Nadolski v. Winchester et al
Filing
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ORDER Granting Motions to Dismiss 13 , 14 , 15 with prejudice. Signed by Judge Larry Alan Burns on 8/6/14. (All non-registered users served via U.S. Mail Service)(kas)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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JOSEPH NADOLSKI,
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CASE NO. 13-CV-2370-LAB-DHB
Plaintiff,
ORDER ON MOTION TO DISMISS
vs.
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MARY WINCHESTER, et al.,
Defendants.
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Plaintiff Joseph Nadolski alleges that his constitutional rights were violated during a
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dispute in family court, and he has sued a number of parties under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 whom
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he believes are responsible. Now before the Court are their motions to dismiss.
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I.
Introduction
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On August 22, 2012, Nadolski’s ex-wife obtained a TRO against him in San Diego
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Superior Court. The TRO, which was issued by Defendant Judge Gregory Pollack, restricted
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Nadolski’s contact with his ex-wife and two children. It also required him to surrender his
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firearms. Nadolski’s claims arise out of his dissatisfaction with this TRO.
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Nadolski alleges that during the TRO hearing Defendant Victoria Rothman, who was
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the attorney for Nadolski’s ex-wife, and Defendant Mary Winchester, who was an investigator
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for Defendant Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), provided “false and
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histrionic” testimony that led to the TRO being granted. (Compl. ¶ 28.) Nadolski also alleges
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that, prior to the hearing, a mediator who Nadolski has identified as John Doe interviewed
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the children and helped prepare false and unethical declarations.
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Nadolski also alleges that HHS’s investigation of alleged child abuse wasn’t thorough.
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Winchester conducted the investigation, and Defendants Asoera and Weathersby
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supervised her. Nadolski maintains that their supervision was insufficient, and that
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Defendant Nick Macchione, the Director of the Department of Health and Human Resources,
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failed to staff the Department with competent investigators. Finally, he claims that “The
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Superior Court of California, San Diego County also did not provide the Plaintiff with the
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same resources it provides to protect Plaintiff’s constitutional rights the court deprived him
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of, but provided resources to aid in violating those rights.” (Compl. ¶ 2.) Nadolski doesn’t
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specify how the court’s resources were unfairly distributed.
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On September 11, 2012, Judge Pollack conducted a second hearing and concluded
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that a permanent restraining order wasn’t necessary. Nadolski’s jumble of allegations also
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include that another judge, Defendant Judge Trentacosta, violated his constitutional rights,
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but he never explains how or identifies what role Judge Trentacosta played in the TRO
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process. (Compl. ¶ 49.)
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II.
Legal Standard
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A 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim challenges the legal sufficiency
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of a complaint. Navarro v. Block, 250 F.3d 729, 732 (9th Cir. 2001). The Court must accept
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all factual allegations as true and construe them in the light most favorable to Nadolski.
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Cedars-Sinai Med. Ctr. v. Nat’l League of Postmasters of U.S., 497 F.3d 972, 975 (9th Cir.
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2007). To defeat the Defendants’ motions to dismiss, Nadolski’s factual allegations needn’t
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be detailed, but they must be sufficient to “raise a right to relief above the speculative
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level . . . .” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007). That is, “some threshold
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of plausibility must be crossed at the outset” before a case can go forward. Id. at 558
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(internal quotations omitted). 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
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the misconduct alleged.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009). “The plausibility
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standard is not akin to a ‘probability requirement,’ but it asks for more than a sheer possibility
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that a defendant has acted unlawfully.” Id.
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While the Court must draw all reasonable inferences in Nadolski’s favor, it need not
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“necessarily assume the truth of legal conclusions merely because they are cast in the form
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of factual allegations.” Warren v. Fox Family Worldwide, Inc., 328 F.3d 1136, 1139 (9th Cir.
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2003) (internal quotations omitted). In fact, the Court does not need to accept any legal
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conclusions as true. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678. A complaint does not suffice “if it tenders naked
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assertions devoid of further factual enhancement.” Id. (internal quotations omitted). Nor
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does it suffice if it contains a merely formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action.
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Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555.
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Because Nadolski is proceeding pro se, the Court construes his pleadings liberally,
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and affords him the benefit of any doubt. See Karim-Panahi v. L.A. Police Dep’t, 839 F.2d
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621, 623 (9th Cir. 1988). Of course, “[p]ro se litigants must follow the same rules of
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procedure that govern other litigants.” King v. Atiyeh, 814 F.2d 565, 567 (9th Cir. 1987).
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III.
Discussion
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Nadolski claims that, by their actions, each Defendant violated his constitutional rights
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under § 1983. Three separate motions to dismiss have been filed. The first is from Judge
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Pollack, Judge Trentacosta, and the California Superior Court. They argue that Nadolski’s
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claims are barred by the Rooker-Feldman Doctrine, and that they are immune from suit. The
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second motion to dismiss is from HHS, Winchester, Asoera, Macchione, Weathersby, and
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San Diego County. They also argue that Nadolski’s claim is barred by the Rooker-Feldman
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Doctrine, and also that he has failed to plead a sufficient cause of action under § 1983. The
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final motion to dismiss is from Rothman, who makes the same two arguments.
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The Court finds three problems with Nadolski’s claims.
First, the claims are
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inadequately pled. All that is clear from Nadolski’s complaint is that he believes the issuance
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of the TRO violated his rights. The problem might be corrected with an amended complaint,
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but that leads to a discussion of the other two problems. These are: (1) that his claims are
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barred by the Rooker-Feldman doctrine; and (2) that Judge Pollack, Judge Trentacosta, and
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the California Superior Court enjoy immunity from being sued on account of their judicial
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functions.
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A.
Failure to Plead a Sufficient Cause of Action Under 42 U.S.C. § 1983
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Nadolski alleges that the Defendants “violated his constitutional rights under the color
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of law.” (Compl. ¶ 2.) The claim lacks specificity. Section 1983 is not a source of substantive
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rights. Rather, it creates liability for those who deprive another of rights or privileges secured
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by the U.S. Constitution or federal law while acting under the color of state law. Albright v.
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Oliver, 510 U.S. 266, 271 (1994); Wood v. Ostrander, 879 F.2d 583, 587 (9th Cir. 1992).
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In this case, Nadolski has vaguely alleged that his Second, Fourth, Fifth, and
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Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated, but it’s unclear how he arrives at those claims
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from his factual contentions, namely that Winchester and Rothman made false and
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damaging statements, that The Department of Health and Human Services has a generally
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inadequate investigations process, and that the Superior Court did not provide him with the
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same resources that it provided to others. His complaint fails to make the connection. The
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claims he alleges against each Defendant simply re-allege and incorporate by reference the
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preceding facts and then state ““Plaintiff claims damages under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for the
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injuries set forth above against [Defendant] for violation of his constitutional rights under
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color of law.” This is conclusory form language that is insufficient for pleading purposes.
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Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662 at 663 (“[T]he tenet that a court must accept a complaint's allegations
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as true is inapplicable to threadbare recitals of a cause of action's elements, supported by
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mere conclusory statements.”).
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Even if the Court disregards the conclusory nature of Nadolski’s claims, and instead
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attempts to piece his claims together for him, the facts that Nadolski alleges are similarly
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conclusory and unsupported. For instance, Nadolski explains that Defendant Winchester
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sent him a letter indicating that the charge of general abuse against him was substantiated,
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but that the letter was silent about the other charges against him that were investigated.
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(Compl. ¶ 31.) Nadolski claims that this indicates “clearly Ms Winchester continues to abuse
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her power. She clearly is trying to falsely testify or mislead the court in this case and
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continues to infringe on the constitutional rights of this family.” (Compl. ¶ 31). But that
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doesn’t logically follow. Nadolski has simply arrived at the legal conclusion that Winchester
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intentionally misled the family court and infringed upon the constitutional rights of him and
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his family without providing a clear factual basis for the charge. Similarly, Nadolski’s
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assertion that “The Superior Court of California, San Diego County also did not provide the
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Plaintiff with the same resources it provides to protect Plaintiff’s constitutional rights the court
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deprived him of, but provided resources to aid in violating those rights” is completely bare.
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(Compl. ¶ 2.) Nadolski offers no facts that explain what resources he was denied, or how
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the resources he was given were comparatively inadequate.
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Even if Nadolski alleged a more robust set of facts, his claims would still be
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problematic. For example, there is no legal remedy available to Nadolski for his claims that
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Defendants Rothman and Winchester testified falsely, because a “false testimony”
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constitutional claim does not exist under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. See Briscoe v. LaHue, 460 U.S.
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325, 327 n.1 (1983) (“The Court . . . has not held that the false testimony of a police officer
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in itself violates constitutional rights.”). Furthermore, the claim that HHS has an inadequate
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investigations process also presents no clearly cognizable constitutional violation.
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In sum, the Court agrees that Nadolski’s claims are inadequately pled, which subjects
them to dismissal under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6).
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B.
Rooker-Feldman Doctrine
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Were the Court to give Nadolski leave to amend his complaint to correct the noted
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deficiencies, there is still a larger, jurisdictional problem. Under the Rooker-Feldman
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doctrine, federal courts lack subject matter jurisdiction to hear what are in essence appeals
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from state court judgments. See Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Saudi Basic Indus Corp., 544 U.S.
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280, 283-84 (2005); Cooper v. Ramos, 704 F.3d 772, 778 (9th Cir. 2012) (“It is a forbidden
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de facto appeal from state-court judgment, under Rooker–Feldman doctrine, when plaintiff
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in federal district court complains of a legal wrong allegedly committed by the state court,
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and seeks relief from the judgment of that court.”).
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federal court action are “inextricably intertwined” with the state court’s decision such that the
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Furthermore, If claims raised in the
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adjudication of the federal claims would undercut the state ruling or require the district court
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to interpret the application of state laws, then the federal complaint must be dismissed for
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lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Bianchi v. Rylaarsdam, 334 F.3d 895, 898 (9th Cir. 2003).
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This doctrine even applies when the challenge to the state court’s decision involves federal
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constitutional issues. Robinson v. Ariyoshi, 753 F.2d 1468, 1471–72 (9th Cir.1985).
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In this case, Nadolski seeks damages and injunctive relief based on the outcome of
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proceedings in San Diego Superior Court.
This falls squarely into the jurisdictional
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prohibition of Rooker-Feldman. It is well-established that when a plaintiff brings a claim to
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federal court that challenges the outcome of proceedings in family court, such a claim is
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barred by the doctrine. See Phifer v. City of New York, 289 F.3d 49, 57 (2d Cir. 2002)
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(holding that a mother’s constitutional claims attacking a custody decision made in state
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court were barred by the Rooker-Feldman doctrine); Mellema v. Washoe County Dist. Atty,
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2012 WL 5289345 at *2 (E.D. Cal. Oct. 23, 2012) (holding that a plaintiff’s claims against the
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county seeking cancellation of child support payments and a reversal of a custody decision
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in state court were barred by the Rooker-Feldman doctrine); Prater v. City of Philadelphia
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Family Court, 2014 WL 2700095 at *2 (3d Cir. June 16, 2014) (holding that a father’s claims
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against the family court that refused to give him custody of his child were barred by the
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Rooker-Feldman doctrine); Stratton v. Mecklenburg County Dept. of Social Services, 521
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F. App’x. 278, 292 (4th Cir. 2013) (holding that the plaintiff’s constitutional claims were, in
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essence, an attempt to reverse the state court decision that required him to relinquish
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custody of his children, and thus were barred by the Rooker-Feldman doctrine). Nadolski’s
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claims are a similar attempt to challenge, here in federal court, an adverse family court ruling
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in state court. These claims are barred by the Rooker-Feldman doctrine.
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C.
Eleventh Amendment and Judicial Immunity
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In additional to Nadolski’s claims being barred by the Rooker-Feldman doctrine, the
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claims against the California Superior Court, Judge Pollack, and Judge Trentacosta are
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barred due to their immunity.
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The Eleventh Amendment bars lawsuits against an arm of the state under principles
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of sovereign immunity. Franceschi v. Schwartz, 57 F.3d 828, 831 (9th Cir. 1995). California
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superior courts are classified as arms of the state, and therefore are protected by this
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immunity. Simmons v. Sacramento County Superior Court, 318 F.3d 1156, 1161 (9th Cir.
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2003); Greater Los Angeles Council of Deafness, Inc. v. Zolin, 812 F.2d 1103, 1110 (9th Cir.
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1987).
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Judicial officers are also, for the most part, immune from civil liability for acts
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performed in their judicial capacity. Mireles v. Waco , 502 U.S. 9 (1991) (per curiam); Mullis
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v. United States. Bankr. Ct., 828 F.2d, 1385, 1394 (9th Cir. 1987). A judge can be
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considered to be acting in his judicial capacity when the act is a function normally performed
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by a judge, and the plaintiff dealt with the judge in his or her judicial capacity. Stump v.
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Sparkman, 435 U.S. 349, 362 (1978). The only situations in which this immunity does not
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apply are when the judge’s actions are (1) nonjudicial; or (2) judicial in nature, but taken in
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the complete absence of jurisdiction. In this case, Nadolski dealt with Judge Pollack solely
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in his judicial capacities at the family court proceedings. It is unclear from the complaint what
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the nature of Judge Trentacosta’s actions were that caused Nadolski dissatisfaction, but the
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Court will assume that any dealings between Nadolski and Judge Trentacosta were solely
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judicial. Judicial immunity, therefore, bars Nadolski’s claims against Judge Pollack and
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Judge Trentacosta.
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D.
Second Amendment Claim
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Nadolski, in his prayer for relief, seeks a finding that the “Lautner” Amendment, which
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presumably means the Lautenberg Amendment, is unconstitutional.
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Amendment bans possession of firearms by individuals who have had a restraining order
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issued against them because of accusations of domestic violence. 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9).
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As a result of the TRO issued against Nadolski, officers forced him to surrender or sell his
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firearms, and Nadolski is unhappy with this. He has failed, however, to name a proper
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defendant for this claim, and instead he merely requests that the Court “[e]nter an order
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declaring the Lautner amendment unconstitutional and portions of California law 273.5. The
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The Lautenberg
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statues forcing the sale or confiscation of firearms without due process violates the 2nd
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amendment of the United States.” If Nadolski believes his Second Amendment rights have
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been violated, he must bring a proper claim against the proper defendant, rather than
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request a declaratory constitutional finding in his prayer for relief.
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IV.
Conclusion
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Nadolski’s complaint fails to state a claim against any of the listed Defendants for
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which relief may be granted. His claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 does not allege any violation
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of his constitutional rights by Defendants Winchester, Weathersby, Rothman, Asoera, Doe,
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Macchione, San Diego County, and the Department of Health and Human Services, and
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even if his complaint were amended to allege more specific facts, his claims would still be
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barred by the Rooker-Feldman Doctrine. Their motions to dismiss are therefore GRANTED
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and Nadolski’s claims against these Defendants are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE. The
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Superior Court of California is protected by Eleventh Amendment immunity and Judge
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Pollack and Judge Trentacosta are protected by judicial immunity. Their motions are also
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GRANTED and Nadolski’s claims against these Defendants are DISMISSED WITH
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PREJUDICE.
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATED: August 6, 2014
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HONORABLE LARRY ALAN BURNS
United States District Judge
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