Matthews v. Holland
Filing
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FINDINGS and RECOMMENDATIONS signed by Magistrate Judge Deborah Barnes on 7/30/18 RECOMMENDING that defendant's motion for judgment on the pleadings 46 be denied. MOTION 46 referred to Judge Kimberly J. Mueller. Objections due within 14 days. (Plummer, M)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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IVAN LEE MATTHEWS,
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Plaintiff,
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v.
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No. 1:14-cv-1959 KJM DB P
K. HOLLAND,
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FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Defendant.
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Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis with a civil rights
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action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff alleges use of the Guard One security check system
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when he was incarcerated at the California Correctional Institution (“CCI”) violated his Eighth
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Amendment rights. Before the court is defendant’s motion for judgment on the pleadings. For
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the reasons set forth below, the court recommends defendant’s motion be denied.
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BACKGROUND
Plaintiff is currently incarcerated at Salinas Valley State Prison. The events complained
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of occurred when he was incarcerated at CCI in 2014 and 2015. This case is proceeding on
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plaintiff’s first amended complaint filed here on July 1, 2016. (ECF No. 21.)
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I.
Allegations of the First Amended Complaint
Plaintiff identifies one defendant – CCI Warden Holland. Plaintiff alleges that starting on
May 30, 2014, defendant implemented Guard One Safety/Security Checks in the administrative
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segregation unit (“ASU”) at CCI. (Id. ¶ 10.) Under the Guard One policy, every “5, 10, 15, 20
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minutes - 24-hours a day,” correctional officers used a metal bar to loudly bang and hit another
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metal object on inmates’ cell doors which let out a “loud beep or whistle.” (Id. ¶ 9.)
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On June 8, 2014, plaintiff wrote a “cdcr-inmate-22-request for interview form” to Warden
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Holland informing her that correctional officers were causing excessively loud noise for which
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there was no need, thereby depriving him of reasonable sleep; however, she failed to take
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measures to stop it. (Id. ¶ 16.) That same day, plaintiff also sent a “cdcr-inmate-22-request for
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interview form” to the ombudsman in Sacramento in which he requested information regarding
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the Guard One policy and a copy of the policy. (Id. ¶ 17.) Plaintiff met with a representative of
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the ombudsman’s office on June 25, 2014, and was told that the Guard One system is only
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required for the first twenty-one days that an inmate is in ASU, that Sacramento ordered it, and
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that the policy requires correctional officers to run beep checks once every thirty minutes. (Id. ¶
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18.) Plaintiff alleges that all three of the above requirements were “being violated and arbitrarily
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misused” by Warden Holland and correctional officers which amounted to a violation of his
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rights under the Eighth Amendment. (Id.)
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Plaintiff alleges that Warden Holland deprived him of an environment reasonably free
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from excessive noise, failed to stop use of the Guard One system on inmates who were not in
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ASU for disciplinary reasons, and failed to stop correctional officers from performing the
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banging/beeping checks on his “cell-door-every-5-10-15-20-minutes-24-hours-a-day and night.”
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(Id. ¶ 19.) Plaintiff further alleges that Warden Holland is responsible for the officer’s actions of
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loudly banging on his cell door, failed to respond to his request for an interview, and “illegally
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formulated” the Guard One policy “on inmates” such as plaintiff who are in ASU more than
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twenty-one days and are not suicidal. (Id. ¶¶ 20-22.) The Guard One policy, and the way it was
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implemented, allegedly caused a violation of plaintiff’s “clearly established constitutional rights”
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and resulted “in amongst other things-(psychological-pain/treatment, nervousness, sleep-
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deprivations, unable to take sleeping-pills, anxiety, and an environment-not-free of excess-loud-
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noise.)” (Id. ¶ 33.)
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II.
Procedural History
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Defendant moved to dismiss the first amended complaint on the grounds that she was
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protected by qualified immunity and that plaintiff failed to state a claim cognizable under the
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Eighth Amendment. (ECF No. 22.) The previously-assigned magistrate judge rejected
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defendant’s qualified immunity argument. In addition, the court found that plaintiff adequately
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plead an Eighth Amendment claim against defendant based on his allegations that he submitted a
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form-22 request for interview to defendant on June 8, 2014, in which he informed her that
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correctional officers were implementing the Guard One policy in a way that created loud noise
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when there was no need for it, thereby depriving him of the basic need for sleep through July 8,
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2015. (ECF No. 21, ¶¶ 16, 23, 24.) The court held that “these allegations generally suffice to
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state a cognizable claim based on Warden Holland’s ‘knowledge of and acquiescence in
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unconstitutional conduct by his or her subordinates.’” (ECF No. 26 at 8 (quoting Starr v. Baca,
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652 F.3d 1202, 1207 (2011).)
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On April 21, 2017, defendant filed an answer. (ECF No. 27.) On April 26, 2017, the
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court issued a Discovery and Scheduling Order requiring that discovery be completed by
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December 26, 2017 and dispositive motions be filed by March 5, 2018. (ECF No. 28.)
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On July 11, 2017, Jorge Andrade Rico, plaintiff in Rico v. Beard, No. 2:17-cv-1402 CKD
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(E.D. Cal.), filed a notice of related cases. (ECF No. 41.) Rico contended that the present case,
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among others, is related to Coleman v. Brown, No. 2:90-cv-0520 KJM DB because the Guard
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One system was implemented pursuant to an order issued by Judge Mueller in Coleman. Rico
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informed the court that his case had been transferred from the Northern District of California to
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the Eastern District on the same basis. On February 2, 2018, Judge Mueller issued an order
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relating this case, Rico’s case, and a third case to Coleman. (ECF No. 55.) Each case was
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transferred to this district and reassigned to Judge Mueller and to the undersigned magistrate
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judge.
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On December 6, 2017, defendant filed the present motion for judgment on the pleadings.
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(ECF No. 46.) Plaintiff filed an opposition on February 1, 2018. (ECF No. 52.) Defendant filed
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a reply. (ECF No. 56.)
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On March 8, 2018, the court amended the Discovery and Scheduling Order to continue the
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deadlines for discovery to June 26, 2018 and for dispositive motions to September 5, 2018. (ECF
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No. 58.)
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MOTION FOR JUDGMENT ON THE PLEADINGS
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Defendant argues judgment in her favor is appropriate on three grounds: (1) plaintiff fails
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to state a claim because an order in Coleman1 mandated that defendant implement Guard One; (2)
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defendant is entitled to qualified immunity because Coleman mandated Guard One; and (3)
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defendant is entitled to qualified immunity because plaintiff fails to state an Eighth Amendment
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claim. (ECF No. 46.) Plaintiff, citing the order denying defendant’s motion to dismiss, points
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out that Judge Oberto already held he had stated a cognizable Eighth Amendment claim against
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defendant.
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I.
Legal Standards
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A. Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings
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Pursuant to Rule 12(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, “[a]fter the pleadings are
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closed—but early enough not to delay trial—a party may move for judgment on the pleadings.”
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Judgment on the pleadings is appropriate when, even if all material facts in the pleading under
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attack are true, the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Chavez v. United
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States, 683 F.3d 1102, 1108 (9th Cir. 2012). Analysis under Rule 12(c) is ‘substantially identical’
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to analysis under Rule 12(b)(6) because, under both rules, ‘a court must determine whether the
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facts alleged in the complaint, taken as true, entitle the plaintiff to a legal remedy.’” Id. at 1108
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(quoting Brooks v. Dunlop Mfg. Inc., No. C 10-4841 CRB, 2011 WL 6140912, at *3 (N.D. Cal.
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Dec. 9, 2011)).
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“A complaint may survive a motion to dismiss if, taking all well-pleaded factual
allegations as true, it contains ‘enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’”
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Defendant asks the court to take judicial notice of documents and orders from the Coleman case.
(See ECF No. 46-1.) The court may take judicial notice of “matters of public record” pursuant to
Federal Rule of Evidence 201 without converting a motion to dismiss into a motion for summary
judgment. MGIC Indem. Corp. v. Weisman, 803 F.2d 500, 504 (9th Cir. 1986). Accordingly,
defendant’s request is granted.
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Coto Settlement v. Eisenberg, 593 F.3d 1031, 1034 (9th Cir. 2010) (quoting Ashcroft v. Iqbal,
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556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009)). “‘A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual
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content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the
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misconduct alleged.’” Caviness v. Horizon Cmty. Learning Ctr., Inc., 590 F.3d 806, 812 (9th Cir.
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2010) (quoting Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678). In considering a motion for judgment on the pleadings
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the court accepts “all factual allegations in the complaint as true” and construes the allegations “in
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the light most favorable to the non-moving party.” Fleming v. Pickard, 581 F.3d 922, 925 (9th
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Cir. 2009) (citing Turner v. Cook, 362 F.3d 1219, 1225 (9th Cir. 2004)). Judgment on the
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pleadings is appropriate “when there is no issue of material fact in dispute, and the moving party
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is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Id. at 925 (citing Heliotrope Gen., Inc. v. Ford Motor
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Co., 189 F.3d 971, 979 (9th Cir. 1999)).
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If the motion for judgment on the pleadings is granted, leave to amend should be granted
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unless it is clear the complaint cannot be saved by amendment. Jackson v. Barnes, 749 F.3d 755,
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766–67 (9th Cir. 2014) (district court erred in granting judgment on the pleadings and not
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permitting amendment where it was not absolutely clear the deficiencies were not curable).
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B. Eighth Amendment
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Under the Eighth Amendment, “prison officials are . . . prohibited from being deliberately
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indifferent to policies and practices that expose inmates to a substantial risk of serious harm.”
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Parsons v. Ryan, 754 F.3d 657, 677 (9th Cir. 2014); see also Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825,
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847 (1994) (prison official violates Eighth Amendment if he or she knows of a substantial risk of
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serious harm to an inmate and fails to take reasonable measures to avoid the harm). Deliberate
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indifference occurs when “[an] official acted or failed to act despite his knowledge of a
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substantial risk of serious harm.” Farmer, 511 U.S. at 841. Thus, a prisoner may state “a cause of
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action under the Eighth Amendment by alleging that [prison officials] have, with deliberate
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indifference, exposed him to [conditions] that pose an unreasonable risk of serious damage to his
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future health.” Helling v. McKinney, 509 U.S. 25, 35 (1993).
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“The second step, showing ‘deliberate indifference,’ involves a two part inquiry.”
Thomas v. Ponder, 611 F.3d 1144, 1150 (9th Cir. 2010). “First, the inmate must show that the
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prison officials were aware of a ‘substantial risk of serious harm’ to an inmate’s health or safety.”
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Id. (quoting Farmer, 511 U.S. at 837). “This part of [the] inquiry may be satisfied if the inmate
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shows that the risk posed by the deprivation is obvious.” Thomas, 611 F.3d at 1150 (citation
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omitted). “Second, the inmate must show that the prison officials had no ‘reasonable’
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justification for the deprivation, in spite of that risk.” Id. (citing Farmer, 511 U.S. at 844)
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(“[P]rison officials who actually knew of a substantial risk to inmate health or safety may be
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found free from liability if they responded reasonably.”)
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C. Qualified Immunity
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Government officials enjoy qualified immunity from civil damages unless their conduct
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violates clearly established statutory or constitutional rights. Jeffers v. Gomez, 267 F.3d 895, 910
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(9th Cir. 2001) (quoting Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818 (1982)). When a court is
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presented with a qualified immunity defense, the central questions for the court are: (1) whether
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the facts alleged, taken in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, demonstrate that the
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defendant’s conduct violated a statutory or constitutional right; and (2) whether the right at issue
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was “clearly established.” Saucier v. Katz, 533 U.S. 194, 201 (2001), receded from, Pearson v.
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Callahan, 555 U.S. 223 (2009) (the two factors set out in Saucier need not be considered in
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sequence). “Qualified immunity gives government officials breathing room to make reasonable
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but mistaken judgments about open legal questions.” Ashcroft v. al-Kidd, 563 U.S. 731, 743
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(2011). The existence of triable issues of fact as to whether prison officials were deliberately
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indifferent does not necessarily preclude qualified immunity. Estate of Ford v. Ramirez–Palmer,
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301 F.3d 1043, 1053 (9th Cir. 2002).
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“For the second step in the qualified immunity analysis—whether the constitutional right
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was clearly established at the time of the conduct—the critical question is whether the contours of
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the right were ‘sufficiently clear’ that every ‘reasonable official would have understood that what
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he is doing violates that right.’” Mattos v. Agarano, 661 F.3d 433, 442 (9th Cir. 2011) (quoting
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al—Kidd, 563 U.S. at 741) (some internal marks omitted). “The plaintiff bears the burden to
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show that the contours of the right were clearly established.” Clairmont v. Sound Mental Health,
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632 F.3d 1091, 1109 (9th Cir. 2011). “[W]hether the law was clearly established must be
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undertaken in light of the specific context of the case, not as a broad general proposition.” Estate
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of Ford, 301 F.3d at 1050 (citation and internal marks omitted).
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In making this determination, courts consider the state of the law at the time of the alleged
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violation and the information possessed by the official to determine whether a reasonable official
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in a particular factual situation should have been on notice that his or her conduct was illegal.
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Inouye v. Kemna, 504 F.3d 705, 712 (9th Cir. 2007); see also Hope v. Pelzer, 536 U.S. 730, 741
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(2002) (the “salient question” to the qualified immunity analysis is whether the state of the law at
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the time gave “fair warning” to the officials that their conduct was unconstitutional). “[W]here
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there is no case directly on point, ‘existing precedent must have placed the statutory or
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constitutional question beyond debate.’” C.B. v. City of Sonora, 769 F.3d 1005, 1026 (9th Cir.
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2014) (citing al—Kidd, 563 U.S. at 740). An official's subjective beliefs are irrelevant. Inouye,
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504 F.3d at 712.
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II.
Analyses
The court is puzzled by defendant’s motion. Defendant is arguing the same grounds –
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qualified immunity and failure to state a claim – that she argued in her motion to dismiss. As set
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out above, the standards for considering a motion for judgment on the pleadings are the same as
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those for considering a motion to dismiss. The only new information provided in defendant’s
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current motion is the fact that the Guard One system was implemented by order of Judge Mueller
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in the Coleman class action. However, to the extent plaintiff is challenging the Guard One
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system itself, as opposed to challenging the way Guard One was used at CCI, Judge Oberto
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dismissed that challenge in ruling on defendant’s motion to dismiss. Judge Oberto held that
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plaintiff had not shown that the “Guard One Policy, which Warden Holland allegedly
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implemented, was so deficient that ‘the policy itself is a repudiation of constitutional rights’ and
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is ‘the moving force’” behind the violation of plaintiff’s rights as alleged in this action. (ECF No.
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Judge Oberto did find, however, that plaintiff’s June 8, 2014 form-22 request for an
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interview, which was submitted to defendant Holland, put defendant on notice that “correctional
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officers were implementing the Guard One Policy in a way that created loud noise when there
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was no need for it, thereby depriving him of the basic need for sleep.” (Id. at 8.) This
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was sufficient, Judge Oberto held, to state a cognizable Eighth Amendment claim under 42
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U.S.C. § 1983. (Id.)
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Defendant presents nothing new to challenge Judge Oberto’s ruling. Defendant never
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sought reconsideration of that ruling and it is now the law of this case. Defendant appears to be
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simply attempting to have this court reconsider a ruling made a year ago in this case, without
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presenting newly discovered evidence or law that might justify belated reconsideration of that
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ruling. See E.D. Cal. R. 230(j) (A party seeking reconsideration must show “new or different
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facts or circumstances [] claimed to exist which did not exist or were not shown upon such prior
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motion, or what other grounds exist for the motion[.]”). “[A] court is generally precluded from
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reconsidering an issue that has already been decided by the same court, or a higher court in the
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identical case.” United States v. Alexander, 106 F.3d 874, 876 (9th Cir. 1997) (quoting Thomas
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v. Bible, 983 F.2d 152, 154 (9th Cir. 1993)). This court is bound by Judge Oberto’s ruling that
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plaintiff has stated a cognizable Eighth Amendment claim.
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Defendant’s qualified immunity argument is similarly defeated by Judge Oberto’s prior
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ruling. Judge Oberto held that law in this circuit was clearly established in 2014 that sleep
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deprivation could amount to a violation of the Eighth Amendment. (ECF No. 26 at 12-13.)
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While the fact that Guard One was implemented pursuant to an order in Coleman might protect
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defendant from suit based solely on use of the Guard One system, that is not what plaintiff’s
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surviving claim alleges. Rather, plaintiff alleges correctional officers conducted the Guard One
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checks in a way that caused frequent and excessive loud noises. The allegation that Guard One
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checks were not conducted appropriately, and were conducted in a manner causing
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unconstitutional sleep deprivation, makes plaintiff’s claim one covered by the clearly established
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law regarding sleep deprivation. Defendant should not be protected by qualified immunity from
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plaintiff’s Eighth Amendment claim.
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For the foregoing reasons, IT IS HEREBY RECOMMENDED that defendant’s motion
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for judgment on the pleadings (ECF No. 46) be denied.
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These findings and recommendations will be submitted to the United States District Judge
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assigned to the case, pursuant to the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(l). Within fourteen days
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after being served with these findings and recommendations, either party may file written
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objections with the court. The document should be captioned “Objections to Magistrate Judge's
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Findings and Recommendations.” The parties are advised that failure to file objections within the
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specified time may result in waiver of the right to appeal the district court’s order. Martinez v.
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Ylst, 951 F.2d 1153 (9th Cir. 1991).
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Dated: July 30, 2018
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DLB:9
DLB1/prisoner-civil rights/matt1959.mtd2
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