(PC) Harris v. Robles et al

Filing 13

ORDER ADOPTING 11 Findings and Recommendations IN PART signed by District Judge Dale A. Drozd on 9/3/2021. (Sant Agata, S)

Case 1:20-cv-01406-NONE-SAB Document 13 Filed 09/07/21 Page 1 of 4
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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DEVONTE B. HARRIS,

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Plaintiff,

No. 1:20-cv-01406-NONE-SAB (PC)
ORDER ADOPTING FINDINGS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS AND IN PART

v.
(Doc. No. 11)
A. ROBLES, et al.,

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Defendants.

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Plaintiff Devonte Harris is a state inmate proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis in this

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civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. This action proceeds on plaintiff’s first amended

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complaint against defendants Robles, Garcia, Velasquez, Cate and Allison for violations of

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plaintiff’s Eighth Amendment rights and First Amendment rights in connection with an alleged

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incident in which plaintiff was caused to urinate on himself and be exposed in public. This matter

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was referred to a United States Magistrate Judge pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B) and Local

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Rule 302.

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On May 13, 2021, the assigned magistrate judge issued findings and recommendations

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recommending that plaintiff’s first amended complaint be dismissed for failure to state a claim.

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(Doc. No. 11.) Those findings and recommendations were served on plaintiff and contained

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notice that any objections thereto were to be filed within twenty-one (21) days after service. (Id.

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at 8.) Plaintiff filed objections on June 9, 2021. (Doc. No. 12.)
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Case 1:20-cv-01406-NONE-SAB Document 13 Filed 09/07/21 Page 2 of 4
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Plaintiff brings a claim against defendants for denial of basic necessities in violation of the

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Eighth Amendment in connection with plaintiff urinating on himself after being denied access to

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a toilet. The magistrate judge determined plaintiff failed to state a claim because he did not allege

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a substantial risk of serious harm. (Doc. No. 11 at 5–6.) In his objections, plaintiff contends that

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the cases the magistrate judge relied on in reaching that conclusion were distinguishable because

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those cases (1) did not deal with a prisoner’s medical need and/or (2) dealt with a more serious

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security risk than plaintiff posed in this case. (Doc. No. 12 at 3–4.) Plaintiff alleges that he was

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denied the use of a bathroom for at least 90 minutes, although the actual total time of the alleged

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denial of bathroom access is not alleged by him. Although plaintiff alleges he also has a medical

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condition that requires him to urinate more frequently, the magistrate judge correctly noted that

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plaintiff alleges he was permitted to change clothes after he urinated and that plaintiff does not

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allege that he was denied the use of a toilet for an inordinate length of time. Thus, the magistrate

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judge properly found that plaintiff did not allege a sufficiently serious harm to support a claim of

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the violation of his Eighth Amendment rights.

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Plaintiff also brings a claim against defendants Robles and Garcia in connection with his

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privacy rights. Plaintiff alleges that those defendants transported him to a state court proceeding

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in an indecent-exposure jumpsuit after staff had accused him of indecent exposure; that he

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informed them of his medical condition, which requires him to use the toilet frequently; that the

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defendants refused to let him use the toilet resulting in him soiling himself; and that thereafter the

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defendants required him to wear a paper jumpsuit without underwear while in court that exposed

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his anus and genitals to view. (Doc. No. 9 at 14.) The findings and recommendations found that

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plaintiff failed to state a claim because he failed to allege that defendants’ actions subjected him

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to a substantial risk of harm. (Doc. No. 11 at 7.) In his objections, plaintiff contends that the

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magistrate judge erred by employing the legal standard applicable to claims brought under the

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Eighth Amendment and not the standard governing alleged violations of the right to privacy.

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(Doc. 12 at 2.)

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The Ninth Circuit has found that “[p]risoners retain a limited right to bodily privacy.”
Byrd v. Marciopa County Board of Supervisors, 845 F.3d 919, 923 (9th Cir. 2017) (quoting
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Case 1:20-cv-01406-NONE-SAB Document 13 Filed 09/07/21 Page 3 of 4
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Michenfelder v. Sumner, 860 F.2d 328, 333 (9th Cir. 1988)). In Byrd the plaintiff, a male pretrial

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detainee, alleged that female guards regularly observed him shower and use the bathroom from a

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close distance, and that it was the jail’s policy to permit guards to do so. Id. at 921–22. 1 The

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Ninth Circuit held that in such a circumstance, the balancing test from Turner v. Safely, 482 U.S.

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78 (1987), applied in making the determination of whether the prison regulation was

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constitutional and the court found that the allegations of the complaint warranted an answer from

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defendants in order to assess the Turner factors. Id. at 923–24. Because the Turner test deals

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with “a prison regulation [that] impinges on inmates’ constitutional rights,” the Ninth Circuit

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implicitly found that the alleged policy at issue in that case impinged the inmate’s limited right to

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privacy. Id. at 923 (quoting Turner, 482 U.S. at 89).
On the other hand, “casual, restricted, and obscured viewing of a prison inmate’s naked

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body is constitutionally permitted if it is justified by legitimate government interests such as

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prison security needs.” Ioane v. Hodges, 939 F.3d 945, 956 (9th Cir. 2018). Additionally, Ninth

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Circuit “case law suggests that prisoners’ legitimate expectations of bodily privacy from persons

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of the opposite sex are extremely limited.” Jordan v. Gardner, 986 F.2d 1521, 1524 (9th Cir.

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1993).
Here, plaintiff alleges that due to defendants’ failure to permit him access to a toilet to

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urinate, he was required to wear paper clothing in a courtroom appearance that exposed his anus

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and genitals to view. As in Byrd, these allegations are sufficient to warrant a response by

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defendants. Liberally construed, plaintiff’s allegations indicate that he was subjected to

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something more serious and substantial than a casual, restricted, and obscured viewing of his

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naked body. Plaintiff alleges that he had been sent to the state courthouse in question over 20

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times before the alleged event and provided a urinal during transport before (Doc. No. 9 ¶ 25),

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indicating that there was no legitimate penological interest in defendants preventing him from

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using a toilet. Thus, as in Byrd, plaintiff has sufficiently alleged that his limited right to privacy

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has been impinged, thus warranting a response by defendants. See Byrd, 845 F.3d at 923–24; see

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Although the plaintiff was a pretrial detainee, the Ninth Circuit appears to have employed the
legal standards applicable to prisoners. Id.
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also Michenfelder, 860 F.2d at 333 (“We recognize that incarcerated prisoners retain a limited

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right to bodily privacy. Shielding one’s unclothed figure from the view of strangers, . . . is

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impelled by elementary self-respect and personal dignity.”).

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Accordingly,
1. The findings and recommendations issued on May 13, 2021, (Doc. No. 11), are adopted in
part;
2. This action shall proceed on plaintiff’s claims against defendants Garcia and Robles for
violation of plaintiff’s limited right to bodily privacy;
3. All other claims and defendants are dismissed for failure to state a claim; and
4. This matter is referred back to the magistrate judge for further proceedings consistent with
this order.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated:

September 3, 2021
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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