Todd v. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilition et al

Filing 79

ORDER ADOPTING 76 FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS IN FULL; ORDER GRANTING 61 Defendants' Motion to Dismiss; and ORDER TERMINATING Defendants Indermill, Albitre and Carron From Action signed by District Judge Dale A. Drozd on 8/4/2017. (Jessen, A)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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MICHAEL ANTHONY TODD,

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Plaintiff,

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No. 1:12-cv-01003-DAD-BAM (PC)

v.
CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF
CORRECTIONS AND
REHABILITATION, et al.,

ORDER ADOPTING FINDINGS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING
DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS THE
SECOND AMENDED COMPLAINT
(Doc. No. 61, 76)

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Defendants.

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Plaintiff Michael Anthony Todd is a state prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma
pauperis in this civil rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

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On May 24, 2017, the assigned magistrate judge issued findings and recommendations

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recommending that the motion to dismiss filed by defendants Indermill, Albitre and Carron be

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granted, and that those defendants be dismissed from this action based on qualified immunity

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grounds. (Doc. No. 76.) Those findings and recommendations were served on the parties and

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contained notice that any objections thereto were to be filed within fourteen (14) days after

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service of the findings and recommendations. (Id.) Plaintiff filed objections on June 7, 2017.

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(Doc. No. 77.) Defendants Indermill, Albitre and Carron filed a reply to plaintiff’s objections on

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June 13, 2017. (Doc. No. 78.)

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In his objections, plaintiff argues that the magistrate judge erred in concluding that

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defendants were entitled to qualified immunity, because: (i) the qualified immunity inquiry was

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not completed in the correct order; and (ii) the incorrect standard was applied in determining

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whether plaintiff had “clearly established” religious rights. (Doc. No. 77 at 2.)

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The court has reviewed plaintiff’s objections, but finds no basis therein warranting

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rejection of the magistrate judge’s findings and recommendations. As indicated by the magistrate

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judge in the pending findings and recommendations, in resolving a claim of qualified immunity

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by government officials, the court must decide (i) whether the facts that a plaintiff has alleged or

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shown make out a violation of a constitutional right and (ii) whether the right at issue was clearly

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established at the time of the defendant’s alleged misconduct. See Pearson v. Callahan, 555 U.S.

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223, 232 (2009); Padilla v. Yoo, 678 F.3d 748, 757 (9th Cir. 2012). Contrary to plaintiff’s

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assertion, district courts are “permitted to exercise their sound discretion in deciding which of the

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two prongs of the qualified immunity analysis should be addressed first in light of the

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circumstances in the particular case at hand.” Pearson, 555 U.S. at 236; see also Ames v. Kings

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County, Washington, 846 F.3d 340, 347 (9th Cir. 2017) (“We may exercise discretion in deciding

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which of the two prongs to address first.”). The court therefore finds no error in the magistrate

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judge’s decision to first consider whether the constitutional right at issue was clearly established

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at the time of the alleged misconduct.

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Plaintiff’s contentions regarding whether his specific religious rights were clearly

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established at the time of the alleged misconduct are also unpersuasive. In the findings and

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recommendations, the magistrate judge found the dispositive inquiry to be “whether it was clearly

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established that Creativity invoked constitutionally cognizable religious interests, and Defendants

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should have recognized Creativity as a religion and relatedly provided Plaintiff with religious

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meals and allowed him to retain his religious materials.” (Doc. No. 76 at 9.) Plaintiff argues that

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the magistrate judge should have addressed the question of whether he had “clearly established

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religious rights . . . not whether Creativity was previously recognized.” (Doc. No. 77 at 4.)

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Plaintiff’s arguments are not persuasive.

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The Supreme Court has repeatedly emphasized that “clearly established law” should not

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be defined for qualified immunity purposes “at a high level of generality.” White v. Pauly, __

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U.S.__, __, 137 S. Ct. 548, 552 (2017) (noting that “otherwise, plaintiffs would be able to convert

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the rule of qualified immunity . . . into a rule of virtually unqualified liability simply by alleging

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violation of extremely abstract rights”) (quotation marks and citations omitted); Ashcroft v. al–

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Kidd, 563 U.S. 731, 742 (2011). Rather, the clearly established law must be “particularized to the

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facts of the case.” White, 137 S. Ct. at 552 (citing Anderson v. Creighton, 483 U.S. 635, 640

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(1987)). Here, the magistrate judge properly defined the inquiry for the particular facts of this

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case, as alleged by plaintiff, by analyzing whether it was clearly established that Creativity

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invoked constitutionally cognizable religious interests at the time of the defendants’ alleged

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misconduct.

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In accordance with the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 636 (b)(1)(C), this court has conducted a

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de novo review of this case. Having carefully reviewed the entire file, including plaintiff’s

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objections, the court finds the findings and recommendations to be supported by the record and

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by proper analysis.

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Accordingly,

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1. The May 24, 2017 findings and recommendations (Doc. No. 76), are adopted in full;

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2. Defendants’ motion to dismiss (Doc. No. 61), filed on July 28, 2016, is granted;

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3. Defendants Indermill, Albitre and Carron are dismissed from this action on qualified

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immunity grounds; and
4. This matter is referred back to the magistrate judge for further proceedings consistent with
this order.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated:

August 4, 2017
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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