Morris v. Guffee, et al.
Filing
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FINDINGS and RECOMMENDATIONS signed by Magistrate Judge Kendall J. Newman on 6/9/14 RECOMMENDING that the Amended Complaint be dismissed, without leave to amend, for failure to state a claim; and this case be closed. Referred to Judge Troy L. Nunley; Objections to F&R due within 14 days.(Dillon, M)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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LEON E. MORRIS,
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No. 2:13-cv-1171 TLN KJN P
Plaintiff,
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v.
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GUFFEE, et al.,
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FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Defendant.
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Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding pro se in this civil rights action filed pursuant 42
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U.S.C. § 1983. On October 22, 2013, this court granted plaintiff’s application to proceed in
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forma pauperis,1 and dismissed plaintiff’s original complaint with leave to file an amended
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complaint. (See ECF No. 10.) The court now screens plaintiff’s Amended Complaint, pursuant
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to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a).
The court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief against a
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governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). In
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reviewing a complaint under this standard, the court must accept as true the allegations of the
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complaint, Hospital Bldg. Co. v. Rex Hosp. Trustees, 425 U.S. 738, 740 (1976), construe the
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Although the undersigned initially found plaintiff a “three strikes litigant” under 28 U.S.C. §
1915(g), the court vacated that finding in deference to a contrary judicial finding in another of
plaintiff’s cases. (See ECF No. 10 and cases cited therein.)
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pleading in the light most favorable to plaintiff, and resolve all doubts in the plaintiff’s favor,
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Jenkins v. McKeithen, 395 U.S. 411, 421 (1969). The court must dismiss a complaint or portion
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thereof if the prisoner has raised claims that are legally “frivolous or malicious,” that fail to state
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a claim upon which relief may be granted, or that seek monetary relief from a defendant who is
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immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1),(2). A claim is frivolous when based on an
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indisputably meritless legal theory or where the factual contentions are clearly baseless. Neitzke
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v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 327 (1989); see also Franklin v. Murphy, 745 F.2d 1221, 1227-28 (9th
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Cir. 1984). A complaint fails to state a claim when it appears beyond doubt that plaintiff can
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prove no set of facts that would entitle him to relief. Hishon v. King & Spalding, 467 U.S. 69, 73
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(1984) (citing Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46 (1957)); Palmer v. Roosevelt Lake Log
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Owners Ass’n, 651 F.2d 1289, 1294 (9th Cir. 1981).
Plaintiff’s Amended Complaint identifies the same two claims asserted in his initial
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complaint.2 First, plaintiff again alleges that prison kitchen staff fail to maintain sanitary food
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conditions, by failing to wear hair nets, allowing their hair and sweat to fall into the food, and by
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letting flies and gnats land on the food. Plaintiff alleges a violation of his First and Eighth
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Amendment rights by the following seven correctional “guards,” in their capacity as food servers:
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defendants Brewer and Hernandez, who serve on Saturdays and Sundays; defendants Guffee and
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Low, who serve on Mondays and Tuesdays; and defendants Brown, Crawford and Cruz, who
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serve on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Plaintiff alleges that, when he complains, these
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defendants laugh at him and retaliate by throwing plaintiff’s food on the floor, refusing to escort
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plaintiff to the yard, and telling plaintiff to “stop filing 602s.” (ECF No. 13 at 5.) Plaintiff
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alleges that he’s “even gotten sick and had to see the doctor, who told me something I’d eaten
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made me sick and prescribed me to take prilosec.” (Id.)
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Second, plaintiff again alleges that the same seven defendants failed to honor a medical
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chrono authorizing plaintiff to have a pillow, to treat his cervical spondylosis. Plaintiff alleges
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It appears, however, that a page is missing from the Amended Complaint (between current
pages 4 and 5). The undersigned finds that this apparent omission does not materially alter the
court’s analysis.
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that, “[o]n September 6, 2011, nurse Joyce gave Bldg. four [] guards Guffee, Low, Cruz, Brewer,
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Brown Crawford and Hernandez, who were sitting in their office around 9 am, a medical chrono
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that stated, the guards provide plaintiff with a pillow. The pillow is necessary to keep plaintiff’s
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head and neck aligned properly, to lessen the pain when lying down and slow the worsening of
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the condition.” (ECF No. 13 at 6.) Plaintiff further alleges: “In retaliation for the filing of 602’s
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(staff complaints) writing Capt. Carter and the [A]ss. Warden about them[,] [t]hey refused to give
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me a pillow nor a copy of the chrono, like they were suppose[d] to do. They never told me about
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the medical chrono nor the pillow . . . . The condition has worsened a lot, so much, that I now
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have to have a special pillow, called a cervical pillow.” (Id. at 6-7.) Pursuant to these allegations,
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plaintiff again asserts First and Eighth Amendment claims against the same seven named
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correctional officers: “I wasn’t given something that other pt.[patient]/prisoners got, was told
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stop writing 602s . . . . for them to withhold my medical chrono along with the pillow I urgently
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needed is clearly an example of blatant deliberate indifference to plaintiff’s serious medical needs
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and the wanton infliction of pain.” (Id. at 7.)
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Plaintiff was informed of the requirements for stating potentially cognizable First and
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Eighth Amendment claims, when granted leave to file an amended complaint. The undersigned
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finds that the same problems persist, and cannot be cured by further amendment.
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The Eighth Amendment prohibits the infliction of “cruel and unusual punishments.” In
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general, to prevail on an Eighth Amendment claim, the plaintiff must show, objectively, that he
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suffered a “sufficiently serious” deprivation. Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 834 (1994);
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Wilson v. Seiter, 501 U.S. 294, 298-99 (1991). The plaintiff must also show that each defendant,
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subjectively, had a culpable state of mind in allowing or causing the plaintiff’s deprivation to
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occur. Farmer, 511 U.S. at 834.
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Plaintiff’s allegation that he is being denied sanitary food, which may have caused him to
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become ill one time, fails to allege an objectively “sufficiently serious” deprivation. Moreover,
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plaintiff dilutes this claim by naming every kitchen worker; he thereby fails to describe any direct
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connection between the challenged conditions and a specific incident, involving a specific
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defendant, and a specific injury. There can be no liability under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 unless there is
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some affirmative link or connection between a specific defendant’s actions and the claimed
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constitutional deprivation. Rizzo v. Goode, 423 U.S. 362, 371 (1976); see also Leer v. Murphy,
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844 F.2d 628, 633 (9th Cir. 1988) (“The inquiry into causation must be individualized and focus
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on the duties and responsibilities of each individual defendant whose acts or omissions are
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alleged to have caused a constitutional deprivation.”); Johnson v. Duffy, 588 F.2d 740, 743 (9th
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Cir. 1978) (“A person ‘subjects’ another to the deprivation of a constitutional right, within the
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meaning of §1983, if he does an affirmative act, participates in another’s affirmative acts or omits
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to perform an act which he is legally required to do that causes the deprivation of which
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complaint is made.”).
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The same problem besets plaintiff’s allegations that defendants acted with deliberate
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indifference to plaintiff’s serious medical need by failing to honor plaintiff’s medical chrono or
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even inform plaintiff of the chrono. Not only has plaintiff’s medical need now been better met,
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with a cervical pillow, but he dilutes this claim by naming the entire group of officials who were
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allegedly “sitting in their office around 9 a.m.” Plaintiff has again failed to assert an affirmative
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link between the challenged conduct of a specific defendant and a cognizable constitutional
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deprivation. Rizzo, 423 U.S. at 371.
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Similarly, the undersigned finds that plaintiff has failed to state a cognizable First
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Amendment claim. To state a claim for retaliation under the First Amendment, a plaintiff must
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allege that, on a specific date, an individual state actor took an adverse action against plaintiff in
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retaliation for plaintiff engaging in a constitutionally protected activity, and that the adverse
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action did not reasonably advance a legitimate penological objective. Rhodes v. Robinson, 408
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F.3d 559, 567-68 (9th Cir. 2005). While filing an administrative grievance is a protected activity,
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id. at 568, plaintiff’s claims lack the requisite specificity as to dates, a particular grievance, and
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the alleged retaliatory conduct of a specific defendant. See Johnson, supra, 588 F.2d at 743.
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For these reasons, the undersigned finds the allegations in plaintiff’s Amended Complaint,
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like those in his original complaint, to be too vague and conclusory to be actionable. Moreover,
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the undersigned finds that further amendment cannot cure these defects. “A district court may
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deny leave to amend when amendment would be futile.” Hartmann v.CDCR, 707 F.3d 1114,
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1130 (9th Cir. 2013); accord Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 1129 (9th Cir. 2000) (“Courts are
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not required to grant leave to amend if a complaint lacks merit entirely.”). Therefore, the
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undersigned recommends that plaintiff’s complaint be dismissed with prejudice.
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Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY RECOMMENDED that:
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1. The Amended Complaint be dismissed, without leave to amend, for failure to state a
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claim; and
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2. This case be closed.
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These findings and recommendations are 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, any party may file written
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objections with the court and serve a copy on all parties. Such a document should be captioned
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“Objections to Magistrate Judge’s Findings and Recommendations.” Any response to the
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objections shall be filed and served within fourteen days after service of the objections. The
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parties are advised that failure to file objections within the specified time may waive the right to
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appeal the District Court’s order. Martinez v. Ylst, 951 F.2d 1153 (9th Cir. 1991).
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Dated: June 9, 2014
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morr1171.dsms.AC
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