Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-1_16-cv-01697/USCOURTS-caed-1_16-cv-01697-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 440
Nature of Suit: Other Civil Rights
Cause of Action: 42:1983 Civil Rights Act

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

The County of Kern seeks to strike three paragraphs related to allegations of deaths of inmates 

occurring in jails across the country and the stated “purpose” of the litigation. (Doc. 8 at 3-4) 

The Court has reviewed the arguments of the parties and finds the matter suitable for decision 

without oral argument. Accordingly, pursuant to Local Rule 230(g), the motion is taken under 

submission and the hearing set for January 10, 2017 is VACATED.

I. Background

In this action, the plaintiffs contend that their father, Curt Tidwell, died while in the custody of 

the County of Kern. (Doc. 1 at 2) They assert that after Mr. Tidwell was arrested, he was booked into 

the County-operated jail. Id. From that point until his death, the plaintiffs allege that Mr. Tidwell 

complained of extreme pain and requested medical attention but received no effective care. Id. at 2, 5. 

The plaintiffs assert that their father died while in County custody as a result of a “non-traumatic 

perforated duodenal ulcer.” Id. at 5. They claim that had he been given proper medical care, he would 

ELIZABETH TIDWELL, et al.,

 Plaintiffs,

v.

COUNTY OF KERN,

Defendant.

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Case No.: 1:16-cv-01697 JLT

ORDER VACATING THE HEARING DATE OF 

JANUARY 10, 2017

ORDER GRANTING IN PART DEFENDANT’S

MOTION TO STRIKE 

(Doc. 8)

Case 1:16-cv-01697-JLT Document 12 Filed 01/05/17 Page 1 of 5
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not have died.

II. Legal Standards

Pursuant to Rule 12(f), a district court “may strike from a pleading . . . any redundant, 

immaterial, impertinent, or scandalous matter.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(f). A “redundant” matter is 

comprised “of allegations that constitute a needless repetition of other averments or which are foreign 

to the issue to be denied.” Wilkerson v. Butler, 229 F.R.D. 166, 170 (E.D. Cal. 2005). An immaterial 

matter “has no essential or important relationship to the claim for relief or the defenses being pleaded,” 

while an “[i]mpertinent matter consists of statements that do not pertain, and are not necessary, to the 

issues in question.” Fantasy, Inc. v. Fogerty, 984 F.2d 1524, 1527 (9th Cir. 1993), rev’d on other 

grounds (quoting 5 Charles A. Wright & Arthur R. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 1382, at 

706-07, 711 (1990)). To evaluate whether material should be stricken as impertinent and immaterial, 

the Court must consider whether there is “no evidence in support of the allegation would be 

admissible.’” Barcher v. New York Univ. School of Law, 993 F.Supp. 177, 181 (S.D.N.Y.1998), aff'd, 

172 F.3d 37 (2d Cir.1999), quoting Lipsky v. Commonwealth United Corp., 551 F.2d 887, 893 (2d 

Cir.1976). 

The purpose of a Rule 12(f) motion “is to avoid the expenditure of time and money that must 

arise from litigating spurious issues by dispensing with those issues prior to trial.” Sidney-Vinstein v. 

A.H. Robins Co., 697 F.2d 880, 885 (9th Cir. 1983). Generally, motions to strike affirmative defenses 

“are disfavored and infrequently granted.” Neveau v. City of Fresno, 392 F. Supp. 2d 1159, 1170 (E.D. 

Cal. 2005).

III. Discussion and Analysis

The allegations at issue read,

1. The Huffington Post recently compiled a database of the people who have died in 

jails in the United States since the tragic death of Sandra Bland on July 13, 2015, until 

July 13, 2016. According to their database, 815 people have died in United States jails 

in that time period (https://data.huffingtonpost.com/2016/jail-deaths ).

2. One-hundred and twenty-eight people have died in jails in California during that 

same period of time, which is the largest number of any state in the United States. Of 

the 128 documented deaths in California jails, 10 have occurred in facilities operated by 

the County of Kern and the Kern County Sheriffs Office. This represents around 1.2 

percent of all such deaths in the nation, and around 7.8 percent of all such deaths in 

California.

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[¶]

4. This lawsuit targets the epidemic of growing jail deaths in the County of Kern, and 

aims to uncover the underlying policies and practices that allow these deaths to occur at 

such an alarming rate. Accordingly, this case is in the public interest.

(Doc. 1 at 2)

The defendant argues these paragraphs are intended to “inflame the public and interfere with 

County’s ability to seat an impartial and unbiased jury and get a fair trial on the merits. At this stage of 

the case, this language serves no meaningful purpose.” (Doc. 8 at 3) The County summarizes by 

asserting that “The unsupported language in the Complaint which is proposed to be stricken adds 

nothing to the case, does not change or enhance any cause of action, and provides no redeeming 

benefit to the Complaint.” Id. On the basis that the paragraphs are “redundant, immaterial, 

impertinent, unduly prejudicial and not relevant,” the County seeks to have these paragraphs stricken. 

Id.

The plaintiffs assert that the paragraph provide context for the litigation and demonstrate an 

epidemic of jail deaths nationally and locally. (Doc. 10 at 2) Nevertheless, they admit, “the impact of 

these introductory paragraphs on the long-term trajectory of this litigation is surely minimal.” Id. 

Nevertheless, the plaintiffs argue the language bears on the claims against the municipality. (Doc. 10 

at 3) 

The parties have stated and are well aware of the standards in determining a motion to strike. 

The Court finds that the arguments relate to whether the matter is “impertinent and immaterial” to be 

most on point.1 

In considering the first paragraph at issue, there is no indication that these statistics compiled by 

The Huffington Post bear on any issue raised in this case. If the plaintiffs prove there are a 

disproportionate number of people who die in jails across the country2, this will not advance a 

 

1 The Court does not agree that striking any of these paragraphs would prevent the plaintiffs from issuing press releases 

that may taint the jury pool. However, the parties are cautioned against taking action that could cause this. If the jury pool 

is tainted, the Court may be forced to move the trial to Fresno or Sacramento despite the cost and inconvenience that this 

would impose on them. 

2 The Court does not read the complaint so narrowly as to conclude that because Mr. Tidwell was being returned to the jail 

at the time of his death that information as to other custodial deaths that occurred within the jailhouse proper is, by 

necessity, factually dissimilar. 

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determination that any of the defendants acted improperly in this case. Notably, though the plaintiffs 

assert that all of the disputed paragraphs bear on municipal liability, the paragraph is not tied to a 

Monell claim. Indeed, the paragraph does not even intimate that any of the deaths relate to any policy 

or custom maintained by the Count of Kern. Thus, the Court is convinced that the allegations made in 

paragraph one have no bearing on the issues presented in this litigation and are STRICKEN.

The Court’s analysis as to paragraph number two is similar. What has occurred in other jails in 

the state has no bearing on the customs and policies of the County of Kern. Likewise, the fact that 

other people have died in facilities not controlled by the County of Kern—even in circumstances that 

were unconstitutional or that bear a similarity to those alleged here—cannot demonstrate that the 

defendant acted wrongfully in this instance. For the same reason, the number of deaths in County’s 

jails compared to the total number of jail deaths in California would tell a jury nothing about whether 

the plaintiffs’ or their decedent suffered unconstitutional treatment.

On the other hand, the paragraph also includes statistics related to particular deaths that 

occurred in jails operated by Kern County during the recent past. The Court cannot say that there is no 

possibility that this information will not be admitted into evidence given there is a facial relationship to 

the Monell claim. Thus, the paragraph is STRICKEN except for the second sentence.

Finally, paragraph four seems to be aspirational only. It concludes that this is a case of “public 

interest” but otherwise outlines only what the plaintiffs hope to prove. This paragraph does not comply 

with Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2) which requires a “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the 

pleader is entitled to relief.”3 Thus, paragraph 4 is STRICKEN.

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3 Likewise, though the Court encourages and welcomes well-written, concise and interesting briefs that provide context “in 

the best tradition of the Brandeis brief,” Rule 8(a) requires a shorter and plainer statement from a party pleading his or her 

case.

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ORDER

Based upon the foregoing, the Court ORDERS:

1. The motion to strike is GRANTED in PART. Paragraphs one and four are 

STRICKEN and the entirety of paragraph two except for the second sentence is STRICKEN. As to 

the second sentence of paragraph two, the motion is DENIED.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: January 5, 2017 /s/ Jennifer L. Thurston 

UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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