Garraway v. Ciufo et al
Filing
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ORDER DENYING 156 Defendants' Motion for Reconsideration, signed by District Judge Ana de Alba on 2/1/2023. This matter is referred back to the assigned Magistrate Judge for further proceedings consistent with this order. (Rivera, O)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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MITCHELL GARRAWAY,
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Plaintiff,
No. 1:17-cv-00533-ADA-GSA (PC)
ORDER DENYING DEFENDANTS’
MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION
v.
(ECF No. 156)
JACQUILINE CIUFO, et al.,
Defendants.
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Plaintiff Mitchell Garraway (“Plaintiff”), proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis, filed
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this civil rights action pursuant to Bivens v. Six Unknown Agents, 403 U.S. 388 (1971), and the
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Eighth Amendment. Plaintiff alleges that Defendants violated his Eighth Amendment rights while
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he was incarcerated at the U.S. Penitentiary at Atwater by failing to move him from a cell after he
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reported that his cellmate had cut his nose with a razor and struck Plaintiff’s left side of his jaw.
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(ECF No. 1 at 4.) Plaintiff’s cellmate had a long history of serious assaults in which his victims
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required hospitalization. (ECF No. 84 at 2.) The matter was referred to a United States Magistrate
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Judge pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B) and Local Rule 302.
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On August 5, 2019, the assigned Magistrate Judge issued findings and recommendations,
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recommending that the motion for judgment on the pleadings brought by Defendants Jacquiline
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Ciufo, K. Miller, and J. Zaragosa be granted. (ECF Nos. 42, 84.) On February 21, 2020, the then-
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assigned District Judge declined to adopt the findings and recommendations and denied
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Defendants’ motion for judgment on the pleadings. (ECF No. 94.) Currently before the Court is
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Defendants’ request for relief from the denial of their motion for judgment on the pleadings
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pursuant to Local Rule 230(j). (ECF No. 156.) On December 22, 2022, Plaintiff filed his
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opposition to the motion for reconsideration. (ECF No. 157.)
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I.
Legal Standard
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Pursuant to Rule 60(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Court may relieve a
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party from a final judgment for six different reasons. Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b). The instant motion
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falls under the sixth reason: “Any other reason that justifies relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b)(6). “A
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motion for reconsideration should not be granted, absent highly unusual circumstances, unless the
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district court is presented with newly discovered evidence, committed clear error, or if there is an
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intervening change in the controlling law.” Marlyn Nutraceuticals, Inc. v. Mucos Pharma GmbH
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& Co., 571 F.3d 873, 880 (9th Cir. 2009) (internal quotations marks and citations omitted)
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(emphasis added). In seeking reconsideration of an order, Local Rule 230(j) also requires a party
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to show “what new or different facts or circumstances are claimed to exist which did not exist or
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were not shown upon such prior motion, or what other grounds exist for the motion.”
Defendants’ Motion for Reconsideration
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II.
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Defendants request relief from the denial of their motion for judgment on the pleadings based
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on an alleged intervening change in the controlling law, particularly the Supreme Court’s decision
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in Egbert v. Boule, 142 S. Ct. 1793 (2022), and Hoffman v. Preston, No. 20-15396, 2022 WL
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6685254 (9th Cir. Oct. 11, 2022). (See ECF No. 156.)
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In Egbert v. Boule, 142 S. Ct. 1793 (2022), the Court held that Bivens did not create a Fourth
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Amendment excessive-force claim or a First Amendment retaliation claim against a United States
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Border Patrol Agent who allegedly assaulted the plaintiff on his own property and later retaliated
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against him for reporting that assault. Id. at 1802-09. The Court applied the two-step process from
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Ziglar v. Abbasi, 134 S. Ct. 1843 (2017), to determine a proposed Bivens claim: (1) whether the
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case presents a “new Bivens context,” where it is “meaningfully different from the three cases1 in
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Carlson v. Green, 446 U.S. 14 (1980) (Eighth Amendment); Davis v. Passman, 442 U.S. 228
(1979) (Fifth Amendment); Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of
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which the Court has implied a damages action;” and (2) if a claim arises in a new context, a Bivens
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remedy is unavailable if there are “special factors” indicating that the judicial branch is at least
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arguably less equipped than Congress to “weigh the costs and benefits of allowing a damages action
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to proceed.” Id. at 1803 (citing Ziglar, 134 S. Ct. at 1859-60). The Court noted that the inquiry
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can easily be simplified to a single question: “whether there is any reason to think that Congress
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might be better equipped to create a damages remedy.” Id. “If there is a rational reason to think
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that the answer is ‘Congress’ – as it will be in almost every case – no Bivens action may lie.” Id.
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Applying the Ziglar v. Abbasi test, the Court reasoned that Congress is better positioned to
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create remedies in the border-security context, and the government already has provided alternative
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remedies that protect similarly situated plaintiffs. Id. at 1804. The Court explained that the
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judiciary is not undoubtedly better positioned than Congress to authorize a damages action in a
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national-security context, directing courts to not independently assess the costs and benefits of
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implying a cause of action. Id. at 1805. Rather, a court must inquire more broadly if it is competent
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to authorize a damages action not just against the particular defendant in a case, but rather the
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category of defendants generally. Id. at 1806. In Egbert, the Court found that the judiciary must
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not authorize a damages action against Border Patrol agents in general and that it was inappropriate
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for the lower court to inquire narrowly whether there may be a damages action against the particular
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border patrol agent, defendant Boule. Id. Overall, the Court reversed the lower court’s judgment
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and found that there are no Bivens actions for Fourth Amendment excessive force violations and
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retaliation for exercising First Amendment rights. Id. at 1809.
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In response to Egbert v. Boule, the Ninth Circuit in Hoffman v. Preston, No. 20-15396, 2022
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WL 6685254 (9th Cir. Oct. 11, 2022), held that an Eighth Amendment, Failure to Protect claim
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may not provide the basis for a Bivens action. Id. at *1. The Hoffman court reasoned that Egbert
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v. Boule precludes recognizing a Bivens remedy for the plaintiff’s allegations. Id. The court
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distinguished the case from Carlson v. Green, 446 U.S. 14 (1980), where the Court approved of a
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Bivens remedy for prison officials’ failure to provide adequate medical care. The plaintiff’s
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Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388 (1971) (Fourth Amendment).
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allegations concerned a prison correctional officer intentionally creating the risk that another
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prisoner would assault him by publicly labeling him as a snitch and offering prisoners awards. The
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court found that these allegations do not constitute a Bivens action given the holding in Egbert v.
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Boule. Lastly, the court reasoned that “Congress has not authorized a damages remedy in this
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context, and there are ‘rational reason[s]’ why it might not, for example, the existence of the Bureau
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of Prisons’ formal review process for inmate complaints.” Id. (citing Egbert, 142 S. Ct. at 1803).
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Here, Defendants argue that Plaintiff’s allegations are similar to Hoffman’s, where both
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amounted to Eighth Amendment failure to protect claims. Because the Ninth Circuit had strictly
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applied the Egbert v. Boule reasoning, Defendants request relief from the denial of their motion for
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judgment on the pleadings based on an alleged intervening change in the controlling law.
III.
Discussion
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The Court denies Defendants’ motion for reconsideration because Farmer v. Brennan, 511
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U.S. 825 (1994), is still precedent in light of Egbert v. Boule. As a result, the Court upholds the
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then-assigned District Judge’s order declining to adopt the findings and recommendation and deny
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Defendants’ judgment on the pleadings.
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In Farmer v. Brennan, the Court held that prison officials may be held liable under the
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Eighth Amendment for the failure to protect the plaintiff’s safety. 511 U.S. at 847. The plaintiff
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filed a Bivens complaint, alleging a violation of the Eighth Amendment, because the defendants
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had placed the plaintiff in the general population despite knowledge that she, as a transgender
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woman, would be particularly vulnerable to sexual attack by some inmates. Id. at 830-31.
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Throughout the opinion, the Court referred to the matter as a Bivens action. See id. at 839 (“Bivens
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actions against federal prison officials (and their 42 U.S.C. § 1983 counterparts against state
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officials) are civil in character . . . .”). The main inquiry concerned the deliberate indifference
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standard of Eighth Amendment claims. Id. at 842. Thus, the Court did not dispute whether the
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plaintiff’s Eighth Amendment claim for failure to protect was an actual Bivens action. Overall, the
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Court held that a prison official could “be held liable under the Eighth Amendment for denying
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humane conditions of confinement,” emphasizing that “prison officials have a duty . . . to protect
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prisoners from violence at the hands of other prisoners.” Id. at 833-34, 848.
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Here, Plaintiff’s case does not differ in a meaningful way from Farmer and his claims do
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not arise in a new Bivens context. Plaintiff alleges that he was attacked by his cellmate after prison
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officials left the two in the same cell despite his request to be moved, even though the latter had
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already attacked Plaintiff once and had a history of attacking other inmates. (See ECF No. 1.) In
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Farmer, the plaintiff, a transwoman, alleged in an Eighth Amendment Bivens action that she was
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attacked and raped after being placed in the prison’s general population even though prison officials
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knew that she would be “particularly vulnerable to sexual attack[.]” Farmer, 511 U.S. at 830-31
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(1994). Without dissent, the Court addressed the case on the merits, acknowledged the plaintiff’s
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claim as cognizable, and remanded the matter to the trial court for further proceedings. Id. at 847-
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51. The same theory underlies both Farmer and the present case: prison officials demonstrating
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deliberate indifference to an inmate facing the substantial risk of violent attack by other inmates.
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Egbert v. Boule does not mention Farmer v. Brennan. However, the Egbert Court limits its
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analysis to the three cases in which the Court has implied a damages action: Bivens v. Six Unknown
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Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388 (1971) (Fourth Amendment), Davis
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v. Passman, 442 U.S. 228 (1979) (Fifth Amendment), and Carlson v. Green, 446 U.S. 14 (1980)
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(Eighth Amendment). Egbert, 142 S. Ct. at 1797. The Court requires a court to ask whether the
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case presents a new Bivens context, one that is “meaningfully different from the three cases in
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which the Court has implied a damages action.” Id. This implies that Farmer is not considered a
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case where there is an implied damages action. However, it does not directly overturn Farmer.
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Rather, Ziglar v. Abbasi, 137 S. Ct. 1843 (2017), which established the two-step analysis employed
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in Egbert, mentions Farmer v. Brennan.
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In Ziglar v. Abbasi, the Court held that a Bivens-type remedy should not be extended to
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Fifth Amendment claims challenging the confinement conditions imposed on the plaintiffs pursuant
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to the formal policy adopted by executive officials in the wake of the September 11 attacks. 137
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S. Ct. at 1848. Nowhere in the plurality opinion did the Court mention Farmer v. Brennan, but the
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dissent relied upon the case. To support that the plaintiff’s allegations constituted a Bivens action,
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the dissenting Justices refer to Farmer v. Brennan, analogizing the plaintiff’s allegations to that of
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a federal prisoner in a Bureau of Prisons facility bringing a Bivens claim against the offending
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individual officer for a constitutional deprivation, subject to the defense of qualified immunity. Id.
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at 1877. The dissenting Justices further reasoned that the plaintiff brought a Bivens action because
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the Court had previously found that the same Fifth Amendment substantive “deliberate
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indifference” standard applies to a “Bivens case alleging that prison wardens were deliberately
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indifferent to an inmates safety,” referring to Farmer v. Brennan. Id. at 1878 (citing Farmer, 511
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U.S. at 830, 834). Therefore, Farmer v. Brennan justifies the Court’s denial of Defendants’ motion
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for reconsideration.
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In the order declining to adopt the findings and recommendations, the then-assigned District
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Judge agreed with Plaintiff that his case does not differ in a meaningful way from Farmer v.
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Brennan, 511 U.S. 825 (1994), nor do his claims arise in a new Bivens context. (ECF No. 94 at 2.)
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As the Court has previously reasoned, it would be incongruous to regard Farmer as a “new context”
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when the Supreme Court in that case recognized a Bivens claim under the Eighth Amendment for
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a failure to protect an inmate from violence by other prisoners. (Id. at 3.) The Supreme Court has
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discouraged lower courts from renouncing its precedent on the belief that such cases were overruled
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by implication, instead directing the lower courts to “follow the case which directly controls,” even
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if that precedent “appears to rest on reasons rejected in some other line of decisions.” Rodriguez
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de Quijas v. Shearson/Am. Exp., Inc., 490 U.S. 477, 484 (1989); see Bosse v. Oklahoma, 137 S. Ct.
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1, 2 (2016) (“Our decisions remain binding precedent until we see fit to reconsider them, regardless
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of whether subsequent cases have raised doubts about their continuing vitality.”) The Supreme
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Court’s decision in Farmer is a cornerstone of Eighth Amendment jurisprudence and remains
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binding authority.
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Because Plaintiff’s allegations remain similar to those of Farmer, where both amounted to
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Eighth Amendment failure to protect claims and Bivens actions, the Court denies Defendants’
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motion for reconsideration. Such determination passes the Ziglar v. Abbasi test because the case
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does not present a new Bivens context, precluding the Court from weighing the costs and benefits
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of allowing a damages action to proceed. The Court does not need to consider whether there is any
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reason to think that Congress might be better equipped to create a damages remedy because the
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damages remedy already exists.
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IV.
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Accordingly,
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1. Defendants’ Motion for Reconsideration filed on December 8, 2022, (ECF No. 156), is
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DENIED, upholding the Order Declining to Adopt Findings and Recommendations and
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Denying Defendants’ Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings, (ECF No. 94); and
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Conclusion
2. This matter is referred back to the assigned Magistrate Judge for further proceedings
consistent with this order.
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated:
February 1, 2023
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
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