Shahid v. Aldaz et al
Filing
13
ORDER signed by Magistrate Judge Dale A. Drozd on 7/10/2014 DISMISSING plaintiff's amended complaint; GRANTING plaintiff's 12 motion to amend, and plaintiff has 30 days to file a second amended complaint; DENYING, without prejudice, plaintiff's 12 motion for preliminary injunctive relief; and the Clerk shall send plaintiff the form for filing a civil rights action.(Yin, K)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
9
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
10
11
UMAR SHAHID,
12
No. 2:14-cv-0454 DAD P
Plaintiff,
13
v.
14
I. ALDAZ et al.,
15
ORDER
Defendants.
16
17
18
Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis with an action filed
pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Pending before the court is plaintiff’s amended complaint.
SCREENING REQUIREMENT
19
20
The court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief against a
21
governmental entity or an officer or employee of a governmental entity. See 28 U.S.C. §
22
1915A(a). The court must dismiss a complaint or portion thereof if the prisoner has raised claims
23
that are legally “frivolous or malicious,” that fail to state a claim upon which relief may be
24
granted, or that seek monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. See 28
25
U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1) & (2).
26
A claim is legally frivolous when it lacks an arguable basis either in law or in fact.
27
Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 325 (1989); Franklin v. Murphy, 745 F.2d 1221, 1227-28 (9th
28
Cir. 1984). The court may, therefore, dismiss a claim as frivolous where it is based on an
1
1
indisputably meritless legal theory or where the factual contentions are clearly baseless. Neitzke,
2
490 U.S. at 327. The critical inquiry is whether a constitutional claim, however inartfully
3
pleaded, has an arguable legal and factual basis. See Jackson v. Arizona, 885 F.2d 639, 640 (9th
4
Cir. 1989); Franklin, 745 F.2d at 1227.
5
Rule 8(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure “requires only ‘a short and plain
6
statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief,’ in order to ‘give the
7
defendant fair notice of what the . . . claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.’” Bell Atlantic
8
Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007) (quoting Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 47 (1957)).
9
However, in order to survive dismissal for failure to state a claim a complaint must contain more
10
than “a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action;” it must contain factual
11
allegations sufficient “to raise a right to relief above the speculative level.” Bell Atlantic, 550
12
U.S. at 555. In reviewing a complaint under this standard, the court must accept as true the
13
allegations of the complaint in question, Hospital Bldg. Co. v. Rex Hospital Trustees, 425 U.S.
14
738, 740 (1976), construe the pleading in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, and resolve all
15
doubts in the plaintiff’s favor. Jenkins v. McKeithen, 395 U.S. 411, 421 (1969).
16
The Civil Rights Act under which this action was filed provides as follows:
17
Every person who, under color of [state law] . . . subjects, or causes
to be subjected, any citizen of the United States . . . to the
deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the
Constitution . . . shall be liable to the party injured in an action at
law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress.
18
19
20
42 U.S.C. § 1983. The statute requires that there be an actual connection or link between the
21
actions of the defendants and the deprivation alleged to have been suffered by plaintiff. See
22
Monell v. Department of Social Servs., 436 U.S. 658 (1978); Rizzo v. Goode, 423 U.S. 362
23
(1976). “A person ‘subjects’ another to the deprivation of a constitutional right, within the
24
meaning of § 1983, if he does an affirmative act, participates in another's affirmative acts or
25
omits to perform an act which he is legally required to do that causes the deprivation of which
26
complaint is made.” Johnson v. Duffy, 588 F.2d 740, 743 (9th Cir. 1978).
27
28
Moreover, supervisory personnel are generally not liable under § 1983 for the actions of
their employees under a theory of respondeat superior and, therefore, when a named defendant
2
1
holds a supervisorial position, the causal link between him and the claimed constitutional
2
violation must be specifically alleged. See Fayle v. Stapley, 607 F.2d 858, 862 (9th Cir. 1979);
3
Mosher v. Saalfeld, 589 F.2d 438, 441 (9th Cir. 1978). Vague and conclusory allegations
4
concerning the involvement of official personnel in civil rights violations are not sufficient. See
5
Ivey v. Board of Regents, 673 F.2d 266, 268 (9th Cir. 1982).
6
7
PLAINTIFF’S AMENDED COMPLAINT AND RELATED FILINGS
In his second amended complaint, plaintiff identifies Aldez, Williams, Rodriguez, Foulk,
8
and Barnes as the defendants. All of the named defendants appear to be employed at High Desert
9
State Prison. Plaintiff alleges that prison officials have refused to process his marriage
10
application and continue to harass and retaliate against him and his fiancée for lodging
11
complaints against staff for their misconduct. (Am. Compl. at 3-4.)
12
In addition to his amended complaint, plaintiff has filed a letter addressed to the Clerk of
13
the Court as well as a motion to amend his complaint/motion for preliminary injunctive relief. In
14
these documents, plaintiff expresses that he would like to add retaliation claims to his complaint
15
and describes incidents where prison officials have threatened him and his safety. Therein,
16
plaintiff also requests preliminary injunctive relief. (Pl.’s Letter at 1 & Pl.’s Mots. at 1-3.)
17
DISCUSSION
18
The allegations in plaintiff’s amended complaint are so vague and conclusory that the
19
court is unable to determine whether the current action is frivolous or fails to state a claim for
20
relief. The amended complaint does not contain a short and plain statement as required by
21
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2). Although the Federal Rules adopt a flexible pleading
22
policy, a complaint must give fair notice to the defendants and must allege facts that support the
23
elements of the claim plainly and succinctly. Jones v. Community Redev. Agency, 733 F.2d 646,
24
649 (9th Cir. 1984). Plaintiff must allege with at least some degree of particularity overt acts
25
which defendants engaged in that support his claims. Id. Because plaintiff has failed to comply
26
with the requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2), the amended complaint must be
27
dismissed. In the interests of justice, however, the court will grant plaintiff’s motion to amend
28
and authorize him thirty days leave to file a second amended complaint.
3
1
In any second amended complaint plaintiff elects to file, he must identify each defendant
2
by name and state therein all of the claims that he seeks to bring in this action. For example, if
3
plaintiff wishes to pursue right-to-marry and retaliation claims against defendants, he should
4
include both such claims in his second amended complaint. The court will not allow the
5
piecemeal filing of supplemental letters, motions, and complaints in this action. See Local Rule
6
15-220.
7
Turning now to plaintiff’s constitutional claims, as to any right-to-marry claim, plaintiff is
8
advised that “[w]hile the basic right to marry survives imprisonment, most of the attributes of
9
marriage – cohabitation, physical intimacy, and bearing and raising children – do not.” Gerber v.
10
Hickman, 291 F.3d 617, 621 (9th Cir. 2002). In this regard, institutional confinement supersedes
11
many aspects of marriage because “incarceration is inconsistent with the vast majority of
12
concomitants to marriage, privacy, and personal intimacy.” Id. Thus, it is well established that
13
prisoners have no constitutional right to contact or conjugal visits. Id.
14
Insofar as plaintiff believes defendants are denying him the basic right to marry, he will
15
need to identify in his amended complaint which of the named defendants have been involved in
16
the alleged deprivation and allege facts explaining how their actions rose to the level of a
17
constitutional violation. There can be no liability under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 unless there is some
18
affirmative link or connection between a defendant’s actions and the claimed deprivation. Rizzo
19
v. Goode, 423 U.S. 362 (1976); May v. Enomoto, 633 F.2d 164, 167 (9th Cir. 1980); Johnson v.
20
Duffy, 588 F.2d 740, 743 (9th Cir. 1978). Vague and conclusory allegations of official
21
participation in civil rights violations are not sufficient. Ivey v. Board of Regents, 673 F.2d 266,
22
268 (9th Cir. 1982).
23
As to plaintiff’s retaliation claim, he is advised that both litigation in this court and filing
24
administrative grievances are protected activities, and it is impermissible for prison officials to
25
retaliate against prisoners for engaging in these activities. See Rhodes v. Robinson, 408 F.3d
26
559, 568 (9th Cir. 2005). As the Ninth Circuit has explained:
27
28
Within the prison context, a viable claim of First Amendment
retaliation entails five basic elements: (1) An assertion that a state
actor took some adverse action against an inmate (2) because of (3)
4
1
2
3
4
that prisoner’s protected conduct, and that such action (4) chilled
the inmate’s exercise of his First Amendment rights, and (5) the
action did not reasonably advance a legitimate correctional goal.
Rhodes, 408 F.3d at 567-68.
Here, plaintiff’s amended complaint does not contain specific allegations against
5
defendants to support a retaliation claim. Moreover, although plaintiff has filed additional
6
documents with the court in which he describes how “prison guards” or “prison officials”
7
retaliated against him, he has not identified any of those “prison guards” or “prison officials” by
8
name. In his second amended complaint, plaintiff must identify who has retaliated against him
9
and allege facts explaining what retaliatory conduct they purportedly engaged in against him.
10
Moreover, plaintiff is cautioned that not every allegedly adverse action is sufficient to support a
11
claim for retaliation. See, e.g., Huskey v. City of San Jose, 204 F.3d 893, 899 (9th Cir. 2000)
12
(retaliation claim cannot rest on the logical fallacy of post hoc, ergo propter hoc, i.e., “after this,
13
therefore because of this.”). To support any retaliation claim, plaintiff should allege why he
14
believes any specific defendant’s actions were motivated by, or because of, plaintiff’s
15
engagement in protected conduct such as filing administrative grievances.
16
Plaintiff is informed that the court cannot refer to prior pleadings in order to make his
17
second amended complaint complete. Local Rule 220 requires that an amended complaint be
18
complete in itself without reference to any prior pleading. This is because, as a general rule, an
19
amended complaint supersedes the original complaint. See Loux v. Rhay, 375 F.2d 55, 57 (9th
20
Cir. 1967). Once plaintiff files a second amended complaint, the prior pleading no longer serves
21
any function in the case. Therefore, in a second amended complaint, as in an original complaint,
22
each claim and the involvement of each defendant must be sufficiently alleged.
23
Finally, for the reasons discussed above, the court will deny plaintiff’s motion for
24
preliminary injunctive relief. “The proper legal standard for preliminary injunctive relief requires
25
a party to demonstrate ‘that he is likely to succeed on the merits, that he is likely to suffer
26
irreparable harm in the absence of preliminary relief, that the balance of equities tips in his favor,
27
and that an injunction is in the public interest.’” Stormans v. Selecky, 571 F.3d 960, 978 (9th Cir.
28
2009) (quoting Winter v. Natural Res. Def. Council, 555 U.S. 7, 20 (2008)). Here, plaintiff’s
5
1
vague and conclusory allegations do not state a retaliation claim and fall short of making the
2
showing required for the granting of preliminary injunctive relief. See Ivey v. Board of Regents,
3
673 F.2d 266, 268 (9th Cir. 1982).1
4
CONCLUSION
5
Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:
6
1. Plaintiff’s amended complaint (Doc. No. 10) is dismissed;
7
2. Plaintiff’s motion to amend (Doc. No. 12) is granted. Plaintiff is granted thirty days
8
from the date of service of this order to file a second amended complaint that complies with the
9
requirements of the Civil Rights Act, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and the Local Rules of
10
Practice; the second amended complaint must bear the docket number assigned to this case and
11
must be labeled “Second Amended Complaint”; failure to file a second amended complaint in
12
accordance with this order will result in dismissal of this action without prejudice;
3. Plaintiff’s motion for preliminary injunctive relief (Doc. No. 12) is denied without
13
14
prejudice; and
4. The Clerk of the Court is directed to send plaintiff the court’s form for filing a civil
15
16
rights action.
17
Dated: July 10, 2014
18
19
20
DAD:9
shah0454.14am
21
22
23
24
25
1
26
27
28
Plaintiff’s motion also does not comply with Local Rule 231, which requires that a motion for
preliminary injunctive relief be accompanied by: (1) a declaration signed under penalty of
perjury on the question of irreparable injury; (2) a memorandum of points and authorities
addressing all legal issues raised by the motion; and (3) evidence of notice to all persons who
would be affected by the order sought.
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?