Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_13-cv-00505/USCOURTS-caed-2_13-cv-00505-7/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

JOSEPH WHITAKER,

Plaintiff,

v.

CRANE, et al.,

Defendants.

No. 2:13-cv-00505 KJM DAD P

ORDER

Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding pro se with an action filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 

§ 1983. Plaintiff has submitted a declaration that makes the showing required by 28 U.S.C. 

§ 1915(a). Accordingly, the request to proceed in forma pauperis will be granted. 

Plaintiff is required to pay the statutory filing fee of $350.00 for this action. 28 U.S.C. 

§§ 1914(a), 1915(b)(1). By this order, plaintiff will be assessed an initial partial filing fee in 

accordance with the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1). By separate order, the court will direct 

the appropriate agency to collect the initial partial filing fee from plaintiff’s trust account and 

forward it to the Clerk of the Court. Thereafter, plaintiff will be obligated for monthly payments 

of twenty percent of the preceding month’s income credited to plaintiff’s prison trust account. 

These payments will be forwarded by the appropriate agency to the Clerk of the Court each time 

the amount in plaintiff’s account exceeds $10.00, until the filing fee is paid in full. 28 U.S.C. 

§ 1915(b)(2).

Case 2:13-cv-00505-KJM-CKD Document 35 Filed 09/23/15 Page 1 of 4
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On September 8, 2015, plaintiff filed a motion for leave to file a fourth amended 

complaint in this action. (ECF No. 34.) The court notes that plaintiff’s Third Amended 

Complaint, filed December 17, 2014, cured none of the deficiencies identified in plaintiff’s 

previous three complaints. Each of the complaints filed in this action by plaintiff “fails to 

articulate an actionable claim for relief against any defendant.” (Order, August 24, 2014 (ECF 

No. 23) at 3.)

Plaintiff’s motion for leave to amend will be granted. However, this will be plaintiff’s 

final opportunity to file a complaint stating a cognizable claim in this action. Plaintiff is 

cautioned that the court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief 

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

§ 1915A(a). The court must dismiss a complaint or portion thereof if the prisoner 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. See 28 

U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1) & (2).

A claim is legally frivolous when it lacks an arguable basis either in law or in fact. 

Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 325 (1989); Franklin v. Murphy, 745 F.2d 1221, 1227-28 (9th 

Cir. 1984). The court may, therefore, dismiss a claim as frivolous where it is based on an 

indisputably meritless legal theory or where the factual contentions are clearly baseless. Neitzke, 

490 U.S. at 327. The critical inquiry is whether a constitutional claim, however inartfully 

pleaded, has an arguable legal and factual basis. See Jackson v. Arizona, 885 F.2d 639, 640 (9th 

Cir. 1989); Franklin, 745 F.2d at 1227.

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

statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief,’ in order to ‘give the 

defendant fair notice of what the . . . claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.’” Bell Atlantic 

Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007) (quoting Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 47 (1957)). 

However, in order to survive dismissal for failure to state a claim a complaint must contain more 

than “a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action;” it must contain factual 

allegations sufficient “to raise a right to relief above the speculative level.” Id. at 555. In 

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reviewing a complaint under this standard, the court must accept as true the allegations of the 

complaint. See Hosp. Bldg. Co. v. Rex Hosp. Trustees, 425 U.S. 738, 740 (1976). The court 

must also construe the pleading in the light most favorable to the plaintiff and resolve all doubts 

in the plaintiff’s favor. See Jenkins v. McKeithen, 395 U.S. 411, 421 (1969).

In any fourth amended complaint, plaintiff must allege facts demonstrating how the 

conditions complained of resulted in a deprivation of plaintiff’s federal constitutional or statutory 

rights. See Ellis v. Cassidy, 625 F.2d 227 (9th Cir. 1980). Any fourth amended complaint 

plaintiff elects to file must allege in specific terms how each named defendant was involved in the 

deprivation of plaintiff’s rights. There can be no liability under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 unless there is 

some affirmative link or connection between a defendant’s actions and the claimed deprivation. 

Rizzo v. Goode, 423 U.S. 362 (1976); May v. Enomoto, 633 F.2d 164, 167 (9th Cir. 1980); 

Johnson v. Duffy, 588 F.2d 740, 743 (9th Cir. 1978). Vague and conclusory allegations of 

official participation in civil rights violations are not sufficient. Ivey v. Bd. of Regents, 673 F.2d 

266, 268 (9th Cir. 1982).

Plaintiff is reminded that the court cannot refer to prior pleadings in order to make his 

fourth amended complaint complete. Local Rule 220 requires that an amended complaint be 

complete in itself without reference to any prior pleading. This is because, as a general rule, an 

amended complaint supersedes the original complaint. See Loux v. Rhay, 375 F.2d 55, 57 (9th 

Cir. 1967). Once plaintiff files a fourth amended complaint, the prior pleading no longer serves 

any function in the case. Therefore, in a fourth amended complaint, as in an original complaint, 

each claim and the involvement of each defendant must be sufficiently alleged. 

In accordance with the above, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:

1. Plaintiff’s request for leave to proceed in forma pauperis (ECF No. 30) is granted.

2. Plaintiff is obligated to pay the statutory filing fee of $350.00 for this action. Plaintiff 

is assessed an initial partial filing fee in accordance with the provisions of 28 U.S.C. 

§ 1915(b)(1). All fees shall be collected and paid in accordance with this court’s order to the 

Director of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation filed concurrently 

herewith.

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3. Plaintiff’s motion to file an amended complaint (ECF No. 34) is granted. Plaintiff is 

granted thirty days from the date of service of this order to file a fourth amended complaint that 

complies with the requirements of the Civil Rights Act, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and 

the Local Rules of Practice; the fourth amended complaint must bear the docket number assigned 

to this case and must be labeled “Fourth Amended Complaint”; failure to file a fourth amended 

complaint in accordance with this order will result in a recommendation that this action be 

dismissed without prejudice.

Dated: September 23, 2015

DAD:10

whit0505.lta

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