Karim Christian Kamal v. County of Los Angeles et al

Filing 6

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE by Magistrate Judge Douglas F. McCormick. Response to Order to Show Cause due by 5/16/2017. See Order for further information. (twdb)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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WESTERN DIVISION
) No. CV 17-01986-RGK (DFM)
KARIM CHRISTIAN KAMAL,
)
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Plaintiff,
) ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE
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v.
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COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES et
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al.,
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Defendants.
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)

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On March 13, 2017, Karim Christian Kamal (“Plaintiff”) filed pro se a

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complaint alleging violations of federal and state law, and he paid the $400

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filing fee. Dkt. 1 (“Complaint”). Plaintiff alleges that he was “grievously

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injured” during a motorcycle crash on the Big Tujunga Canyon Road in the

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Angeles National Forest and that he subsequently sued Los Angeles County

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(“the County”) in state court based on the road’s allegedly dangerous

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condition. Id. at 4. During the course of that lawsuit, Plaintiff alleges, “[t]he

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County and its agents/attorneys/representatives and co-conspirators

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obstructed discovery, concealed material evidence, doctored documents,

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tampered with evidence, willfully misled . . . [P]laintiff and, based on these

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fraudulent acts, procured a summary judg[]ment against” him. Id. Plaintiff

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further alleges that the state-court judges involved in his case issued

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unconstitutional rulings against him in order to “punish[]” him for “raising

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issues about the malfeasance and nonfeasance of the County” and that the

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appellate justices “failed to disclose . . . disqualifying facts” about alleged

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conflicts of interest. Id. at 5-8.

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Plaintiff sues (1) the County1; (2) the Los Angeles County Department of

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Public Works (“DPW”); (3) the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors; (4)

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Gail Farber, the Director of DPW; (5) Craig Cline, a DPW engineer; (6) Arnel

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Dulay, a DPW employee; (7) Joseph A. Farrow, Commissioner for California

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Highway Patrol (“CHP”); (8) “Commander(s) of the CHP Division for

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Altadena/Angeles National Forest Area since 2009”; (9) Dustin Sherman, a

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CHP officer; (10) Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Donna Fields

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Goldstein; (11) Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Samantah P.

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Jessner; (12) the law firm Hurrell Cantrall LLP; (13) Warren Williams, an

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attorney representing Los Angeles County; (14) California Court of Appeal

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Justice Patricia Ann Bigelow; and (15) California Court of Appeal Justice

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Lawrence Rubin. Id. at 1-4.

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Plaintiff alleges five causes of action: that (1) Judges Jessner and

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Goldstein and Justices Rubin and Bigelow violated his rights under the Due

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Process and Equal Protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment; (2) all

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Defendants conspired to violate his civil rights; (3) the individual Defendants

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violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”);

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(4) all Defendants “procured a judg[]ment against [Plaintiff] by fraud,

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Plaintiff does not list the County in the section of the Complaint for
listing Defendants, but he does list it in the Complaint’s caption. See
Complaint at 1.
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including concealment of material facts”; and (5) all Defendants conspired to

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commit fraud against Plaintiff. Complaint at 30-33. He seeks $16 million in

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compensatory damages; unspecified punitive damages; and orders declaring

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that various state-court orders violated his constitutional rights and are

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unenforceable. Id. at 33-36.

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Because Plaintiff paid the full filing fee and is not a prisoner, the

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Complaint is not subject to preservice screening under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(e)(2)

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or 1915A. See Brown v. California, No. 11-0707, 2011 WL 5827958, at *1

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(C.D. Cal. May 18, 2011), accepted by 2011 WL 5828717 (C.D. Cal. Nov. 18,

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2011). The Court may, however, sua sponte dismiss a frivolous, patently

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insubstantial complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction under Federal

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Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1). See Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 327

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n.6 (1989) (courts lack subject matter jurisdiction to consider “patently

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insubstantial” complaints); see also Franklin v. Murphy, 745 F.2d 1221, 1227

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n.6 (9th Cir. 1984) (“A paid complaint that is ‘obviously frivolous’ does not

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confer federal subject matter jurisdiction and may be dismissed sua sponte

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before service of process.” (citations omitted)). A frivolous complaint “lacks an

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arguable basis either in law or in fact.” Neitzke, 490 U.S. at 325.

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Plaintiff’s claims against the four Defendant judicial officers—Judges

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Jessner and Goldstein and Justices Rubin and Bigelow—are subject to

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dismissal because they are frivolous. Judicial officers are absolutely immune

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from liability for acts performed in their judicial capacity. Mireles v. Waco,

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502 U.S. 9, 9, 11 (1991) (per curiam). Judicial immunity bars suit even if a

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judge is accused of acting in bad faith, maliciously, corruptly, erroneously, or

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in excess of jurisdiction. Id. at 11-13. Judicial immunity is overcome only

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when the judge’s actions are not taken in his or her judicial capacity or when

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the actions, though judicial in nature, are taken in the “complete absence of all

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jurisdiction.” Id. at 11-12. And although a judge is not absolutely immune
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from a suit for prospective injunctive relief, see id. at *10 n.1; Pulliam v. Allen,

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466 U.S. 522, 541-43 (1984); § 1983 itself prohibits a grant of injunctive relief

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against any judicial officer acting in his or her judicial capacity “unless a

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declaratory decree was violated or declaratory relief was unavailable.” § 1983;

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see also Wolfe v. Strankman, 392 F.3d 358, 366 (9th Cir. 2004).

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Here, it is clear that Plaintiff is challenging only acts that the four

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Defendant judicial officers performed in their judicial capacity. Plaintiff alleges

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that Judge Goldstein violated Plaintiff’s constitutional rights by forwarding her

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tentative summary-judgment ruling to Judge Jessner; ruling on the defendants’

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motion for costs; and modifying that ruling after it was on appeal. Complaint

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at 26. He alleges that Judge Jessner violated his constitutional rights by failing

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to consider Plaintiff’s opposition to the defendants’ motion for summary

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judgment and instead “rul[ing] on Judge Gold[]stein’s tentative ruling”;

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allowing a different plaintiff to proceed on similar claims in state court after

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granting summary judgment against Plaintiff; failing to inform Plaintiff that

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Judge Goldstein had forwarded the tentative ruling to her; refusing to hear

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Plaintiff’s motion to set aside the summary-judgment ruling, and failing to

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disclose that her husband was a “former Los Angeles County Deputy District

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Attorney.” Id. at 27.

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Plaintiff alleges that Justice Rubin, who was on the panel of justices who

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heard Plaintiff’s appeal, violated Plaintiff’s constitutional rights by “fail[ing] to

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disclose that he was a former employer of . . . [P]laintiff’s sister and that he

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terminated the employment of the sister in anger over a financial dispute.” Id.

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at 28-29. Finally, Plaintiff alleges that Judge Bigelow, who authored the

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opinion that upheld the trial court’s summary-judgment ruling, failed to

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disclose that she was in a long-term relationship with “a retired Los Angeles

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City Fire Department firefighter” who was then the “Commissioner for Safety

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of La Canada Flintridge” and thus had some association with law
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enforcement. Id. at 7-8, 29. All of those actions were taken in the Defendant

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judges’ and justices’ judicial capacity. Plaintiff, moreover, does not seek any

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prospective injunctive relief. As such, those four Defendants are absolutely

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immune from suit.

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IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that on or before May 16, 2017,

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Plaintiff show cause in writing why his claims against Judges Jessner and

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Goldstein and Justices Rubin and Bigelow should not be dismissed because

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they are barred by absolute judicial immunity. Plaintiff may, in the alternative,

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voluntarily dismiss those Defendants from the Complaint by submitting such a

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request in writing. Plaintiff is warned that his failure to timely respond to the

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Order may result in those Defendants being dismissed for the reasons

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discussed above.

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Plaintiff is also advised that there are three federal “pro se” clinics in this

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district. The clinics offer on-site information and guidance to individuals who

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are representing themselves (proceeding pro se) in federal civil actions. The

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clinics are administered by nonprofit law firms, not the Court. The clinic

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located closest to Plaintiff’s address of record is in the United States

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Courthouse at 312 N. Spring Street, Room G-19, Main Street Floor, Los

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Angeles, CA 90012. Clinic hours are Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays from

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9:30 a.m. to noon and from 2 to 4 p.m. Useful information is also available on

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the Court’s website, http://court.cacd.uscourts.gov/cacd/ProSe.nsf/.

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Dated: April 18, 2017
______________________________
DOUGLAS F. McCORMICK
United States Magistrate Judge

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