Todd v. Curtis, et. al.

Filing 3

FINDINGS and RECOMMENDATIONS signed by Magistrate Judge Edmund F. Brennan on 05/29/12 RECOMMENDING that the 2 Motion to Proceed In Forma Pauperis be granted, that the 1 Complaint be dismissed without leave to amend and this be case closed. Objections to these F&Rs due within 14 days; 2 Motion and 1 Complaint referred to Judge Morrison C. England, Jr. (Benson, A.)

Download PDF
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 DEREK TODD, Plaintiff, 10 11 No. CIV 12-1323 MCE EFB PS vs. 13 RICHARD CURTIS, Placer County Superior Court Judge; PLACER COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT, 14 Defendants. 12 / 15 16 FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS This case, in which plaintiff is proceeding in propria persona, was referred to the 17 undersigned under Local Rule 302(c)(21), pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1). Plaintiff seeks 18 leave to proceed in forma pauperis pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915. Plaintiff’s declaration makes 19 the showing required by 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1) and (2). See Dckt. No. 2. Accordingly, the 20 undersigned recommends that the request to proceed in forma pauperis be granted. 28 U.S.C. 21 § 1915(a). 22 Determining plaintiff may proceed in forma pauperis does not complete the required 23 inquiry. Pursuant to § 1915(e)(2), the court is directed to dismiss the case at any time if it 24 determines the allegation of poverty is untrue, or if the action is frivolous or malicious, fails to 25 state a claim on which relief may be granted, or seeks monetary relief against an immune 26 defendant. 1 1 Although pro se pleadings are liberally construed, see Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 2 520-21 (1972), a complaint, or portion thereof, should be dismissed for failure to state a claim if 3 it fails to set forth “enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Bell Atl. 4 Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 554, 562-563 (2007) (citing Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41 5 (1957)); see also Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). “[A] plaintiff’s obligation to provide the ‘grounds’ of 6 his ‘entitlement to relief’ requires more than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of 7 a cause of action’s elements will not do. Factual allegations must be enough to raise a right to 8 relief above the speculative level on the assumption that all of the complaint’s allegations are 9 true.” Id. (citations omitted). Dismissal is appropriate based either on the lack of cognizable 10 legal theories or the lack of pleading sufficient facts to support cognizable legal theories. 11 Balistreri v. Pacifica Police Dep’t, 901 F.2d 696, 699 (9th Cir. 1990). 12 In reviewing a complaint under this standard, the court must accept as true the allegations 13 of the complaint in question, Hospital Bldg. Co. v. Rex Hosp. Trustees, 425 U.S. 738, 740 14 (1976), construe the pleading in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, and resolve all doubts in 15 the plaintiff’s favor, Jenkins v. McKeithen, 395 U.S. 411, 421 (1969). A pro se plaintiff must 16 satisfy the pleading requirements of Rule 8(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Rule 17 8(a)(2) “requires a complaint to include a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the 18 pleader is entitled to relief, in order to give the defendant fair notice of what the claim is and the 19 grounds upon which it rests.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 554, 562-563 (2007) 20 (citing Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41 (1957)). 21 Additionally, a federal court is a court of limited jurisdiction, and may adjudicate only 22 those cases authorized by the Constitution and by Congress. Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Ins. 23 Co., 511 U.S. 375, 377 (1994). The basic federal jurisdiction statutes, 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 & 24 1332, confer “federal question” and “diversity” jurisdiction, respectively. Federal question 25 jurisdiction requires that the complaint (1) arise under a federal law or the U. S. Constitution, (2) 26 allege a “case or controversy” within the meaning of Article III, § 2 of the U. S. Constitution, or 2 1 (3) be authorized by a federal statute that both regulates a specific subject matter and confers 2 federal jurisdiction. Baker v. Carr, 369 U.S. 186, 198 (1962). To invoke the court’s diversity 3 jurisdiction, a plaintiff must specifically allege the diverse citizenship of all parties, and that the 4 matter in controversy exceeds $75,000. 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a); Bautista v. Pan American World 5 Airlines, Inc., 828 F.2d 546, 552 (9th Cir. 1987). A case presumably lies outside the jurisdiction 6 of the federal courts unless demonstrated otherwise. Kokkonen, 511 U.S. at 376-78. Lack of 7 subject matter jurisdiction may be raised at any time by either party or by the court. Attorneys 8 Trust v. Videotape Computer Products, Inc., 93 F.3d 593, 594-95 (9th Cir. 1996). 9 Plaintiff’s complaint against Judge Richard Curtis and the Placer County Superior Court 10 are brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Dckt. No. 1 at 1. Plaintiff alleges that Judge Curtis granted 11 a domestic violence restraining order against plaintiff without holding a hearing, in violation of 12 plaintiff’s Fourteenth Amendment right to due process, plaintiff’s presumption of innocence, 13 plaintiff and his child’s Eighth Amendment rights, and California law. Id. at 1, 10. All of the 14 issues plaintiff presents surround the constitutionality of the domestic violence restraining order 15 that Judge Curtis allegedly issued. Id. at 2. 16 However, judges are absolutely immune from suit for judicial actions taken by them in 17 the course of their official duties in connection with a case, unless those actions are taken in the 18 complete absence of all jurisdiction. Mireles v. Waco, 502 U.S. 9, 11-12 (1991). Plaintiff makes 19 no factual allegations that Judge Curtis acted outside the scope of his judicial capacity or lacked 20 jurisdiction. In fact, all of his claims are based on the issuance of a domestic violence restraining 21 order by Judge Curtis. Therefore, Judge Curtis is immune from liability in this § 1983 action. 22 Pierson v. Ray, 386 U.S. 547, 554 (1967) (finding that judicial immunity is applicable to § 1983 23 actions). 24 Additionally, although § 1983 provides a federal forum to remedy many deprivations of 25 civil liberties, it does not provide a federal forum for litigants who seek a remedy against a state 26 for alleged deprivations of civil liberties. Will v. Michigan Dep’t of State Police, 491 U.S. 58, 66 3 1 (1989). The Eleventh Amendment bars such suits unless the State has waived its immunity. Id. 2 A municipal court is an arm of the state and is protected from lawsuit by the Eleventh 3 Amendment. Franceschi v. Schwartz, 57 F.3d 828, 831 (9th Cir. 1995). Therefore, plaintiff’s 4 claims against Placer County Superior Court must be dismissed without leave to amend. 5 Simmons v. Sacramento County Super. Ct., 318 F.3d 1156, 1161 (9th Cir. 2003) (plaintiff cannot 6 state a claim against Sacramento County Superior Court because it is an arm of the state and thus 7 barred by the Eleventh Amendment); Franceschi, 57 F.3d at 831 (claim against South Orange 8 County Municipal Court barred by Eleventh Amendment because it is “arm of the state”). 9 Moreover, under the Rooker-Feldman doctrine, a federal district court does not have 10 subject-matter jurisdiction to hear an appeal from the judgment of a state court. Exxon Mobil 11 Corp. v. Saudi Basic Indus. Corp., 544 U.S. 280, 283-84 (2005); see also Dist. of Columbia 12 Court of Appeals v. Feldman, 460 U.S. 462, 476 (1983); Rooker v. Fidelity Trust Co., 263 U.S. 13 413, 415 (1923). The Rooker-Feldman doctrine bars jurisdiction in federal district court if the 14 exact claims raised in a state court case are raised in the subsequent federal case, or if the 15 constitutional claims presented to the district court are “inextricably intertwined” with the state 16 court's denial of relief. Bianchi v. Rylaarsdam, 334 F.3d 895, 898-99 (9th Cir. 2003) (quoting 17 Feldman, 460 U.S. at 483 n. 16). Rooker-Feldman thus bars federal adjudication of any suit 18 whether a plaintiff alleges an injury based on a state court judgment or directly appeals a state 19 court’s decision. Id. at 900 n.4. The district court lacks subject matter jurisdiction either to 20 conduct a direct review of a state court judgment or to scrutinize the state court’s application of 21 various rules and procedures pertaining to the state case. Samuel v. Michaud, 980 F. Supp. 1381, 22 1411-12 (D. Idaho 1996), aff’d, 129 F.3d 127 (9th Cir. 1997); see also Branson v. Nott, 62 F.3d 23 287, 291-92 (9th Cir. 1995) (finding no subject matter jurisdiction over section 1983 claim 24 seeking, inter alia, implicit reversal of state trial court action). “That the federal district court 25 action alleges the state court’s action was unconstitutional does not change the rule.” Feldman, 26 460 U.S. at 486. In sum, “a state court’s application of its rules and procedures is unreviewable 4 1 by a federal district court. The federal district court only has jurisdiction to hear general 2 challenges to state rules or claims that are based on the investigation of a new case arising upon 3 new facts.” Samuel, 980 F. Supp. at 1412-13. Accordingly, to the extent plaintiff’s complaint 4 challenges the entry of a state court judgment, that claim must be dismissed. 5 Further, even if the Rooker-Feldman does not deprive this court of jurisdiction because 6 the action was filed before the state court judgment was rendered, principles of comity and 7 abstention would likely require dismissal. See Exxon Mobil Corp., 544 U.S. at 292. Younger v. 8 Harris held that federal courts should not enjoin pending state proceedings except under 9 extraordinary circumstances. 401 U.S. 37, 49, 53 (1971). Thus, federal courts should refrain 10 from exercising jurisdiction in actions for injunctive, declaratory, or monetary relief that would 11 interfere with pending state judicial proceedings. Gilbertson v. Albright, 381 F.3d 965, 978 (9th 12 Cir. 2004) (en banc) (indicating that abstention is required even when damages are sought, when 13 the federal court damages award “would frustrate the state's interest in administering its judicial 14 system, cast a negative light on the state court's ability to enforce constitutional principles, and 15 put the federal court in the position of prematurely or unnecessarily deciding a question of 16 federal constitutional law.”). In the Ninth Circuit, Younger abstention prevents a court from 17 exercising jurisdiction when three criteria are met: 1) there are ongoing state judicial 18 proceedings; 2) an important state interest is involved; and 3) there is an adequate opportunity to 19 raise the federal question at issue in the state proceedings. H.C. ex rel. Gordon v. Koppel, 203 20 F.3d 610, 613 (9th Cir. 2000). “Whether it is labeled ‘comity,’ ‘federalism,’ or some other term, 21 the policy objective behind Younger abstention is to avoid unnecessary conflict between state 22 and federal governments.” United States v. Morros, 268 F.3d 695, 707 (9th Cir. 2001); see also 23 Wiener v. County of San Diego, 23 F.3d 263, 266 (9th Cir. 1994) (“The critical question is not 24 whether the state proceedings are still ‘ongoing’ but whether the state proceedings were 25 underway before initiation of the federal proceedings.”); Haw. Housing Auth. v. Midkiff, 467 26 U.S. 229, 238 (1984) (Younger abstention is required if the state proceedings were initiated 5 1 “before any proceedings of substance on the merits have taken place in federal court.”); Huffman 2 v. Pursue, Ltd., 420 U.S. 592, 607–611, 95 (1975) (state court proceedings are “pending” even 3 after a judgment has been rendered if the time for appeal has not expired); Pennzoil Co., 481 4 U.S. at 15 (state court proceedings are presumed adequate to raise the federal claim “in the 5 absence of unambiguous authority to the contrary.”); see also Juidice v. Vail, 430 U.S. 327, 337 6 (1977) (“[Federal plaintiffs] need be accorded only an opportunity to fairly pursue their 7 constitutional claims in the ongoing state proceedings . . . their failure to avail themselves of 8 such opportunities does not mean that the state procedures were inadequate.”). 9 Therefore, the court will recommend this action be dismissed without leave to amend. 10 Noll v. Carlson, 809 F.2d 1446, 1448 (9th Cir. 1987) (While the court ordinarily would permit a 11 pro se plaintiff to amend, leave to amend should not be granted where it appears amendment 12 would be futile). 13 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY RECOMMENDED that: 14 1. Plaintiff’s request for leave to proceed in forma pauperis be granted; 15 2. The complaint be dismissed without leave to amend; and 16 3. The Clerk be directed to close this case. 17 These findings and recommendations are submitted to the United States District Judge 18 assigned to the case, pursuant to the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(l). Within fourteen days 19 after being served with these findings and recommendations, any party may file written 20 objections with the court and serve a copy on all parties. Such a document should be captioned 21 “Objections to Magistrate Judge’s Findings and Recommendations.” Failure to file objections 22 within the specified time may waive the right to appeal the District Court’s order. Turner v. 23 Duncan, 158 F.3d 449, 455 (9th Cir. 1998); Martinez v. Ylst, 951 F.2d 1153 (9th Cir. 1991). 24 DATED: May 29, 2012. 25 26 6

Disclaimer: Justia Dockets & Filings provides public litigation records from the federal appellate and district courts. These filings and docket sheets should not be considered findings of fact or liability, nor do they necessarily reflect the view of Justia.


Why Is My Information Online?