 v. PRISONER/CIVIL DETAINEE CIVIL RIGHTS CASE WHERE PLAINTIFF IS 14 CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF PROCEEDING WITH COUNSEL CORRECTIONS AND 15 REHABILITATION, et al., 16 Defendants. 17 18 I. INTRODUCTION 19 Plaintiff is a prisoner/civil detainee proceeding with counsel in this civil rights action. 20 In litigating this action, the parties must comply with this Order, the Federal Rules of Civil 21 Procedure (Fed. R. Civ. P) and the Local Rules of the United States District Court, Eastern 22 District of California (Local Rules), as modified by this Order. Failure to comply will be grounds 23 for imposition of sanctions which may include dismissal of the case. Local Rule 110; Fed. R. Civ. 24 P. 41(b). 25 II. SCREENING OF COMPLAINT 26 Section 1915A of Title 28 of the United States Code provides as follows: 27 (a) Screening.--The court shall review, before docketing, if feasible or, in any event, as soon as practicable after docketing, a complaint 1 governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity. 2 (b) Grounds for dismissal.--On review, the court shall identify cognizable claims or dismiss the complaint, or any portion of the 3 complaint, if the complaint-- 4 (1) is frivolous, malicious, or fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted; or 5 (2) seeks monetary relief from a defendant who is immune 6 from such relief. 7 (c) Definition.--As used in this section, the term “prisoner” means any person incarcerated or detained in any facility who is accused of, 8 convicted of, sentenced for, or adjudicated delinquent for, violations of criminal law or the terms and conditions of parole, probation, 9 pretrial release, or diversionary program. 10 Section 1915A makes no distinction between a prisoner proceeding pro se and a prisoner 11 represented by counsel. Therefore, this Court will screen a prisoner plaintiff’s complaint in either 12 case. See, e.g., Johnson v. Hall, No. 2:19-cv-1752 KJN P, 2019 WL 4392413, at *1 (E.D. Cal. 13 Sept. 13, 2019) (“The court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief 14 against a governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity, regardless of 15 whether plaintiff is presented by counsel”); Garcia v. Greenleaf, No. 2:16-cv-0269 DB P, 2017 16 WL 1153039, at *1 (E.D. Cal. Mar. 27, 2017) (screening represented state prisoner’s complaint in 17 § 1983 action); Munoz v. California Department of Corrections, No. 1:16-CV-01103-LJO-MJS, 18 2016 WL 6298533, at *1 (E.D. Cal. Oct. 27, 2016) (screening former state prisoner’s complaint 19 who is represented by counsel in § 1983 action). Screening of a prisoner plaintiff’s complaint will 20 occur whether the filing fee has been paid or whether the prisoner plaintiff is proceeding in forma 21 pauperis. See In re Prison Litigation Reform Act, 105 F.3d 1131, 1134 (6th Cir. 1997) (the Prison 22 Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) of 1996 requires federal district courts “to screen all civil cases 23 brought by prisoners, regardless of whether the inmate paid the full filing fee, is a pauper, is pro 24 se, or is represented by counsel, as the statute does not differentiate between civil actions brought 25 by prisoners”); see also Pruitt v. Bobbala, No. 2:20-cv-0632 KJM AC P, 2023 WL 2277540, at 26 *1 (E.D. Cal. Feb. 28, 2023) (quoting same). 27 This Court screens prisoner plaintiff complaints as expeditiously as possible. However, this Court has an extremely large number of prisoner plaintiff civil rights cases pending before it, 1 and delay is inevitable. The complaint will be screened in due course. 2 III. SERVICE OF COMPLAINT 3 Until screening of the complaint has been completed and the Court has determined the 4 complaint states a cognizable claim or claims upon which relief can be granted, no summons shall 5 issue nor shall service of the complaint be attempted. 6 IV. DISCOVERY 7 The Court will issue a Discovery and Scheduling Order after defendants have filed an 8 answer to the complaint. The Court may also delay the issuance of a Discovery and Scheduling 9 Order by staying the action briefly for possible referral to early alternative dispute resolution 10 proceedings. 11 The Discovery and Scheduling Order will provide deadlines for the filing of motions 12 concerning the exhaustion of administrative remedies, the completion of all discovery, the filing 13 of amended pleadings, and the filing of pre-trial dispositive motions. No discovery may be 14 initiated until the Court issues its discovery order or otherwise orders that discovery begin. 15 V. HEARINGS 16 All pre-trial motions will be submitted for decision based solely upon the written papers 17 and without a hearing. Local Rule 230(l). Further, Local Rule 230(l) sets out the schedule for 18 briefing on motions. 19 VI. DEADLINES 20 Absent good cause, all Court deadlines are strictly enforced. 21 Requests for extensions of time must be filed before the deadline expires and must state 22 good reason for the request. Local Rule 144. 23 IT IS SO ORDERED. 24 25 Dated: May 24, 2023 /s/ Sheila K. Oberto . UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 26 27