Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_17-cv-00981/USCOURTS-caed-2_17-cv-00981-13/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 550
Nature of Suit: Prisoner - Civil Rights (U.S. defendant)
Cause of Action: 42:1983 Prisoner Civil Rights

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

JAMES BOWELL,

Plaintiff,

v.

CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF 

CORRECTIONS, et al.,

Defendants.

No. 2:17-cv-0981 KJM KJN P

ORDER

Plaintiff is a state prisoner, proceeding pro se, in an action brought under 42 U.S.C. 

§ 1983. This action proceeds on plaintiff’s claims that defendants Lewis and Allison, both 

employed in Sacramento, violated plaintiff’s constitutional rights based on forced TB skin tests. 

(See ECF No. 17 at 2.) On February 24, 2020, plaintiff filed a document entitled, “Motion 

Seeking an Emergency Order,” subtitled “Prima Facie Showing Gross Negligent Medical 

Malpractice.” (ECF No. 70.) Plaintiff recounts various doctors’ statements and alleged negligent 

treatment from Lancaster State Prison, “Tri City San Diego,” Bakersfield, and San Diego, 

California. (ECF No. 70 at 1-2.) Plaintiff asks the court to order prison doctors Pollard and 

Barenchi “to hire an outside new doctor not affiliated” with any of the doctors identified in 

plaintiff’s motion “to defuse the medical malpractice complaint.” (ECF No. 70 at 2.)

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Case 2:17-cv-00981-KJM-KJN Document 71 Filed 03/03/20 Page 1 of 2
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Plaintiff has previously been informed that medical malpractice and negligence are 

insufficient to state an Eighth Amendment violation. (ECF No. 7 at 3-5.) Moreover, none of the 

doctors identified in plaintiff’s motion are named defendants in this action, and the alleged 

violations are not related to his underlying claim concerning forced TB tests at issue herein.1 In 

addition, plaintiff is presently housed at RJ Donovan State Prison in San Diego, California. If 

plaintiff has issues with his medical care while housed at RJ Donovan, he must pursue his 

remedies in the appropriate court in San Diego. Plaintiff’s motion is wholly unrelated to his 

claims in the instant action, and the undersigned has no personal jurisdiction over any of the 

doctors named in his motion. See Murphy Bros., Inc. v. Michetti Pipe Stringing, Inc., 526 U.S. 

344, 350 (1999) (noting that one “becomes a party officially, and is required to take action in that 

capacity, only upon service of summons or other authority-asserting measure stating the time 

within which the party served must appear to defend.”). 

For all of the above reasons, plaintiff’s motion is denied without prejudice to plaintiff 

raising such claims in the proper forum. 

Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiff’s motion (ECF No. 70) is denied 

without prejudice.

Dated: March 3, 2020

/bowe0981.den

1

 A plaintiff may properly assert multiple claims against a single defendant. Fed. Rule Civ. P. 

18. Also, a plaintiff may join multiple defendants in one action where “any right to relief is 

asserted against them jointly, severally, or in the alternative with respect to or arising out of the 

same transaction, occurrence, or series of transactions and occurrences” and “any question of law 

or fact common to all defendants will arise in the action.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 20(a)(2). Unrelated 

claims against different defendants must be pursued in separate lawsuits. See George v. Smith, 

507 F.3d 605, 607 (7th Cir. 2007). This rule is intended “not only to prevent the sort of morass [a 

multiple claim, multiple defendant] suit produce[s], but also to ensure that prisoners pay the 

required filing fees -- for the Prison Litigation Reform Act limits to 3 the number of frivolous 

suits or appeals that any prisoner may file without prepayment of the required fees. 28 U.S.C. 

§ 1915(g).” George, 507 F.3d at 607.

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