(PC) Williams v. Hurlbert et al

Filing 8

ORDER signed by Magistrate Judge Edmund F. Brennan on 9/08/21 GRANTING 2 Motion to Proceed IFP. Plaintiff shall pay the statutory filing fee of $350. All payments shall be collected in accordance with the notice to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation filed concurrently herewith. Plaintiffs complaint 1 is dismissed with leave to amend within 30 days from the date of service of this order. (Plummer, M)

Case 2:21-cv-00891-TLN-EFB Document 8 Filed 09/08/21 Page 1 of 5
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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JOEL LEE WILLIAMS, JR.,

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No. 2:21-cv-0891-TLN-EFB P

Plaintiff,
v.

ORDER

B. HURLBERT, et al.,
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. In addition to filing a handwritten complaint and a nearly identical but typed

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version of the same complaint (ECF Nos. 1 & 7), he also filed an application to proceed in forma

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pauperis (ECF No. 2).

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Application to Proceed in Forma Pauperis
The court has reviewed plaintiff’s application and finds that it makes the showing required

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by 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1) and (2). Accordingly, by separate order, the court directs the agency

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having custody of plaintiff to collect and forward the appropriate monthly payments for the filing

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fee as set forth in 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1) and (2).

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Screening 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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Screening Order
Plaintiff’s complaint is plainly deficient insofar as it attempts to bring several unrelated

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claims against different defendants. Plaintiff’s first and second claims (ECF No. 1 at 5-10) allege

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that on or around October 6, 2019, defendants Hubert, Ginder, and Spiker denied plaintiff due
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Case 2:21-cv-00891-TLN-EFB Document 8 Filed 09/08/21 Page 3 of 5
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process in both disciplinary and criminal proceedings charging plaintiff with sexual misconduct.

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Plaintiff’s third claim (id. at 11-13) links defendant Philips to plaintiff’s loss of his typewriter

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while confined to administrate segregation between July and October of 2019. Plaintiff’s fourth

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claim (id. at 14-16) accuses defendant Neves of “comparative negligence” for “failing to act

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reasonable in protecting plaintiff[’s] substantive right in a prison grievance.” In his fifth claim

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(id. at 17-18), plaintiff alleges that defendant Abad sexually harassed him on November 11, 2019.

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In his final claim (id. at 19-21), plaintiff alleges that Hubert “failed to act.” Despite the wordiness

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of the complaint, the circumstances giving rise to this claim are not at all clear.

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It is well settled that a claimant may not proceed with various unrelated claims against
separate defendants:

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“The controlling principle appears in Fed. R. Civ. P. 18(a): ‘A party
asserting a claim to relief as an original claim, counterclaim, crossclaim, or third-party claim, may join, either as independent or as
alternate claims, as many claims, legal, equitable, or maritime, as the
party has against an opposing party.’ Thus multiple claims against a
single party are fine, but Claim A against Defendant 1 should not be
joined with unrelated Claim B against Defendant 2.”

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George v. Smith, 507 F.3d 605, 607 (7th Cir. 2007). Here, there appears to be no basis for

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litigating the due process claims against Hubert, Ginder, and Spiker, the loss of property claim

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against defendant Neves, and the sexual harassment claim against Abad, all together in this

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action. These claims seemingly encompass discrete events and separate defendants, rendering

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them ill-suited to proceed in a single suit. Plaintiff’s complaint will be dismissed with leave to

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amend.

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Leave to Amend

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Plaintiff is cautioned that any amended complaint must identify as a defendant only

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persons who personally participated in a substantial way in depriving him of his constitutional

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rights. Johnson v. Duffy, 588 F.2d 740, 743 (9th Cir. 1978) (a person subjects another to the

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deprivation of a constitutional right if he does an act, participates in another’s act or omits to

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perform an act he is legally required to do that causes the alleged deprivation). Plaintiff may also

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include any allegations based on state law that are so closely related to his federal allegations that

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“they form the same case or controversy.” See 28 U.S.C. § 1367(a).
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The amended complaint must also contain a caption including the names of all defendants.
Fed. R. Civ. P. 10(a).

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Plaintiff may not change the nature of this suit by alleging new, unrelated claims. See

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George, 507 F.3d at 607. Nor, as mentioned above, may he bring unrelated claims against

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multiple defendants. Id.

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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. E.D. Cal. 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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Any amended complaint should be as concise as possible in fulfilling the above

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requirements. Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a). Plaintiff should avoid the inclusion of procedural or factual

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background which has no bearing on his legal claims. He should also take pains to ensure that his

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amended complaint is as legible as possible. This refers not only to penmanship, but also spacing

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and organization. Plaintiff should carefully consider whether each of the defendants he names

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actually had involvement in the constitutional violations he alleges. A “scattershot” approach in

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which plaintiff names dozens of defendants will not be looked upon favorably by the court.

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Conclusion

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Accordingly, it is ORDERED that:

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1. Plaintiff’s application 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

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in accordance with the notice to the California Department of Corrections and

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Rehabilitation filed concurrently herewith;

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3. Plaintiff’s complaint (ECF No. 1) is dismissed with leave to amend within 30 days

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from the date of service of this order; and
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Case 2:21-cv-00891-TLN-EFB Document 8 Filed 09/08/21 Page 5 of 5
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4. Failure to comply with any part of this this order may result in dismissal of this
action.
DATED: September 8, 2021.

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