(PC)Meeks v. Tehama County

Filing 12

ORDER and FINDINGS and RECOMMENDATIONS signed by Magistrate Judge Allison Claire on 05/05/2022 RECOMMENDING that all claims against all defendants shouldbe DISMISSED with prejudice; DENYING 5 Motion to Proceed IFP as moot; GRANTING 7 Motion to Proceed IFP. Referred to United States District Judge. Objections due within 21 days after being served with these Findings and Recommendations. (Rodriguez, E)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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JANAI SERENE OPAL MEEKS,

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No. 2:22-cv-0522 KJM AC PS

Plaintiff,
v.
TEHAMA COUNTY,

ORDER AND FINDINGS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS

Defendant.

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Plaintiff is proceeding in this action pro se, and the case was accordingly referred to the

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undersigned by E.D. Cal. R. 302(c)(21). Plaintiff filed two requests for leave to proceed in forma

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pauperis (“IFP”) pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915, and has submitted the affidavit required by that

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statute. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1). Permission to proceed IFP will therefore be granted.

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I. SCREENING
A determination that a plaintiff qualifies financially for in forma pauperis status does not

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complete the inquiry required by the statute. The federal IFP statute requires federal courts to

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dismiss a case if the action is legally “frivolous or malicious,” 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 relief.

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28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2). Plaintiff must assist the court in determining whether or not the

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complaint is frivolous, by drafting the complaint so that it complies with the Federal Rules of

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Civil Procedure (“Fed. R. Civ. P.”). Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the complaint
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must contain (1) a “short and plain statement” of the basis for federal jurisdiction (that is, the

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reason the case is filed in this court, rather than in a state court), (2) a short and plain statement

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showing that plaintiff is entitled to relief (that is, who harmed the plaintiff, and in what way), and

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(3) a demand for the relief sought. Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a). Plaintiff’s claims must be set forth

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simply, concisely and directly. Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(d)(1).

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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). In reviewing a complaint under this standard, the

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court will (1) accept as true all of the factual allegations contained in the complaint, unless they

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are clearly baseless or fanciful, (2) construe those allegations in the light most favorable to the

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plaintiff, and (3) resolve all doubts in the plaintiff’s favor. See Neitzke, 490 U.S. at 327; Von

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Saher v. Norton Simon Museum of Art at Pasadena, 592 F.3d 954, 960 (9th Cir. 2010), cert.

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denied, 564 U.S. 1037 (2011).

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The court applies the same rules of construction in determining whether the complaint

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states a claim on which relief can be granted. Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 94 (2007) (court

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must accept the allegations as true); Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236 (1974) (court must

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construe the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff). Pro se pleadings are held to a

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less stringent standard than those drafted by lawyers. Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 520

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(1972). However, the court need not accept as true conclusory allegations, unreasonable

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inferences, or unwarranted deductions of fact. Western Mining Council v. Watt, 643 F.2d 618,

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624 (9th Cir. 1981). A formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action does not suffice

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to state a claim. Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555-57 (2007); Ashcroft v. Iqbal,

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556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009). To state a claim on which relief may be granted, the plaintiff must

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allege enough facts “to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at

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570. “A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the

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court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.”

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Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678.

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A pro se litigant is entitled to notice of the deficiencies in the complaint and an
opportunity to amend, unless the complaint’s deficiencies could not be cured by amendment. See
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Noll v. Carlson, 809 F.2d 1446, 1448 (9th Cir. 1987), superseded on other grounds by statute as

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stated in Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122 (9th Cir.2000)) (en banc).

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II. THE COMPLAINT
Plaintiff has filed both an initial and an amended complaint. ECF Nos. 1, 11. Because the

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amended complaint supersedes the original, see Lacey v. Maricopa County, 693 F.3d 896, 925

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(2012), that is the pleading subject to screening.

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The Amended Complaint names the Tehama County Department of Social Service-CPS

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and the Tehama County Sheriff’s Office as defendants, and is brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983,

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the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and state law. ECF No. 11 at 1. All putative claims arise

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from the removal of plaintiff’s children from her home and an ensuing dependency adjudication

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by the Tehama County Superior Court, Juvenile Law Division. Id. at 2-4. Plaintiff alleges that

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the emergency removal of the children by Sheriff’s Deputies was wrongful, and she makes

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multiple allegations of improper conduct by the judge and the lawyers involved in the case. Id. at

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2-6. The Amended Complaint presents claims identified as Improper Jurisdiction, ICWA

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Violations, Judicial Misconduct, Misrepresentation of Court Appointed Counsel, Due Process,

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Perjury Provided, Defamation of Character, and Foster Care Rights Violations.

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The complaint challenges the jurisdiction of the “Juvenile Court of Law” on grounds that

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plaintiff is not a minor, id. at 2, 6-7, and that the ICWA deprived the Tehama County court of

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jurisdiction, id. at 8. With respect to ICWA, plaintiff alleges that the minors’ “great great

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grandmother… married a Choctaw man which brought about native children” and although the

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minors’ father notified the court about the children’s native ancestry, no tribe was notified. Id. at

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8. Plaintiff asks that “corrective action be taken in order to prevent any further injustices being

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placed upon the family.” Id. at 15.

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III. ANALYSIS

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The Amended Complaint fails to state any claim on which relief may be granted, for

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multiple reasons. As municipal entities, the Department of Social Services and the Sheriff’s

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Department can be liable under § 1983 only for their own illegal municipal acts—such as policies

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that cause constitutional violations—and not for the acts of their employees. Monell v. Dep’t of
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Soc. Servs., 436 U.S. 658, 694 (1978); Connick v. Thompson, 563 U.S. 51, 60 (2011). There are

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no allegations in the Amended Complaint that even remotely suggest a Monell claim.

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Accordingly, the complaint entirely lacks allegations to support the liability of the only named

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defendants. Those individuals who are alleged to have committed misconduct, on the other hand,

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are either immune from suit altogether or cannot be sued under § 1983 for other reasons. See

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Stump v. Sparkman, 435 U.S. 349, 355-56 (1978) (judges are absolutely immune from civil

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liability regarding their judicial acts); Briscoe v. LaHue, 460 U.S. 325, 335-56 (1983) (witnesses

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are absolutely immune from civil liability for their testimony in judicial proceedings); Polk

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County v. Dodson, 454 U.S. 312, 325 (1981) (court-appointed counsel are not persons acting

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“under color of law” who can be liable under § 1983).
But the Amended Complaint suffers from a more fundamental defect: it is clear that

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plaintiff effectively seeks to appeal the judgment in Tehama County Social Services v. Meeks.

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With the sole exception of plaintiff’s ICWA claim, which is addressed below, plaintiff’s claims

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all expressly or impliedly challenge the validity of the state court’s dependency judgment. Under

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the Rooker-Feldman doctrine, federal courts may not exercise jurisdiction over “de facto appeals”

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of state court orders. Rooker v. Fidelity Trust Co., 263 U.S. 413 (1923); District of Columbia

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Court of Appeals v. Feldman, 460 U.S. 462 (1983). The Rooker-Feldman doctrine prohibits the

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district courts from hearing cases “brought by state-court losers complaining of injuries caused by

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state-court judgments rendered before the district court proceedings commenced and inviting

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district court review and rejection of those judgments.” Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Saudi Basic Indus.

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Corp., 544 U.S. 280, 284 (2005).

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To determine if Rooker-Feldman bars a case, the court must first determine if the federal

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action contains a forbidden de facto appeal of a state court judicial decision. Noel v. Hall, 341

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F.3d 1148, 1156 (9th Cir. 2003). If it does not, “the Rooker-Feldman inquiry ends.” Bell v. City

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of Boise, 709 F.3d 890, 897 (9th Cir. 2013). If the action does amount to a “forbidden de facto

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appeal,” however, the court cannot hear the de facto appeal portion of the case and, “[a]s part of

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that refusal, it must also refuse to decide any issue raised in the suit that is ‘inextricably

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intertwined’ with an issue resolved by the state court in its judicial decision.” Noel, 341 F.3d at
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1158; see also Bell, 709 F.3d at 897 (“The ‘inextricably intertwined’ language from Feldman is

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not a test to determine whether a claim is a de facto appeal, but is rather a second and distinct step

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in the Rooker-Feldman analysis.”). A complaint is a “de facto appeal” of a state court decision

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where the plaintiff “complains of a legal wrong allegedly committed by the state court, and seeks

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relief from the judgment of that court.” Noel, 341 F.3d at 1163. Here, plaintiff is clearly

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attempting to appeal state court orders to this court: the Amended Complaint asserts that various

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illegalities occurred during the state court decision-making process, challenges the validity of the

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state court judgment, and seeks relief from that judgment. With the sole exception of her ICWA

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claim, all of plaintiff’s claims are either de facto appeals of the state court judgment or are

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inextricably entwined with issues resolved by the state court regarding the removal and foster

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care placements of plaintiff’s children.

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The only exception to the Rooker-Feldman bar in this case is the ICWA claim.

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The Ninth Circuit has expressly ruled that Rooker-Feldman does not bar claims under the ICWA.

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Doe v. Mann, 415 F.3d 1038, 1047 (9th Cir. 2005). However, the same case holds that in

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California the state exercises concurrent jurisdiction over dependency proceedings involving

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Indian children, including in cases of involuntary removal. Id. at 1068 (“Consistent with ICWA,

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California, a mandatory Public Law 280 state, has been exercising at least concurrent jurisdiction

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over dependency proceedings involving Indian children.”). The Ninth Circuit recognized that this

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result might not be ideal from a policy perspective, but found that it was bound by the laws as

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written. Id. (“From an ultimate perspective of public policy and in furtherance of the goal of

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tribal sovereignty over the destiny of Indian children, a transition from Public Law 280

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jurisdiction to tribal jurisdiction in child custody proceedings may well be appropriate. But we

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believe this is a judgment for Congress to make, not the courts.”) This court is bound to follow

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Doe v. Mann. Because it is settled in this circuit that California courts have jurisdiction in

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removal proceedings regarding Indian children, plaintiff cannot prevail on her ICWA claim as a

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matter of law.

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Absent any viable federal claim, this court need not consider and should not entertain any
putative state law claims included in the Amended Complaint. See 28 U.S.C. § 1367(c); United
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Mine Workers v. Gibbs, 383 U.S. 715, 726 (1966).
Because it is clear from the contents of plaintiff’s complaint that she cannot state a federal
claim upon which relief can be granted, the complaint must be dismissed in its entirety.

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III.

LEAVE TO AMEND IS NOT APPROPRIATE

Pro se litigants must be given leave to amend unless it is absolutely clear that the

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deficiencies of the complaint could not be cured by amendment. Cato v. U.S., 70 F.3d 1103,

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1106 (9th Cir. 1995); Noll v. Carlson, 809 F.2d 1446, 1448 (9th Cir. 1987). Futile amendments

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should not be permitted. Klamath–Lake Pharmaceutical Ass’n v. Klamath Medical Service

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Bureau, 701 F.2d 1276, 1293 (9th Cir.1983). Here, plaintiff cannot overcome the Rooker-

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Feldman bar by alleging additional facts; that doctrine categorically prevents her from bringing

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the gravamen of her case to federal court. Plaintiff’s ICWA claim also cannot be cured, as relief

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is precluded by binding precedent. Accordingly, leave to amend should be denied as futile.

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IV.

PRO SE PLAINTIFF’S SUMMARY

Your motion to proceed in forma pauperis is granted and you will not be charged a filing

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fee. However, the magistrate judge is recommending that your case be dismissed. Federal courts

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cannot consider lawsuits challenging state court judgments. This rule, known as the Rooker-

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Feldman doctrine, bars all of your claims except the ICWA claim. That claim cannot proceed

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because existing law establishes that California state courts do have jurisdiction to make

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dependency decisions regarding Indian children even in light of ICWA. The district judge will

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make a final ruling on this recommendation for dismissal. You may file objections to this

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recommendation within 21 days.

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V. CONCLUSION
In accordance with the above, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiff’s application to

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proceed in forma pauperis (ECF No. 7), is GRANTED and the duplicate application (ECF No. 5)

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is DENIED as MOOT.

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Further, IT IS HEREBY RECOMMENDED that all claims against all defendants should
be DISMISSED with prejudice.
These findings and recommendations are submitted to the United States District Judge
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assigned to the case, pursuant to the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(l). Within twenty-one days

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after being served with these findings and recommendations, plaintiff may file written objections

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with the court. Such a document should be captioned “Objections to Magistrate Judge’s Findings

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and Recommendations.” Plaintiff is advised that failure to file objections within the specified

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time may waive the right to appeal the District Court’s order. Martinez v. Ylst, 951 F.2d 1153

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(9th Cir. 1991).

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATED: May 5, 2022

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