Rogers v. County of San Diego, California et al

Filing 20

ORDER granting Defendants' 18 Motion to Dismiss Amended Complaint for Failure to State a Claim. Plaintiff's claims are dismissed with prejudice without leave to amend. Signed by Judge Irma E. Gonzalez on 4/15/2013. (All non-registered users served via U.S. Mail Service) (jah)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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BRIAN F. ROGERS,

CASE NO. 12-CV-1684- IEG (MDD)

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Plaintiff,
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ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO
DISMISS WITH PREJUDICE.

vs.
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[Doc. No. 18.]
THE COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO,
CALIFORNIA; THE SAN DIEGO
COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE; and THE
HONORABLE LANTZ LEWIS, in his
official capacity as Superior Court Judge of
the County of San Diego,

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Defendants.

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Before the Court is Defendant San Diego County’s1 motion to dismiss Plaintiff Brian F.

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Rogers’s amended complaint. [Doc. No. 18.] For the reason below, Defendant’s motion is

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GRANTED.

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BACKGROUND
This 42 U.S.C. §1983 case arises out of pro se Plaintiff Brian F. Rogers’s February 2012

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small claims action concerning repairs to Plaintiff’s car. [See Doc. Nos. 1, 17.] In the underlying

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case, Plaintiff argued for $993 in damages, but was awarded only $200 with an option to take the

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car back to the small claims defendant for further repair. [Doc. No. 17 at 7-8.] San Diego County

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sheriffs allegedly collected approximately $400 from the small claims defendant but refused to

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Defendant San Diego County is also sued as “San Diego County Sheriff’s Office.”
[See Doc. No. 1.]
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issue any of those funds to Plaintiff given a balance of offsetting damages awards against him.

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[Id.] Based on these facts, Plaintiff commenced the present action, alleging that both the small

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claims judgment, and the execution of that judgment by San Diego County sheriffs, reflect racial

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bias and thus constitute violations of the Fourteenth Amendment. [See, e.g., Doc. No. 1 at 6

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(“Plaintiff believes Judge Lantz Lewis is a white racist that should be removed from the bench.”),

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8 (“Judge Lantz Lewis has a distrust for African American people which allows him to import

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judgments and rulings which have no foundation . . . The Judge simply masquerades the real

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reason for his racist behavior through illogical racist conclusions . . .”).]

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On January 2, 2013, the Court dismissed with prejudice Plaintiff’s claims against Judge

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Lewis on grounds of judicial immunity from suit, and dismissed without prejudice Plaintiff’s

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claims against San Diego County for failure to plead sufficient facts to support any cognizable

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legal theory. [See Doc. No. 16.] Plaintiff timely filed an amended complaint largely identical to

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that already dismissed, which San Diego County presently moves to dismiss for failure to state a

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claim. [Doc. No. 18.] Plaintiff filed no opposition.

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DISCUSSION
Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2), “a complaint must contain sufficient factual

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matter, accepted as true, to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal,

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556 U.S. 662, 677-78 (2009). Motions to dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure

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12(b)(6) test the sufficiency of this required showing. New Mexico State Investment Council v.

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Ernst & Young LLP, 641 F.3d 1089, 1094 (9th Cir. 2011). “Dismissal is proper when the

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complaint does not make out a cognizable legal theory or does not allege sufficient facts to support

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a cognizable legal theory.” Cervantes v. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., 656 F.3d 1034, 1041 (9th

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Cir. 2011). Though pro se complaints enjoy “the benefit of any doubt,” Hebbe v. Pliler, 627 F.3d

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338, 342 (9th Cir. 2010), Rule 8 still “demands more than an unadorned, the-defendant-

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unlawfully-harmed-me accusation.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678.

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“[U]nder § 1983, local governments are responsible only for their own illegal acts,” and

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thus “are not vicariously liable under § 1983 for their employees’ actions.” Connick v. Thompson,

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131 S. Ct. 1350, 1359 (2011) (internal quotation omitted). Thus, “Plaintiffs who seek to impose
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liability on local governments under § 1983 must prove that action pursuant to official municipal

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policy caused their injury.” Id; see also Los Angeles County, Cal. v. Humphries, 131 S. Ct. 447,

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449 (2010) (“[C]ivil rights plaintiffs suing a municipal entity under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 must show

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that their injury was caused by a municipal policy or custom.”). Proof of isolated events does not

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suffice. Navarro v. Block, 72 F.3d 712, 714 (9th Cir. 1995).

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Even affording every benefit of the doubt, Plaintiff’s complaint again fails to allege

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sufficient facts to support any cognizable legal theory. Plaintiff’s claims rest entirely on a single

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event - San Diego County’s refusal to issue funds to Plaintiff given a balance of offsetting

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judgments against him. [See Doc. No. 17 at 7-8.] But Plaintiff still fails to allege any facts as to

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how the alleged conduct could reflect racial bias or otherwise violate any civil rights. Nor is any

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harm alleged, let alone attributed to any conduct by San Diego County. As such, Plaintiff fails to

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state any §1983 claim against San Diego County. See Connick, 131 S. Ct. at 1359.

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Moreover, “the Ninth Circuit has recognized that plaintiffs do not enjoy unlimited

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opportunities to amend their complaints.” Stone v. Conrad Preby’s, 2013 WL 139939, at *2 (S.D.

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Cal. Jan. 10, 2013)(citing McHenry v. Renne, 84 F.3d 1172, 1174 (9th Cir.1996)). Where, as here,

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an amended complaint simply “restate[s] the prior [dismissed claims] without curing their

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deficiencies,” the Court properly dismisses with prejudice. McHenry, 84 F.3d at 1174. Therefore,

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Plaintiff’s claims are hereby DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.

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CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, Defendant’s motion to dismiss is GRANTED and Plaintiff’s
claims are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE without leave to amend.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATED:

April 15, 2013

______________________________
IRMA E. GONZALEZ
United States District Judge

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