Quair v. San Mateo County Jail ( 2020 )

1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 DAVID S QUAIR, Case No. 19-cv-08463-JD 8 Plaintiff, ORDER DISMISSING 9 v. COMPLAINT WITH LEAVE TO AMEND 10 SAN MATEO COUNTY JAIL, et al., Defendants. 11 12 13 Plaintiff, a state prisoner, has filed a pro se civil rights complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. 14 He has been granted leave to proceed in forma pauperis. 15 DISCUSSION 16 STANDARD OF REVIEW 17 Federal courts must engage in a preliminary screening of cases in which prisoners seek 18 redress from a governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity. 28 U.S.C. 19 § 1915A(a). In its review, the Court must identify any cognizable claims, and dismiss any claims 20 which are frivolous, malicious, fail to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or seek 21 monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. Id. at 1915A(b)(1),(2). Pro se 22 pleadings must be liberally construed. Balistreri v. Pacifica Police Dep’t, 901 F.2d 696, 699 (9th 23 Cir. 1990). 24 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2) requires only “a short and plain statement of the 25 claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Although a complaint “does not need detailed 26 factual allegations, . . . a plaintiff’s obligation to provide the ‘grounds’ of his ‘entitle[ment] to 27 relief’ requires more than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of the elements of a 1 the speculative level.” Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007) (citations 2 omitted). A complaint must proffer “enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its 3 face.” Id. at 570. The United States Supreme Court has explained the “plausible on its face” 4 standard of Twombly: “While legal conclusions can provide the framework of a complaint, they 5 must be supported by factual allegations. When there are well-pleaded factual allegations, a court 6 should assume their veracity and then determine whether they plausibly give rise to an entitlement 7 to relief.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 679 (2009). 8 To state a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a plaintiff must allege that: (1) a right secured by 9 the Constitution or laws of the United States was violated, and (2) the alleged deprivation was 10 committed by a person acting under the color of state law. West v. Atkins, 487 U.S. 42, 48 (1988). 11 LEGAL CLAIMS Plaintiff alleges that his ability to access the courts has been obstructed. Prisoners have a 12 13 constitutional right of access to the courts. See Lewis v. Casey, 518 U.S. 343, 350 (1996); Bounds 14 v. Smith, 430 U.S. 817, 821 (1977). To establish a claim for any violation of the right of access to 15 the courts, the prisoner must prove that there was an inadequacy in the prison’s legal access 16 program that caused him an actual injury. See Lewis, 518 U.S. at 349-51. To prove an actual 17 injury, the prisoner must show that the inadequacy in the prison’s program hindered his efforts to 18 pursue a non-frivolous claim concerning his conviction or conditions of confinement. See id. at 19 351, 354-55. 20 21 Plaintiff asserts, in a conclusory fashion, that defendants have obstructed his access to the 22 courts, and he has failed to receive legal mail. Plaintiff provides no other information and fails to 23 identify any specific defendants. The complaint is dismissed with leave to amend to provide more 24 information. Plaintiff must identify named defendants and describe how they hindered his efforts 25 to pursue a non-frivolous claim concerning his conviction or conditions of confinement. General 26 allegations are insufficient.1 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: March 9, 2020 16 fe JAMES ATO Z 18 United SfAtes District Judge 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 See Adams v. Cal. Dept. of Health Services, 487 F.3d 684, 688 (9th Cir. 2007). 1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 2 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 3 DAVID S QUAIR, 4 Case No. 19-cv-08463-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 March 9, 2020, ISERVED a true and correct copy(ies) of the attached, by placing 13 = 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 North Kern State Prison 42 18 || P.O. Box 5005, D-Facility-B4-117L Delano, CA 93216-0567 19 20 21 Dated: March 9, 2020 22 Susan Y. Soong 23 Clerk, United States District Court 24 25 26 LISA R. CLARK, Deputy Clerk to the 7 Honorable JAMES DONATO 28