Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-3_15-cv-02777/USCOURTS-cand-3_15-cv-02777-4/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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United States District Court

Northern District of California

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

JOEL DAVID KAUFMAN,

Plaintiff,

v.

M. E. SPEARMAN, et al.,

Defendants.

Case No.15-cv-02777-JD 

ORDER ON MOTIONS

Re: Dkt. Nos. 28, 30, 43

Plaintiff, a state prisoner, proceeds with a pro se civil rights complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 

1983. On January 7, 2016, the Court ordered service on plaintiff’s claims that he has many food 

allergies which are being ignored by defendants and he is not receiving sufficient food. No 

dispositive motion has been filed because both parties requested a settlement conference. The 

case was referred to settlement but did not settle. Plaintiff has filed several motions including a 

motion to file a supplemental complaint pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(d). The Court will review 

the supplemental complaint.

DISCUSSION

STANDARD OF REVIEW

Federal courts must engage in a preliminary screening of cases in which prisoners seek 

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

§ 1915A(a). In its review, the Court must identify any cognizable claims, and dismiss any claims 

which are frivolous, malicious, fail to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or seek 

monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. Id. at 1915A(b)(1),(2). Pro se 

pleadings must be liberally construed. Balistreri v. Pacifica Police Dep’t, 901 F.2d 696, 699 (9th 

Cir. 1990).

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Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2) requires only “a short and plain statement of the 

claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Although a complaint “does not need detailed 

factual allegations, . . . a plaintiff’s obligation to provide the ‘grounds’ of his ‘entitle[ment] to 

relief’ requires more than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of the elements of a 

cause of action will not do. . . . Factual allegations must be enough to raise a right to relief above 

the speculative level.” Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007) (citations 

omitted). A complaint must proffer “enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its 

face.” Id. at 570. The United States Supreme Court has explained the “plausible on its face” 

standard of Twombly: “While legal conclusions can provide the framework of a complaint, they 

must be supported by factual allegations. When there are well-pleaded factual allegations, a court 

should assume their veracity and then determine whether they plausibly give rise to an entitlement 

to relief.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 679 (2009). 

To state a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a plaintiff must allege that: (1) a right secured by 

the Constitution or laws of the United States was violated, and (2) the alleged deprivation was 

committed by a person acting under the color of state law. West v. Atkins, 487 U.S. 42, 48 (1988).

LEGAL CLAIMS

Kaufman alleges that he has severe food intolerances that defendants have not properly 

addressed and he has been subject to retaliation. Deliberate indifference to serious medical needs 

violates the Eighth Amendment’s proscription against cruel and unusual punishment. See Estelle 

v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 104 (1976); McGuckin v. Smith, 974 F.2d 1050, 1059 (9th Cir. 1992), 

overruled on other grounds, WMX Technologies, Inc. v. Miller, 104 F.3d 1133, 1136 (9th Cir. 

1997) (en banc). A determination of “deliberate indifference” involves an examination of two 

elements: the seriousness of the prisoner’s medical need and the nature of the defendant’s response 

to that need. See McGuckin, 974 F.2d at 1059. 

Adequate food is a basic human need protected by the Eighth Amendment. See Keenan v. 

Hall, 83 F.3d 1083, 1091 (9th Cir. 1996), amended, 135 F.3d 1318 (9th Cir. 1998). The Eighth 

Amendment right to food was clearly established as of at least 2001. Foster v. Runnels, 554 F.3d 

807, 815 (9th Cir. 2009). Denial of food service presents a sufficiently serious condition to meet 

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the objective prong of the Eighth Amendment deliberate indifference analysis. Id. at 812-13; see, 

e.g., id. at 812 (denial of 16 meals over 23 days was “a sufficiently serious deprivation because 

food is one of life's basic necessities”); id. at 812 n.1 (denial of 2 meals over 9-week period was 

not sufficiently serious to meet objective prong of Eighth Amendment deliberate indifference). 

The Eighth Amendment requires only that prisoners receive food that is adequate to maintain 

health; it need not be tasty or aesthetically pleasing. See Graves v. Arpaio, 623 F.3d 1043, 1050 

(9th Cir. 2010) (per curiam) (Eighth Amendment requires that pretrial detainees be given food that 

meets or exceeds the Department of Agriculture’s Dietary Guidelines).

“Within the prison context, a viable claim of First Amendment retaliation entails five basic 

elements: (1) An assertion that a state actor took some adverse action against an inmate (2) 

because of (3) that prisoner’s protected conduct, and that such action (4) chilled the inmate’s 

exercise of his First Amendment rights, and (5) the action did not reasonably advance a legitimate 

correctional goal.” Rhodes v. Robinson, 408 F.3d 559, 567-68 (9th Cir. 2005) (footnote omitted). 

Accord Pratt v. Rowland, 65 F.3d 802, 806 (9th Cir. 1995) (prisoner suing prison officials under § 

1983 for retaliation must allege that he was retaliated against for exercising his constitutional 

rights and that the retaliatory action did not advance legitimate penological goals, such as 

preserving institutional order and discipline); Barnett v. Centoni, 31 F.3d 813, 816 (9th Cir. 1994) 

(per curiam) (same).

Plaintiff states that on July 26, 2016, he suffered an extreme allergic reaction but was 

denied proper treatment. However, plaintiff has failed to identify any specific defendant and it is 

not clear if it involves the defendants in this case. Plaintiff also alleges that in retaliation for filing 

this complaint he has suffered retaliation in the form of being moved from cell to cell. He has 

again failed to identify the specific actions of any individual defendant or show that the adverse 

action was because of his protected conduct.

The supplemental complaint is dismissed, but plaintiff will be provided one opportunity to 

amend to cure the deficiencies noted above. Plaintiff should also include the allegations against 

the existing defendants if he files a new supplemental complaint. Defendants have also noted that 

the new claims are unexhausted. Plaintiff may wish to address this if he files a new supplemental 

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complaint. If the new claims are unexhausted and the Court permits them to continue, the 

defendants may file a motion for failure to exhaust which could delay reaching the merits of the 

current claims.

CONCLUSION

1. Plaintiff’s motion for leave to file a supplemental complaint (Docket No. 30) is 

GRANTED. The supplemental complaint is DISMISSED for the reasons discussed above. 

Plaintiff will be provided an opportunity to file an additional supplemental complaint within 

twenty-eight (28) days of the date this order is filed. Plaintiff must include in it all the claims he 

wishes to present. He may not incorporate material from the original complaint by reference. 

Failure to amend within the designated time will result in this case continuing on the prior 

complaint.

2. Plaintiff’s motion for a status update (Docket No. 28) is DENIED as moot. Plaintiff’s 

motion to terminate settlement talks (Docket No. 43) is DENIED as moot because this case is no 

longer on the settlement calendar.

3. It is the plaintiff’s responsibility to prosecute this case. Plaintiff must keep the 

Court informed of any change of address by filing a separate paper with the clerk headed “Notice 

of Change of Address,” and must comply with the Court’s orders in a timely fashion. Failure to 

do so may result in the dismissal of this action for failure to prosecute pursuant to Federal Rule of 

Civil Procedure 41(b).

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: November 18, 2016

JAMES DONATO

United States District Judge

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United States District Court

Northern District of California

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

JOEL DAVID KAUFMAN,

Plaintiff,

v.

M. E. SPEARMAN, et al.,

Defendants.

Case No. 15-cv-02777-JD 

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I, the undersigned, hereby certify that I am an employee in the Office of the Clerk, U.S. 

District Court, Northern District of California.

That on November 18, 2016, I SERVED a true and correct copy(ies) of the attached, by 

placing said copy(ies) in a postage paid envelope addressed to the person(s) hereinafter listed, by 

depositing said envelope in the U.S. Mail, or by placing said copy(ies) into an inter-office delivery 

receptacle located in the Clerk's office.

Joel David Kaufman

AT3133

P.O. Box 705

Soledad, CA 93960 

Dated: November 18, 2016

Susan Y. Soong

Clerk, United States District Court

By:________________________

LISA R. CLARK, Deputy Clerk to the 

Honorable JAMES DONATO

Case 3:15-cv-02777-JD Document 44 Filed 11/18/16 Page 5 of 5