Arpino v. Howell

Filing 6

ORDER DENYING Plaintiff's 5 Motion for an emergency injunctive order. Signed by Judge Miranda M. Du on 05/15/2013. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - KR)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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DISTRICT OF NEVADA

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***

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JOHN FRANCIS ARPINO,

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Case No. 3:13-cv-00213-MMD-WGC
Plaintiff,

ORDER

v.
SHARRON HOWELL, et al.,

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Defendants.

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Plaintiff has submitted a petition for an emergency injunctive order (dtk. No. 5). A

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court may issue a temporary restraining order when the moving party provides specific

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facts showing that immediate and irreparable injury, loss, or damage will result before

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the adverse party’s opposition to a motion for preliminary injunction can be heard. Fed.

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R. Civ. P. 65.

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Plaintiff is a prisoner at the Washoe County Detention Facility. He presents two

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requests. First, he wants access to a jail law library that contains legal references,

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statutes, case law, and federal codes, all written in plain text, to allow him to present a

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meaningful defense.

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Judicial District Court in State v. Arpino, CR13-0259.1 Plaintiff is represented by counsel

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in that action, and representation by counsel is sufficient to satisfy plaintiff’s right of

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The Court takes judicial notice of the docket of the Second

http://www.washoecourts.com/index.cfm?page=casedesc&case_id=cr13-0259
(last visited May 10, 2013).

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access to the courts. Storseth v. Spellman, 654 F.2d 1349, 1353 (9th Cir. 1981). To

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the extent that plaintiff is alleging that the lack of a law library prevents him from

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commencing other actions, not only has he failed to allege that he is in danger of

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suffering immediate and irreparable injury, he has failed to allege any actual injury at all.

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See Lewis v. Casey, 518 U.S. 343, 348-53 (1996).

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Second, plaintiff asks the Court to prohibit the Washoe County Sheriff’s

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Department from disciplining him by use of secret rules and without giving him notice of

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the charges and a hearing. Plaintiff has not alleged any facts indicating that he is in

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danger of suffering immediate and irreparable injury. The Due Process Clause of the

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Fourteenth Amendment guarantees prisoners certain minimum protections in

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disciplinary proceedings. See Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539, 563-70 (1974). If jail

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officials violate those protections, the Court is capable of providing an ordinary remedy.

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IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that plaintiff’s petition for an emergency injunctive
order (dkt. no. 5) is DENIED.

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DATED THIS 15th day of May 2013.

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MIRANDA M. DU
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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