Smith v. Siskiyou County Jail et al.

Filing 8

ORDER signed by Magistrate Judge Edmund F. Brennan on 5/22/2017 GRANTING 2 Motion to Proceed IFP. Plaintiff shall pay the statutory filing fee of $350. All payments shall be collected in accordance with the CDC Order filed concurrently herewith. The 1 Complaint is DISMISSED with leave to amend within 30 days. Failure to comply with this order will result in this action being dismissed for failure to state a claim. (Donati, J)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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JAMES ANTHONY SMITH,

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Plaintiff,

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No. 2:15-cv-2534-EFB P

v.

ORDER GRANTING IFP AND DISMISSING
COMPLAINT WITH LEAVE TO AMEND

SISKIYOU COUNTY JAIL, et al.,

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Defendants.

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Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding without counsel in an action brought under 42

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U.S.C. § 1983. He seeks leave to proceed in forma pauperis pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915.
I.

Request to Proceed In Forma Pauperis
Plaintiff’s application makes the showing required by 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1) and (2).

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Accordingly, by separate order, the court directs the agency having custody of plaintiff to collect

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and forward the appropriate monthly payments for the filing fee as set forth in 28 U.S.C.

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§ 1915(b)(1) and (2).

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II.

Screening Requirement and Standards

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Federal courts must engage in a preliminary screening of cases in which prisoners seek

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redress from a governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity. 28 U.S.C.

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§ 1915A(a). The court must identify cognizable claims or dismiss the complaint, or any portion

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of the complaint, if the complaint “is frivolous, malicious, or fails to state a claim upon which
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relief may be granted,” or “seeks monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such

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relief.” Id. § 1915A(b).

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A pro se plaintiff, like other litigants, must satisfy the pleading requirements of Rule 8(a)

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of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Rule 8(a)(2) “requires a complaint to include a short and

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plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief, in order to give the

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defendant fair notice of what the claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.” Bell Atl. Corp. v.

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Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 554, 562-563 (2007) (citing Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41 (1957)).

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While the complaint must comply with the “short and plaint statement” requirements of Rule 8,

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its allegations must also include the specificity required by Twombly and Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556

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U.S. 662, 679 (2009).

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To avoid dismissal for failure to state a claim a complaint must contain more than “naked

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assertions,” “labels and conclusions” or “a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of

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action.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555-557. In other words, “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of

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a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements do not suffice.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at

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678.

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Furthermore, a claim upon which the court can grant relief must have facial plausibility.

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Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570. “A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual

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content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the

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misconduct alleged.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678. When considering whether a complaint states a

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claim upon which relief can be granted, the court must accept the allegations as true, Erickson v.

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Pardus, 551 U.S. 89 (2007), and construe the complaint in the light most favorable to the

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plaintiff, see Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236 (1974).

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III.

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Screening Order
In the complaint (ECF No. 1), plaintiff names the Siskiyou County Jail, the Siskiyou

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County Jail Medical Staff, and Lieutenant Houston as defendants. Plaintiff alleges that another

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inmate injured plaintiff’s eye during a physical altercation. Plaintiff received treatment for the

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injury at a nearby hospital. Upon his return to the Jail, his eye was reinjured. Plaintiff alleges he

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is in pain and that despite his requests for medical care, his eye has still “not been fixed.” He

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claims that he has been in “real need of medical attention” for over 90 days.

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Plaintiff fails to link defendant Houston to any violation of his federal rights. In addition,

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plaintiff’s naming of unnamed “medical staff” as defendants is problematic. Unknown persons

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cannot be served with process until they are identified by their real names and the court will not

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investigate the names and identities of unnamed defendants. Moreover, plaintiff does not identify

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any claims for relief. Under the standards governing Eighth Amendment claims based on failure

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to protect or to provide adequate medical care, discussed below, the allegations fail to state a

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cognizable claim. To proceed, plaintiff must file an amended complaint.

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To state a claim under § 1983, a plaintiff must allege: (1) the violation of a federal

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constitutional or statutory right; and (2) that the violation was committed by a person acting under

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the color of state law. See West v. Atkins, 487 U.S. 42, 48 (1988); Jones v. Williams, 297 F.3d

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930, 934 (9th Cir. 2002). An individual defendant is not liable on a civil rights claim unless the

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facts establish the defendant’s personal involvement in the constitutional deprivation or a causal

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connection between the defendant’s wrongful conduct and the alleged constitutional deprivation.

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See Hansen v. Black, 885 F.2d 642, 646 (9th Cir. 1989); Johnson v. Duffy, 588 F.2d 740, 743-44

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(9th Cir. 1978).

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Moreover, a municipal entity or its departments is liable under section 1983 only if

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plaintiff shows that his constitutional injury was caused by employees acting pursuant to the

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municipality’s policy or custom. Mt. Healthy City Sch. Dist. Bd. of Ed. v. Doyle, 429 U.S. 274,

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280 (1977); Monell v. New York City Dep’t of Soc. Servs., 436 U.S. 658, 691 (1978); Villegas v.

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Gilroy Garlic Festival Ass'n, 541 F.3d 950, 964 (9th Cir. 2008). Here, plaintiff fails to state a

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claim against the Siskiyou County Jail because he has not sufficiently alleged that he was injured

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as a result of employees acting pursuant to any policy or custom of the County. Local

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government entities may not be held vicariously liable under section 1983 for the unconstitutional

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acts of its employees under a theory of respondeat superior. See Board of Cty. Comm'rs. v.

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Brown, 520 U.S. 397, 403 (1997).

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To succeed on an Eighth Amendment claim predicated on the denial of medical care, a

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plaintiff must establish that he had a serious medical need and that the defendant’s response to

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that need was deliberately indifferent. Jett v. Penner, 439 F.3d 1091, 1096 (9th Cir. 2006); see

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also Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 106 (1976). A serious medical need exists if the failure to

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treat the condition could result in further significant injury or the unnecessary and wanton

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infliction of pain. Jett, 439 F.3d at 1096. Deliberate indifference may be shown by the denial,

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delay or intentional interference with medical treatment or by the way in which medical care is

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provided. Hutchinson v. United States, 838 F.2d 390, 394 (9th Cir. 1988).

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To act with deliberate indifference, a prison official must both be aware of facts from

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which the inference could be drawn that a substantial risk of serious harm exists, and he must also

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draw the inference. Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 837 (1994). Thus, a defendant is liable if

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he knows that plaintiff faces “a substantial risk of serious harm and disregards that risk by failing

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to take reasonable measures to abate it.” Id. at 847. A physician need not fail to treat an inmate

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altogether in order to violate that inmate’s Eighth Amendment rights. Ortiz v. City of Imperial,

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884 F.2d 1312, 1314 (9th Cir. 1989). A failure to competently treat a serious medical condition,

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even if some treatment is prescribed, may constitute deliberate indifference in a particular case.

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Id.

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It is important to differentiate common law negligence claims of malpractice from claims

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predicated on violations of the Eight Amendment’s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment.

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In asserting the latter, “[m]ere ‘indifference,’ ‘negligence,’ or ‘medical malpractice’ will not

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support this cause of action.” Broughton v. Cutter Laboratories, 622 F.2d 458, 460 (9th Cir.

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1980) (citing Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 105-106 (1976); see also Toguchi v. Chung, 391

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F.3d 1051, 1057 (9th Cir. 2004).

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Under the Eighth Amendment, “prison officials have a duty to protect prisoners from

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violence at the hands of other prisoners.” Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 833 (1994) (internal

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quotation marks, ellipsis, and citation omitted). However, “not . . . every injury suffered by one

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prisoner at the hands of another . . . translates into constitutional liability for prison officials

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responsible for the victim’s safety.” Id. at 834. A prison official may be held liable for an assault
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suffered by one inmate at the hands of another only where the assaulted inmate can show that the

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injury is sufficiently serious, id. at 834 (citing Wilson v. Seiter, 501 U.S. 294, 298 (1991)), and

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that the prison official was deliberately indifferent to the risk of harm, id. at 837. Thus, the

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relevant inquiry is whether prison officials, “acting with deliberate indifference, exposed a

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prisoner to a sufficiently substantial risk of serious damage to his future health.” Id. at 834

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(internal quotation omitted).

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Plaintiff must allege the specific act or omission of each defendant that caused a violation

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of his federal rights. Plaintiff may not sue any official on the theory that the official is liable for

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the unconstitutional conduct of his or her subordinates. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 129 S. Ct. 1937, 1948

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(2009). Because respondeat superior liability is inapplicable to § 1983 suits, “a plaintiff must

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plead that each Government-official defendant, through the official’s own individual actions, has

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violated the Constitution.” Id.

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To the extent plaintiff contends that any defendant provided inadequate medical care or

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failed to protect him in violation of the Eighth Amendment, he must allege specific facts

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demonstrating each defendant’s personal involvement or personal participation. Vague claims

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against unnamed “staff” are not sufficient.

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Plaintiff will be granted leave to file an amended complaint, if plaintiff can allege a

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cognizable legal theory against a proper defendant and sufficient facts in support of that

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cognizable legal theory. Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 1126-27 (9th Cir. 2000) (en banc)

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(district courts must afford pro se litigants an opportunity to amend to correct any deficiency in

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their complaints). Should plaintiff choose to file an amended complaint, the amended complaint

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shall clearly set forth the claims and allegations against each defendant.

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Any amended complaint must not exceed the scope of this order and may not add new,

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unrelated claims. Further, any amended complaint must cure the deficiencies identified above

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and also adhere to the following requirements:

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Any amended complaint must identify as a defendant only persons who personally

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participated in a substantial way in depriving him of a federal constitutional right. Johnson v.

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Duffy, 588 F.2d 740, 743 (9th Cir. 1978) (a person subjects another to the deprivation of a
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constitutional right if he does an act, participates in another’s act or omits to perform an act he is

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legally required to do that causes the alleged deprivation). It must also contain a caption

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including the names of all defendants. Fed. R. Civ. P. 10(a).

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Any amended complaint must be written or typed so that it so that it is complete in itself

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without reference to any earlier filed complaint. L.R. 220. This is because an amended

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complaint supersedes any earlier filed complaint, and once an amended complaint is filed, the

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earlier filed complaint no longer serves any function in the case. See Forsyth v. Humana, 114

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F.3d 1467, 1474 (9th Cir. 1997) (the “‘amended complaint supersedes the original, the latter

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being treated thereafter as non-existent.’”) (quoting Loux v. Rhay, 375 F.2d 55, 57 (9th Cir.

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1967)).

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Finally, the court cautions plaintiff that failure to comply with the Federal Rules of Civil

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Procedure, this court’s Local Rules, or any court order may result in this action being dismissed.

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See E.D. Cal. Local Rule 110.

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IV.

Summary of Order

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Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:

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1. Plaintiff’s request to proceed in forma pauperis (ECF No. 2) is granted.

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2. Plaintiff shall pay the statutory filing fee of $350. All payments shall be collected in

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accordance with the notice to the California Department of Corrections filed concurrently

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herewith.

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3. The complaint is dismissed with leave to amend within 30 days. The amended

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complaint must bear the docket number assigned to this case and be titled “First Amended

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Complaint.” Failure to comply with this order will result in this action being dismissed for failure

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to state a claim. If plaintiff files an amended complaint stating a cognizable claim the court will

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proceed with service of process by the United States Marshal.

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Dated: March 22, 2017.

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