Womack v. Windsor, et al

Filing 31

ORDER signed by Magistrate Judge Kendall J. Newman on 4/28/2016 PARTIALLY GRANTING plaintiff's 27 motion for court order; within 14 days, counsel for defendants shall file a status report as to the status of plaintiff's legal materials; and the Clerk shall send plaintiff the packet for filing a civil rights action. (Yin, K)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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RODNEY JEROME WOMACK,

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Plaintiff,

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No. 2:15-cv-0533 MCE KJN P

v.

ORDER

J. WINDSOR, et al.,

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Defendant.

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Plaintiff is a state prisoner, proceeding without counsel. On April 1, 2016, plaintiff filed a

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request that the court order defendants to return plaintiff’s legal materials. Plaintiff claims that in

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retaliation for the filing of this action, defendants have refused to send plaintiff his legal materials

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after he was transferred to California State Prison, Sacramento (“CSP-SAC”). Plaintiff states that

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on February 5, 2016, he was transferred from High Desert State Prison to a prison in Corcoran,

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and then to CSP-SAC. Plaintiff claims he needs his legal materials to prepare for defendants’

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motion for summary judgment.
The undersigned is aware that inmates often experience delay in the receipt of their legal

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materials when transferred to a different institution, and it is unclear when plaintiff arrived at

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CSP-SAC. However, given the passage of time since his initial transfer, the court will ask

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counsel for defendants to advise the status of plaintiff’s legal materials.

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In addition, plaintiff informed the court that he was drafting an amended complaint to add

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new defendants and new issues of harassment and retaliation. (ECF No. 27 at 3.) Plaintiff states

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that the harassment and retaliation stems from an assortment of medical grievances that he has

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filed against defendants in this action as well as new defendants.

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A plaintiff may properly assert multiple claims against a single defendant. Fed. Rule Civ.

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P. 18. In addition, a plaintiff may join multiple defendants in one action where “any right to relief

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is asserted against them jointly, severally, or in the alternative with respect to or arising out of the

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same transaction, occurrence, or series of transactions and occurrences” and “any question of law

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or fact common to all defendants will arise in the action.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 20(a)(2). Unrelated

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claims against different defendants must be pursued in separate lawsuits. See George v. Smith,

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507 F.3d 605, 607 (7th Cir. 2007). This rule is intended “not only to prevent the sort of morass [a

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multiple claim, multiple defendant] suit produce[s], but also to ensure that prisoners pay the

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required filing fees -- for the Prison Litigation Reform Act limits to 3 the number of frivolous

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suits or appeals that any prisoner may file without prepayment of the required fees. 28 U.S.C.

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§ 1915(g).” George, 507 F.3d at 607.

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The instant action proceeds on claims that defendants Dr. Windsor, Dr. Lankford, Dr. Lee

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and T. Mahoney were deliberately indifferent to plaintiff’s serious medical needs in violation of

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the Eighth Amendment, specifically in connection with plaintiff’s pain management. No First

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Amendment claims against defendants have been pled. As described by plaintiff, his new

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harassment and retaliation claims do not appear to arise from the same transaction, occurrence, or

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series of transactions and occurrences, but rather occurred after plaintiff filed his medical

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grievances. Thus, it appears that plaintiff’s proposed new claims are more properly raised in a

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new civil rights action. In any event, if plaintiff decides to seek leave to amend, plaintiff must file

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a motion to amend, pursuant to Rule 15 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, along with a

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proposed amended complaint for the court’s review.

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Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:

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1. Plaintiff’s motion for court order (ECF No. 27) is partially granted;

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2. Within fourteen days from the date of this order, counsel for defendants shall file a
status report as to the status of plaintiff’s legal materials; and
3. The Clerk of the Court is directed to send plaintiff the packet for filing a civil rights

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action by a prisoner.

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Dated: April 28, 2016

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