Daniel v. Contra Costa County Sheriff's Dept

Filing 5

ORDER of Dismissal With Leave to Amend. Signed by Judge Edward M. Chen on 9/21/2016. (Attachments: # 1 Certificate/Proof of Service). (emcsec, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 9/21/2016)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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Case No. 16-cv-02037-EMC

DAVID LEE DANIEL,
Plaintiff,

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ORDER OF DISMISSAL WITH LEAVE
TO AMEND

v.
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY SHERIFF’S
DEPT,

Docket No. 1

For the Northern District of California

United States District Court

Defendant.
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I.

INTRODUCTION

David Lee Daniel, an inmate at the Martinez Detention Facility in Martinez, California,

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filed a pro se civil rights complaint seeking relief under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983. The complaint is now

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before the Court for review under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A.

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II.

BACKGROUND

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In less than half a page, Mr. Daniels lists an assortment of problems at the Martinez

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Detention Facility. He alleges that there is mold in the showers, the cell ventilation system has not

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been cleaned in decades, the cell walls are crumbling, the medical care is inadequate, grievances

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are inadequate, and he was given pain medication that did not work and unidentified medical

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staffmembers did not care when he told them. Docket No. 1 at 3. He does not further describe

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any of these problems in his complaint.

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III.

DISCUSSION

A federal court must engage in a preliminary screening of any case in which a prisoner

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seeks redress from a governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity. See 28

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U.S.C. § 1915A(a). In its review the court must identify any cognizable claims, and dismiss any

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claims which are frivolous, malicious, fail to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or

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seek monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. See id. at § 1915A(b).

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Pro se pleadings must be liberally construed. See Balistreri v. Pacifica Police Dep’t, 901 F.2d

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696, 699 (9th Cir. 1990).

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To state a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a plaintiff must allege two elements: (1) that a

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right secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States was violated and (2) that the

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violation was committed by a person acting under the color of state law. See West v. Atkins, 487

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U.S. 42, 48 (1988).

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Although a plaintiff is not required to plead “specific factual details not ascertainable in

state a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 if the allegations in the complaint are mere conclusions,

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For the Northern District of California

advance of discovery,” Gibson v. United States, 781 F.2d 1334, 1340 (9th Cir. 1986), he does not

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United States District Court

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Kennedy v. H & M Landing, Inc., 529 F.2d 987, 989 (9th Cir. 1976). A complaint must contain

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sufficient allegations to put defendants fairly on notice of the claims against them. McKeever v.

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Block, 932 F.2d 795, 798 (9th Cir. 1991). A complaint that fails to state the specific acts of the

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defendant which violated the plaintiff’s rights fails to meet the notice requirements of Federal Rule

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of Civil Procedure 8(a). Hutchinson v. United States, 677 F.2d 1322, 1328 n.5 (9th Cir. 1982).

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Mr. Daniel’s complaint is too short on details for the court to determine whether any of his

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constitutional rights may have been violated. He makes sweeping generalizations such as that the

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medical care is “so inadequate as to be nonexistent,” and the “grievances [are] so inadequate as to

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be nonexistent.” Docket No. 1 at 3. He does not explain what makes the medical care and

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grievance system inadequate. And he provides no details about the other problems listed in the

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complaint, such as the alleged mold, failure to clean the ventilation system or crumbling walls.

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The complaint also does not identify the dates on which any events occurred, who the alleged

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wrongdoers were, or whether he was actually harmed by any of the events. Mr. Daniel must file

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an amended complaint to provide more information.

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First, Mr. Daniel should state each claim separately in his amended complaint. For each

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condition of confinement he contends is constitutionally deficient, he must allege the facts

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showing his entitlement to relief from one or more defendants. With some effort, Mr. Daniel can
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state his claims for relief such that they will be short and plain statements of each claim, rather

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than the summary list of problems that is in the original complaint. For example, if he claims he

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received inadequate medical care, he should allege the date(s) on which he received inadequate

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medical care, identify who provided the care or failed to provide the care needed, and describe

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how the medical care was inadequate. By way of further example, if he claims the ventilation

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system is inadequate, he should allege the particular details that show how and why the ventilation

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system is inadequate, allege the date(s) on which he was subjected to those inadequate conditions,

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and allege who caused him to be subjected to the inadequate ventilation system.

complaint includes no allegations against that defendant. There is no respondeat superior liability

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under § 1983, i.e. no liability under the theory that one is liable simply because he employs a

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For the Northern District of California

Second, the only listed defendant is the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Department, but the

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United States District Court

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person who has violated a plaintiff’s rights. See Monell v. Dep’t of Social Servs.,436 U.S. 658,

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691 (1978); Taylor v. List, 880 F.2d 1040, 1045 (9th Cir. 1989). Local governments are “persons”

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subject to liability under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 where official policy or custom causes a constitutional

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tort, see Monell,436 U.S. at 690. To impose municipal liability under § 1983 for a violation of

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constitutional rights, a plaintiff must show: (1) that the plaintiff possessed a constitutional right of

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which he or she was deprived; (2) that the municipality had a policy; (3) that this policy amounts

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to deliberate indifference to the plaintiff’s constitutional rights; and (4) that the policy is the

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moving force behind the constitutional violation. See Plumeau v. School Dist. #40 County of

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Yamhill, 130 F.3d 432, 438 (9th Cir. 1997). For municipal liability, a plaintiff must plead

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sufficient facts regarding the specific nature of the alleged policy, custom or practice to allow the

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defendant to effectively defend itself, and these facts must plausibly suggest that the plaintiff is

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entitled to relief. See AE v. County of Tulare, 666 F.3d 631, 636-37 (9th Cir. 2012). It is not

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sufficient to merely allege that a policy, custom or practice existed or that individual officers’

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wrongdoing conduct conformed to a policy, custom or practice. See id. at 636-68.

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Third, if Mr. Daniel wants to add individuals as defendants, Mr. Daniel must be careful to

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allege facts showing the basis for liability for each individual defendant. He should not refer to

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them as a group (e.g. “the defendants”); rather, he should identify each involved defendant by
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name and link each of them to his claim by explaining what each defendant did or failed to do that

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caused a violation of his constitutional rights. See Leer v. Murphy, 844 F.2d 628, 634 (9th Cir.

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1988) (liability may be imposed on individual defendant under § 1983 only if plaintiff can show

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that defendant proximately caused deprivation of federally protected right). A supervisor may be

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liable under § 1983 upon a showing of (1) personal involvement in the constitutional deprivation

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or (2) a sufficient causal connection between the supervisor’s wrongful conduct and the

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constitutional violation. See Starr v. Baca, 652 F.3d 1202, 1207 (9th Cir. 2011).
Fourth, it is unclear from the complaint whether Mr. Daniel was a pretrial detainee or a

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convict at the relevant times. His status affects the constitutional provision under which his claims

Amendment’s Due Process Clause, while a convict’s claims arise under the Eighth Amendment’s

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For the Northern District of California

arise: a pretrial detainee’s claims about conditions of confinement arise under the Fourteenth

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United States District Court

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Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause. Even though pretrial detainees’ claims arise under the

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Due Process Clause, the Eighth Amendment serves as a benchmark for evaluating those claims.

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See Carnell v. Grimm, 74 F.3d 977, 979 (9th Cir. 1996). In his amended complaint, he must state

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whether he was a pretrial detainee or had been convicted as of the relevant time(s).
IV.

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CONCLUSION

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The complaint is dismissed with leave to amend. Mr. Daniel must file an amended

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complaint that complies with the directions in this order no later than October 14, 2016, and must

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include the caption and civil case number used in this order and the words AMENDED

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COMPLAINT on the first page. Mr. Daniel is cautioned that his amended complaint must be a

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complete statement of his claims. See Lacey v. Maricopa County, 693 F.3d 896, 928 (9th Cir.

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2012) (en banc) (“For claims dismissed with prejudice and without leave to amend, we will not

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require that they be repled in a subsequent amended complaint to preserve them for appeal. But for

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any claims voluntarily dismissed, we will consider those claims to be waived if not repled.”)

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Failure to file the amended complaint will result in the dismissal of this action.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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Dated: September 21, 2016
______________________________________
EDWARD M. CHEN
United States District Judge

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For the Northern District of California

United States District Court

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