Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-azd-2_09-cv-02411/USCOURTS-azd-2_09-cv-02411-0/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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WO KM

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

Steven Dale Howard, 

Plaintiff, 

vs.

Mesa Police Special Felon Unit, et al., 

Defendants. 

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No. CV 09-2411-PHX-MHM (ECV)

ORDER

Plaintiff Steven Dale Howard, who is confined in the Maricopa County Fourth

Avenue Jail, has filed a pro se civil rights Complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and an

Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis. The Court will dismiss the action.

I. Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis and Filing Fee

Plaintiff’s Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis will be granted. 28 U.S.C.

§ 1915(a). Plaintiff must pay the statutory filing fee of $350.00. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1).

The Court will assess an initial partial filing fee of $1.20. The remainder of the fee will be

collected monthly in payments of 20% of the previous month’s income each time the amount

in the account exceeds $10.00. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2). The Court will enter a separate

Order requiring the appropriate government agency to collect and forward the fees according

to the statutory formula. 

Case 2:09-cv-02411-MHM--ECV Document 4 Filed 12/23/09 Page 1 of 4
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II. Statutory Screening of Prisoner Complaints

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

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

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

claims that 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). 

A pleading must contain a “short and plain statement of the claim showing that the

pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2) (emphasis added). While Rule 8 does not

demand detailed factual allegations, “it demands more than an unadorned, the-defendantunlawfully-harmed-me accusation.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 129 S. Ct. 1937, 1949 (2009).

“Threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory

statements, do not suffice.” Id.

“[A] complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a

claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’” Id. (quoting Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly,

550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)). A claim is plausible “when the plaintiff pleads factual content

that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the

misconduct alleged.” Id. “Determining whether a complaint states a plausible claim for

relief [is] . . . a context-specific task that requires the reviewing court to draw on its judicial

experience and common sense.” Id. at 1950. Thus, although a plaintiff’s specific factual

allegations may be consistent with a constitutional claim, a court must assess whether there

are other “more likely explanations” for a defendant’s conduct. Id. at 1951.

If the Court determines that a pleading could be cured by the allegation of other facts,

a pro se litigant is entitled to an opportunity to amend a complaint before dismissal of the

action. See Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 1127-29 (9th Cir. 2000) (en banc). The Court

should not, however, advise the litigant how to cure the defects. This type of advice “would

undermine district judges’ role as impartial decisionmakers.” Pliler v. Ford, 542 U.S. 225,

231 (2004); see also Lopez, 203 F.3d at 1131 n.13 (declining to decide whether the court was

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required to inform a litigant of deficiencies). Plaintiff’s Complaint will be dismissed for

failure to state a claim, without leave to amend because the defects cannot be corrected.

III. Complaint

Plaintiff sues the Mesa Police Special Felon Unit, Unknown Owner, Unknown

Manager, and Unknown Maintenance Man.

Plaintiff raises one ground for relief in which he claims that his Eighth and Fourteenth

Amendment rights were violated when Mesa Police Officers arrived at his apartment

complex to arrest him. Plaintiff states that the Officers told the apartment

“manager/owner/maintenance man” that Plaintiff had a “hit” on him from several gangs.

Plaintiff appears to also claim that the “manager/owner/maintenance man” went to Plaintiff’s

apartment, asked if Plaintiff had a leak, and then returned to the Officers and informed them

that Plaintiff was home. Plaintiff claims that the Special Felon Unit then “rushed” his

apartment with guns and told his girlfriend that she was harboring a fugitive. Plaintiff claims

that he suffered mental anguish from the “slander/libel defamation.”

Plaintiff seeks money damages.

IV. Complaint Duplicative of Previously Filed Action

The claims alleged by Plaintiff in this matter are based on the same facts Plaintiff

alleged in CV 09-2296-PHX-MHM (ECV), which is currently pending before the Court. 

An in forma pauperis complaint that merely repeats pending or previously litigated

claims may be considered abusive and dismissed under the authority of 28 U.S.C.

§ 1915(e)(2)(B)(i). Cato v. United States, 70 F.3d 1103, 1105 n.2 (9th Cir. 1995); Bailey v.

Johnson, 846 F.2d 1019, 1021 (5th Cir. 1988). An in forma pauperis complaint repeating

the same factual allegations asserted in an earlier case, even if now filed against new

defendant, is subject to dismissal as duplicative and frivolous. See Bailey, 846 F.2d at 1021;

see also Van Meter v. Morgan, 518 F.2d 366, 368 (8th Cir. 1975). 

Accordingly, Plaintiff’s Complaint will be dismissed as duplicative of CV 09-2296-

PHX-MHM (ECV) pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(i).

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IT IS ORDERED: 

(1) Plaintiff’s Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis (Doc. #3) is granted.

(2) As required by the accompanying Order to the appropriate government agency,

Plaintiff must pay the $350.00 filing fee and is assessed an initial partial filing fee of $1.20.

(3) The Complaint (Doc. #1) is dismissed as frivolous pursuant to 28 U.S.C.

§ 1915A(b)(1) and 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(i), and the Clerk of Court must enter judgment

accordingly.

(4) The Clerk of Court must make an entry on the docket stating that the dismissal

may count as a “strike” under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g).

DATED this 15th day of December, 2009.

Case 2:09-cv-02411-MHM--ECV Document 4 Filed 12/23/09 Page 4 of 4