Quair v. San Mateo County Jail ( 2020 )

1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 2 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 3 4 DAVID S QUAIR, Case No. 19-cv-08421-JD 5 Plaintiff, ORDER DISMISSING 6 v. COMPLAINT WITH LEAVE TO AMEND 7 SAN MATEO COUNTY JAIL, et al., Defendants. 8 9 10 Plaintiff, a state prisoner, has filed a pro se civil rights complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. 11 He has been granted leave to proceed in forma pauperis. 12 DISCUSSION 13 STANDARD OF REVIEW 14 Federal courts must engage in a preliminary screening of cases in which prisoners seek 15 redress from a governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity. 28 U.S.C. 16 § 1915A(a). In its review, the Court must identify any cognizable claims, and dismiss any claims 17 which are frivolous, malicious, fail to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or seek 18 monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. Id. at 1915A(b)(1),(2). Pro se 19 pleadings must be liberally construed. Balistreri v. Pacifica Police Dep’t, 901 F.2d 696, 699 (9th 20 Cir. 1990). 21 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2) requires only “a short and plain statement of the 22 claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Although a complaint “does not need detailed 23 factual allegations, . . . a plaintiff’s obligation to provide the ‘grounds’ of his ‘entitle[ment] to 24 relief’ requires more than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of the elements of a 25 cause of action will not do. . . . Factual allegations must be enough to raise a right to relief above 26 the speculative level.” Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007) (citations 27 omitted). A complaint must proffer “enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its 1 standard of Twombly: “While legal conclusions can provide the framework of a complaint, they 2 must be supported by factual allegations. When there are well-pleaded factual allegations, a court 3 should assume their veracity and then determine whether they plausibly give rise to an entitlement 4 to relief.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 679 (2009). 5 To state a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a plaintiff must allege that: (1) a right secured by 6 the Constitution or laws of the United States was violated, and (2) the alleged deprivation was 7 committed by a person acting under the color of state law. West v. Atkins, 487 U.S. 42, 48 (1988). 8 LEGAL CLAIMS Plaintiff seeks to make out a variety of claims about the conditions of his incarceration. 9 For his medical claims, deliberate indifference to serious medical needs violates the Eighth 10 Amendment’s proscription against cruel and unusual punishment. Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 11 104 (1976); McGuckin v. Smith, 974 F.2d 1050, 1059 (9th Cir. 1992), overruled on other grounds, 12 WMX Technologies, Inc. v. Miller, 104 F.3d 1133, 1136 (9th Cir. 1997) (en banc). A 13 determination of “deliberate indifference” involves an examination of two elements: the 14 seriousness of the prisoner’s medical need and the nature of the defendant’s response to that need. Id. at 1059. 15 16 A serious medical need exists if the failure to treat a prisoner’s condition could result in 17 further significant injury or the “unnecessary and wanton infliction of pain.” Id. The existence of 18 an injury that a reasonable doctor or patient would find important and worthy of comment or 19 treatment, the presence of a medical condition that significantly affects an individual’s daily activities, or the existence of chronic and substantial pain are examples of indications that a 20 prisoner has a serious need for medical treatment. Id. at 1059-60. 21 All of plaintiff’s claims are undermined by a lack of factual allegations, let alone facts that 22 might make his claims plausible. For these reasons, the complaint is dismissed with leave to 23 amend. If plaintiff wishes to continue with this case, he must state facts indicating that his 24 constitutional rights were violated. For example, for the medical claims, he should describe his 25 medical condition, what treatment should have been provided, and the injuries that resulted from 26 the lack of that treatment. If plaintiff wishes to challenge his conviction, he must file a habeas 27 1 CONCLUSION 2 1. The complaint is DISMISSED with leave to amend. The amended complaint must 3 be filed within twenty-eight (28) days of the date this order is filed and must include the caption 4 and civil case number used in this order and the words AMENDED COMPLAINT on the first 5 page. Because an amended complaint completely replaces the original complaint, plaintiff must 6 || include in it all the claims he wishes to present. See Ferdik v. Bonzelet, 963 F.2d 1258, 1262 (9th 7 Cir. 1992). He may not incorporate material from the original complaint by reference. Failure to 8 amend within the designated time will result in the dismissal of this case. 9 2. It is the plaintiff’s responsibility to prosecute this case. Plaintiff must keep the 10 || Court informed of any change of address by filing a separate paper with the clerk headed □□□□□□□ 11 of Change of Address,” and must comply with the Court’s orders in a timely fashion. Failure to 12 || do so may result in the dismissal of this action for failure to prosecute pursuant to Federal Rule of 13 Civil Procedure 41(b). IT IS SO ORDERED. 3 15 Dated: January 23, 2020 16 fle JAMES TO Z 18 United Stftes District Judge 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 2 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 3 DAVID S QUAIR, 4 Case No. 19-cv-08421-JD Plaintiff, 5 ‘ Vv. CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 5 SAN MATEO COUNTY JAIL, et al., Defendants. 8 9 I, the undersigned, hereby certify that I am an employee in the Office of the Clerk, U.S. 10 District Court, Northern District of California. 11 12 That on January 23, 2020, ISERVED a true and correct copy(ies) of the attached, by 13 = placing said copy(ies) in a postage paid envelope addressed to the person(s) hereinafter listed, by 14 depositing said envelope in the U.S. Mail, or by placing said copy(ies) into an inter-office delivery 15 receptacle located in the Clerk's office. Q 16 = 17 || David S Quair ID: BG0478 California Men's Colony Z 18 East Facility, B-3250-IL P.O. Box 8101 19 || San Luis Obispo, CA 93409-8101 20 21 Dated: January 23, 2020 22 23 Susan Y. Soong Clerk, United States District Court 25 26 By: Z eb Ll. LISA RK. CLARK, Deputy Clerk to the Honorable JAMES DONATO 28