Bryant v. King County Correctional Facility

Filing 6

ORDER DECLINING TO SERVE AND GRANTING LEAVE TO AMEND by Hon. Mary Alice Theiler. (Attachments: # 1 Amended 1983 Prisoner Civil Rights Complaint form)**10 PAGE(S), PRINT ALL**(Mickey Bryant, Prisoner ID: 754329)(ST)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON
AT SEATTLE

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MICKEY ALONZO BRYANT,
Plaintiff,

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CASE NO. C17-1153-JLR-MAT

v.
KING COUNTY CORRECTIONAL
FACILITY,

ORDER DECLINING TO SERVE AND
GRANTING LEAVE TO AMEND

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Defendant.
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Plaintiff, proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis, submitted a proposed 42 U.S.C. §

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1983 civil rights complaint. (Dkt. 1.) Plaintiff is currently incarcerated at Washington State

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Penitentiary. He alleges he was denied medication for two months while housed at King County

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Correctional Facility (KCCF) and names KCCF as the defendant in this lawsuit.

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In order to sustain a § 1983 claim, plaintiff must show (1) that he suffered a violation of

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rights protected by the Constitution or created by federal statute, and (2) that the violation was

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proximately caused by a person acting under color of state or federal law. West v. Atkins, 487

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U.S. 42, 48 (1988); Crumpton v. Gates, 947 F.2d 1418, 1420 (9th Cir. 1991). Plaintiff must

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provide more than conclusory allegations; he must set forth specific, plausible facts to support

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his claims. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678-83 (2009).

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Having reviewed the proposed complaint, the Court notes the following deficiencies:

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(1)

KCCF is an entity of King County and is not a proper defendant in this action.

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See Nolan v. Snohomish County, 59 Wn. App. 876, 883, 802 P.2d 792 (1990) (“[I]n a legal

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action involving a county, the county itself is the only legal entity capable of suing and being

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sued.”)1 Plaintiff, as such, fails to identify a defendant subject to suit.

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Plaintiff is advised that, to name an individual defendant, he must allege facts showing

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how individually named defendants caused or personally participated in causing the harm alleged

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in the complaint. Arnold v. IBM, 637 F.2d 1350, 1355 (9th Cir. 1981). Supervisory personnel

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may not be held liable for actions of subordinates under a theory of vicarious liability. Taylor v.

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List, 880 F.2d 1040, 1045 (9th Cir. 1989). “A supervisor may be liable only if (1) he or she is

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personally involved in the constitutional deprivation, or (2) there is ‘a sufficient causal

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connection between the supervisor’s wrongful conduct and the constitutional violation.’” Snow

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v. McDaniel, 681 F.3d 978, 989 (9th Cir. 2012) (quoting Hansen v. Black, 885 F.2d 642, 646

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(9th Cir. 1989)), overruled in part on other grounds by Peralta v. Dillard, 744 F.3d 1076, 1083

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(9th Cir. 2014).

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A defendant must be clearly identified in the caption of the complaint and as a party to

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the complaint, and the statement of the claim must include facts setting forth how each defendant

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violated plaintiff’s constitutional rights. This matter may proceed only if plaintiff identifies a

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defendant subject to suit and sets forth facts supporting the statement of a claim against that

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A municipality or local government unit, like King County, can be sued as a “person” under §
1983. Monell v. Department of Social Servs., 436 U.S. 658, 691-94 (1978); Miranda v. Clark County,
Nev., 319 F.3d 465, 469 (9th Cir. 2003). However, a municipality or local governmental unit cannot be
held liable under § 1983 solely because it employs a tortfeasor. Monell, 436 U.S. at 691. A plaintiff
seeking to impose liability on a municipality or local governmental unit under § 1983 must identify
municipal or county “policy” or “custom” that caused his or her injury. Bd. of the Cnty. Comm’rs of
Bryant Cnty. v. Brown, 520 U.S. 397, 403 (1997).

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defendant.

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(2)

Plaintiff avers he was denied medication he needed. He may be alleging a

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violation of his Eight Amendment rights. However, to maintain an unconstitutional punishment

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claim based on medical treatment, “an inmate must show ‘deliberate indifference to serious

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medical needs.’” Jett v. Penner, 439 F.3d 1091, 1096 (9th Cir. 2006) (quoting Estelle v. Gamble,

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429 U.S. 97, 106 (1976)). A prison official may be deemed to have been deliberately indifferent

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to serious medical needs “when they deny, delay, or intentionally interfere with medical

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treatment.” Hallett v. Morgan, 296 F.3d 732, 744 (9th Cir. 2002) (sources and internal quotation

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marks omitted). A prison official may be held liable “only if he knows that inmates face a

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substantial risk of serious harm and disregards that risk by failing to take reasonable measures to

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abate it.” Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 847 (1994). A “defendant must purposefully ignore

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or fail to respond to a prisoner’s pain or possible medical need in order for deliberate

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indifference to be established.” McGuckin v. Smith, 974 F.2d 1050, 1060 (9th Cir. 1992),

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overruled on other grounds by WMX Techs., Inc. v. Miller, 104 F.3d 1133 (9th Cir. 1997). The

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defendant “must not only ‘be aware of facts from which the inference could be drawn that a

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substantial risk of serious harm exists,’ but that person ‘must also draw the inference.’” Toguchi

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v. Chung, 391 F.3d 1051, 1057 (9th Cir. 2004) (quoting Farmer, 511 U.S. at 837). “A medical

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need is serious when the failure to treat it could result in significant injury or the unnecessary and

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wanton infliction of pain.” Mendiola-Martinez v. Arpaio, 836 F.3d 1239 (9th Cir. 2016) (citing

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Jett v. Penner, 439 F.3d 1091, 1096 (9th Cir. 2006)).

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The indifference to medical needs must be substantial; a constitutional violation is not

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established by negligence or “an inadvertent failure to provide adequate medical care[.]” Estelle,

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429 U.S. at 105-06; Anthony v. Dowdle, 853 F.2d 741, 743 (9th Cir. 1988). Nor does a

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difference of opinion between an inmate and medical authorities regarding proper medical

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treatment give rise to a § 1983 claim. Franklin v. Oregon, State Welfare Div., 662 F.2d 1337,

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1344 (9th Cir. 1981). See also Estelle, 529 U.S. at 106 (“Medical malpractice does not become a

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constitutional violation merely because the victim is a prisoner.”) A mere delay of treatment,

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standing alone, does not suffice to state a claim of deliberate indifference; the inmate must show

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the delay led to further injury. Shapley v. Nevada Bd. of State Prison Comm’rs, 766 F.2d 404,

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407 (9th Cir. 1985) (citing Estelle, 429 U.S. at 106). Accord Hallett, 296 F.3d at 745-46;

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McGuckin, 974 F.2d at 1059-60.
Plaintiff’s proposed complaint does not set forth a claim rising to the level of an Eighth

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Amendment violation.

If plaintiff cannot set forth facts supporting a claim of deliberate

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indifference to his serious medical needs, he may not proceed with a § 1983 claim based on

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medical treatment.

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(3)

Because of the deficiencies described above, the Court declines to serve the

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complaint or to direct that an answer be filed. However, plaintiff is granted leave to amend his

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complaint, if possible, to correct the identified deficiencies. Within thirty (30) days from the

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date of this Order, plaintiff may submit an amended complaint that corrects the deficiencies

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outlined above. The amended complaint must be filed under the same case number as this one,

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and will operate as a complete substitute for, rather than a mere supplement to, the present

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complaint. See Ferdik v. Bonzelet, 963 F.2d 1258, 1262 (9th Cir. 1992). If no amended

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complaint is timely filed, or if plaintiff files an amended complaint that fails to correct the

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deficiencies identified above, the Court may recommend that this matter be dismissed.

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ORDER
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(4)

The Clerk is directed to send to plaintiff a copy of this Order and a blank copy of

a civil rights complaint form, and to send a copy of this Order to the Honorable James L. Robart.
DATED this 7th day of September, 2017.

A

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Mary Alice Theiler
United States Magistrate Judge

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ORDER
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