Mullins v. Chatfield et al.
Filing
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ORDER signed by Magistrate Judge Deborah Barnes on 10/24/2017 GRANTING 2 Motion to Proceed In Forma Pauperis and DISMISSING this action without prejudice. CASE CLOSED. (Hunt, G)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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EDWARD JULIUS MULLINS,
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No. 2:17-cv-0036 DB P
Plaintiff,
v.
ORDER
KATY CHATFIELD, et al.,
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Defendants.
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Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding pro se with a civil rights action under 42 U.S.C. §
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1983. Plaintiff has consented to the jurisdiction of a magistrate judge. Before the court are
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plaintiff’s motion to proceed in forma pauperis, motions for injunctive relief, motions to amend,
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motions for the appointment of counsel, and plaintiff’s complaints for screening. For the reasons
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set forth below, the court grants plaintiff’s motion to proceed in forma pauperis and dismisses this
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action without prejudice for plaintiff’s failure to exhaust his administrative remedies prior to
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filing this action.
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IN FORMA PAUPERIS
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Plaintiff has submitted a declaration that makes the showing required by 28 U.S.C. §
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1915(a). Accordingly, the request to proceed in forma pauperis will be granted.
Plaintiff is required to pay the statutory filing fee of $350.00 for this action. 28 U.S.C. §§
1914(a), 1915(b)(1). By this order, plaintiff will be assessed an initial partial filing fee in
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accordance with the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1). By separate order, the court will direct
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the appropriate agency to collect the initial partial filing fee from plaintiff’s trust account and
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forward it to the Clerk of the Court. Thereafter, plaintiff will be obligated for monthly payments
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of twenty percent of the preceding month’s income credited to plaintiff’s prison trust account.
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These payments will be forwarded by the appropriate agency to the Clerk of the Court each time
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the amount in plaintiff’s account exceeds $10.00, until the filing fee is paid in full. 28 U.S.C. §
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1915(b)(2).
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BACKGROUND
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Plaintiff filed his original complaint here on January 9, 2017. (ECF No. 1.) He identified
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three defendants Katy Chatfield, Joe Lizarraga, and Scott Kernan. Plaintiff complained that
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defendant Correctional Officer Chatfield authored rules violation reports against him in retaliation
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for a staff complaint plaintiff filed against another correctional officer. Since then, plaintiff has
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filed two additional complaints in this case. (ECF Nos. 7, 17.) In addition to Chatfield, Lizarraga
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and current CDCR Director Allison, plaintiff adds claims against defendants Allen, Knight, and
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Johnson for the denial of his appeals regarding the rules violations.
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SCREENING
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I.
Legal Standards
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The court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief against a
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governmental entity or an officer or employee of a governmental entity. See 28 U.S.C. §
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1915A(a). The court must dismiss a complaint or portion thereof if the prisoner has raised claims
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that are legally “frivolous or malicious,” that fail to state a claim upon which relief may be
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granted, or that seek monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. See 28
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U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1) & (2).
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A claim is legally frivolous when it lacks an arguable basis either in law or in fact.
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Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 325 (1989); Franklin v. Murphy, 745 F.2d 1221, 1227-28 (9th
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Cir. 1984). The court may, therefore, dismiss a claim as frivolous where it is based on an
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indisputably meritless legal theory or where the factual contentions are clearly baseless. Neitzke,
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490 U.S. at 327. The critical inquiry is whether a constitutional claim, however inartfully
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pleaded, has an arguable legal and factual basis. See Franklin, 745 F.2d at 1227.
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Rule 8(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure “requires only ‘a short and plain
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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 Atlantic
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Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007) (quoting Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 47 (1957)).
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However, in order to survive dismissal for failure to state a claim a complaint must contain more
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than “a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action;” it must contain factual
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allegations sufficient “to raise a right to relief above the speculative level.” Bell Atlantic, 550
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U.S. at 555. In reviewing a complaint under this standard, the court must accept as true the
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allegations of the complaint in question, Hospital Bldg. Co. v. Rex Hospital Trustees, 425 U.S.
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738, 740 (1976), construe the pleading in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, and resolve all
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doubts in the plaintiff’s favor. Jenkins v. McKeithen, 395 U.S. 411, 421 (1969).
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The Civil Rights Act under which this action was filed provides as follows:
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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.
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42 U.S.C. § 1983. The statute requires that there be an actual connection or link between the
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actions of the defendants and the deprivation alleged to have been suffered by plaintiff. See
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Monell v. Dept. of Social Servs., 436 U.S. 658 (1978); Rizzo v. Goode, 423 U.S. 362
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(1976). “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
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omits to perform an act which he is legally required to do that causes the deprivation of which
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complaint is made.” Johnson v. Duffy, 588 F.2d 740, 743 (9th Cir. 1978).
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Moreover, supervisory personnel are generally not liable under § 1983 for the actions of
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their employees under a theory of respondeat superior and, therefore, when a named defendant
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holds a supervisorial position, the causal link between him and the claimed constitutional
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violation must be specifically alleged. See Fayle v. Stapley, 607 F.2d 858, 862 (9th Cir. 1979);
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Mosher v. Saalfeld, 589 F.2d 438, 441 (9th Cir. 1978). Vague and conclusory allegations
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concerning the involvement of official personnel in civil rights violations are not sufficient. See
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Ivey v. Board of Regents, 673 F.2d 266, 268 (9th Cir. 1982).
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II.
Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies
Generally “a prisoner must exhaust his administrative remedies for the claims contained
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within his complaint before that complaint is tendered to the district court.” Rhodes v. Robinson,
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621 F.3d 1002, 1004 (9th Cir. 2010) (citing McKinney v. Carey, 311 F.3d 1198, 1199 (9th Cir.
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2002) (per curiam); and Vaden v. Summerhill, 449 F.3d 1047, 1050 (9th Cir. 2006); 42 U.S.C. §
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1997e(a). Recently, the United States Supreme Court confirmed that district courts are bound by
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the PLRA's textual mandate requiring all inmates to exhaust administrative remedies before
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bringing an action in federal court. See Ross v. Blake, 136 S. Ct. 1850, 1856-57 (2016) (refuting
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a “special circumstance” exception to the rule of exhaustion).
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“Proper exhaustion demands compliance with an agency’s . . . critical procedural rules,”
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Woodford v. Ngo, 548 U.S. 81, 90 (2006). Thus, “to properly exhaust administrative remedies,
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prisoners ‘must complete the administrative review process in accordance with the applicable
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procedural rules,’ [ ] rules that are defined. . . by the prison grievance process itself.” Jones v.
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Bock, 549 U.S. 199, 218 (2007) (quoting Woodford, 548 U.S. at 88).
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In California, an inmate may appeal “any policy, decision, action, condition, or omission . . .
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having a material adverse effect upon his or her health, safety, or welfare.” Cal. Code Regs. tit.
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15, § 3084.1(a). Inmates must complete three levels to exhaust the appeal process: (1) formal
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written appeal on CDCR Form 602; (2) second-level appeal to the institution head or designee;
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and (3) third-level appeal to the Director of the CDCR. Id. § 3084.7. The third level constitutes
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the decision of the Secretary of the CDCR and exhausts a prisoner’s administrative remedies. Id.
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§ 3084.7(d)(3).
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It is clear from plaintiff’s recitation of the facts that his appeals of defendant Chatfield’s three
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rules violation reports were not resolved until after January 9, 2017 when he filed this action. In
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his second amended complaint filed August 11, 2017, plaintiff states that he was found guilty by
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defendant Knight of the first rules violation, a charge of “overfamiliarity,” at a hearing held on
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January 23, 2017. (ECF No. 17 at 7.) Plaintiff appealed the guilty finding on February 3, 2017.
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(Id. at 9.) Plaintiff states defendant Allen held a hearing on February 11, 2017 and denied his
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appeal. (Id. at 9-10.)
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Plaintiff appealed the other two rules violations, which he also refers to as “128 chronos.”
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(Id. at 8.) He contends that on February 7, 2017, defendant C. Johnson misstated what plaintiff
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told him during the appeal hearing. Plaintiff describes Johnson’s resolution of plaintiff’s claim as
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the “first level response” to his appeal. (Id.)
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Because plaintiff did not exhaust his administrative remedies prior to sending his complaint
to this court, this court “must dismiss his suit without prejudice.” Vaden, 449 F.3d at 1051 (citing
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Wyatt v. Terhune, 315 F.3d 1108, 1120 (9th Cir.2003)). If plaintiff wishes to pursue these
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claims, he must file a new action when, and if, he has exhausted his administrative remedies.
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Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED as follows:
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1. Plaintiff’s motion to proceed in forma pauperis (ECF No. 2) is granted; and
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2. This action is dismissed without prejudice.
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Dated: October 24, 2017
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DLB:9
DLB1/prisoner-civil rights/mull0036.scrn
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