Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-azd-2_05-cv-03500/USCOURTS-azd-2_05-cv-03500-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 555
Nature of Suit: Prisoner - Prison Condition
Cause of Action: 42:1983 Prisoner Civil Rights

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Many inmates apparently believe that they will receive an immediate payout from

a fund established in Hart v. Hill, No. CV 77-0479-PHX-EHC (MS) (D. Ariz.). No such fund

exists. The inmat es in Hart asked for injunctive relief and not monetary damages. The

Court at this time expresses no opinion whether Plaintiff’s lawsuit may result in an award

of damages. 

TERMPSREF

JDN

WO

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

Gilbert Martinez, 

Plaintiff, 

vs.

Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, et al., 

Defendants. 

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No. CV 05-3500-PHX-DGC (DKD)

ORDER

This is one of more than one thousand civil rights actions filed since September

2004 by Maricopa County Jail inmates.1

 Plaintiff is an inmate at the Lower Buckeye Jail in

Phoenix, Arizona. The Court will require an answer to the Complaint.

A. Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis & Filing Fee

Plaintiff’s request to proceed in forma pauperis will be granted. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a).

Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1), Plaintiff is required to pay the st at ut ory filing fee of

$250.00 for this action. No initial partial filing fee will be assessed by this Order. 28 U.S.C.

§ 1915(b)(1). 

Plaintiff will be obligated for monthly payments of 20 percent of the preceding

month’s income credited to Plaintiff’s trust account. The Court will direct the appropriate

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agency to collect t hese monthly payments, which will be forwarded to the Clerk of Court

each time the amount in Plaint iff’s account exceeds $10.00, until the filing fee is paid in full.

28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2).

Plaintiff should take notice that if he is released before the filing fee is paid in full,

he must pay the remaining unp aid amount of the filing fee within 120 days of the date of

his release. If Plaintiff fails to pay the remainder of the filing fee within 120 days of the date

of his release, the action will be dismissed, unless Plaint iff shows good cause, in writing,

why he is unable to pay the remainder of the filing fee.

B. Statutory Screening of Prisoner Complaints

The Court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief

against a governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity. 28 U.S.C.

§ 1915A(a). The Court must dismiss a complaint or portion thereof if the Plaint iff has raised

claims t hat are legally “frivolous or malicious,” that fail to state a claim upon which relief

may be granted, or that seek monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such

relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1), (2). 

C. Claims and/or Parties to be Served and/or Dismissed

1. Service

In his Complaint Plaintiff alleges that the jail is severely overcrowded, and the living

conditions are unsanitary. These allegations adequately state a claim, and the Court will

require Defendant Arpaio to answer to the Complaint.

2. Dismissal

a. Improper Defendant

T he M aricopa County Sheriff’s Office is not a proper Defendant. In Arizona, t he

resp onsibility of operating jails and caring for prisoners is placed by law upon the sheriff.

See A.R.S. § 11-441(A)(5); A.R.S. § 31-101. A sheriff’s office is simply an administrative

creation of the county sheriff to allow him to carry out his statutory duties, and not a

“person” amenable to suit pursuant to § 1983. Accordingly, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s

Office will be dismissed from this action as an improper Defendant. 

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b. Retaliation 

To state a valid constitutional claim, a p laintiff must allege that he suffered specific

injury as a result of the specific conduct of a defendant, and show an affirmative link

between the injury and the conduct of the defendant. Rizzo v. Goode, 423 U.S. 362, 371-72,

377 (1976). For a person to liable in his official capacity, Plaintiff must allege that he act ed

as a result of a policy, practice, or cust om. See Cortez v. County of Los Angeles, 294 F.3d

1186, 1188 (9th Cir. 2001). A supervisor, in his individual cap acit y, “is only liable for

constitutional violations of his subordinates if the supervisor participated in or directed

the violations, or knew of the violations and failed to act to prevent them.” Taylor v. List,

880 F.2d 1040, 1045 (9th Cir. 1989). “ A plaintiff must allege facts, not simply conclusions,

that show that an individual was personally involved in t he deprivation of his civil rights.”

Barren v. Harrington, 152 F.3d 1193, 1194 (9th Cir. 1998).

In Count II, Plaintiff alleges that a "detention officer" threatened and intimidated

Plaintiff and other inmates after they requested grievance forms. However, Plaintiff does

not establish that the action of the detention officer was the result of a policy which

Defendant Arpaio enacted and enforced. Furt her, Plaintiff does not demonstrate that

Defendant Arpaio was directly involved with, or even aware of, the alleged constitutional

violation. Because Plaintiff only names Defendant Arpaio, this Count will be dismissed

without prejudice.

D. Rule 41 Cautionary Notice

Plaintiff should take notice that if he fails to timely comply wit h every provision of

this Order, or any order entered in this matter, this action will be dismissed pursuant to

Rule 41(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. See Ferdik v. Bonzelet, 963 F.2d 1258,

1260-61 (9th Cir. 1992) (district court may dismiss action for failure to comply with any

order of the Court).

IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that: 

(1) Plaintiff’s Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis is grant ed. Plaintiff is

obligated to pay the statutory filing fee of $250.00 for this action.

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(2) The Maricopa County Sheriff or his designee shall collect the filing fee from

Plaintiff’s trust account by collect ing monthly payments in an amount equal to 20 percent

of the preceding month’s income credited to Plaintiff’s trust account and forwarding the

p ayments to the Clerk of the Court each time the amount in the account exceeds $10.00 in

accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2). The payments shall be clearly identified by the

name and number assigned to this action.

(3) The following Defendant s are dismissed without prejudice: Maricopa County

Sheriff's Office.

(4) The Clerk of Court shall send Plaint iff a service packet including the Complaint,

this Order, and both summons and request for waiver forms for Defendant Joseph Arpaio.

(5) Plaintiff shall complete and return the service packet to the Clerk of Court within

20 days of t he date of filing of this Order. The United States Marshal will not provide

service of process if Plaintiff fails to comply with this Order.

(6) If Plaintiff does not either obtain a waiver of service of the summons or complete

service of the Summons and Complaint on each Defendant within 120 days of the filing of

the complaint or within 60 days of the filing of this Order, whichever is lat er, the action may

be dismissed as to each Defendant not served pursuant t o Rule 4(m) of the Federal Rules

of Civil Procedure and Rule 16.2(b)(2)(B)(i) of the Local Rules of Civil Procedure.

(7) The United States Marshal shall retain the Summons, a copy of the Complaint,

and a copy of this Order for future use.

(8) The United States Marshal shall notify Defendant of the commencement of this

action and request waiver of service of the summons pursuant to Rule 4(d) of t he Federal

Rules of Civil Procedure. The notice to Defendant shall include a copy of this Order. The

Marshal shall file waivers of service of the summons or request s for waivers that were

returned as undeliverable as soon as they are received. If a waiver of service of summons

is not returned by a Defendant within thirty days from the date the request for waiver was

sent by the Marshal, the Marshal shall:

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(a) Personally serve copies of the Summons, Complaint, and this Order upon

the Defendant pursuant to Rule 4(e)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure;

(b) Within 10 days after personal service is effected, file the return of service

for the Defendant, along with evidence of the at t emp t t o secure a waiver of service

of the summons and of the costs subsequently incurred in effecting service upon

the Defendant. The cost s of service shall be enumerated on the return of service

form (USM-285) and shall include the costs incurred by the Marshal for

p hotocopying additional copies of the Summons, Complaint, or this Order and for

preparing new process receipt and return forms (USM-285), if required. Costs of

service will be taxed against the personally served defendant pursuant to Rule

4(d)(2) and (5) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, unless otherwise ordered by

the Court.

(9) A Defendant who agrees to waive service of the Summons and Complaint shall

return the signed waiver forms to the United States Marshal, not the Plaintiff.

(10) Defendant shall answer the Complaint or otherwise resp ond by appropriate

motion within t he t ime provided by the applicable provisions of Rule 12(a) of the Federal

Rules of Civil Procedure.

(11) Any answer or responsive pleading shall state the specific Defendant(s) by

name on whose behalf it is filed. The Court may strike any answer, responsive pleading,

or other motion or paper that does not identify the specific Defendant(s) by name on

whose behalf it is filed.

(12) Plaintiff shall serve upon Defendant, or if appearance has been entered by

counsel, upon counsel, a copy of every further pleading or other document submitted for

consideration by the Court. Plaintiff shall include with the original document and copy, to

be filed wit h t he Clerk of the Court, a certificate stating the date a true and correct copy of

the pleading or document was mailed to Defendant or counsel. Any paper received by a

District Court Judge or Magistrate Judge which has not been filed with the Clerk of Court

may be disregarded by the Court.

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(13) At all t imes during the pendency of this action, Plaintiff shall immediately advise

the Court and the United States Marshal of any change of address and its effective date.

Such notice shall be captioned “NOTICE OF CHANGE OF ADDRESS.” The notice shall

contain only information pertaining to the change of address and its effective date.

Plaintiff shall serve a copy of the notice on all opposing parties. The notice shall not

include any motions for any other relief. Failure to file a Notice of Change of Address may

result in the dismissal of the action for failure to prosecut e p ursuant to Rule 41(b) of the

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. 

(14) A clear, legible copy of every pleading or other document filed shall

accompany each original pleading or other document filed wit h t he Clerk for use by the

District Judge or Magistrate Judge to whom the case is assigned. Failure to comp ly wit h

this requirement may result in the pleading or document being stricken without further

notice to Plaintiff. 

(15) This matter is referred to Magistrate Judge David K. Duncan pursuant to Rule

72.1 and 72.2 of the Local Rules of Civil Procedure for further proceedings.

DATED this 9th day of November, 2005.

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