Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-1_08-cv-01259/USCOURTS-caed-1_08-cv-01259-1/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Geni Ruaigip
Petitioner
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Respondent

Document Text:

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

GENI RUAIGIP, )

Plaintiff, )

)

v. )

)

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, )

)

Defendant. )

 )

)

)

 /

CASE NO. 1:08-cv-01259-GSA PC

ORDER DISMISSING COMPLAINT AND

GRANTING PLAINTIFF LEAVE TO FILE AN

AMENDED COMPLAINT

AMENDED COMPLAINT DUE IN THIRTY

DAYS

Plaintiff Geni Ruaigip is a state prisoner proceeding pro se. Plaintiff has consented to

magistrate judge jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c)(1). 

This action was initiated by receipt of Plaintiff’s motion for a three-judge court, the issuance

of a prisoner release order, and joinder in the Coleman/Plata/Armstrong cases. Plaintiff included 1

a verification describing this action as a petition for writ of habeas corpus, but cited to 18 U.S.C. § 

3626 as authority for his motions. Because this action arose from Plaintiff’s conditions of 

confinement at Avenal State Prison, this action was designated upon opening as one seeking relief

pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. 

18 U.S.C. § 3626 of the Prison Litigation Reform Act governs remedies with respect to

prison conditions. One form of relief is a prisoner release order, which must be entered by a threejudge court. 18 U.S.C. § 3626(a)(3). A prisoner release order may not be issued unless “a court has

previously entered an order for less intrusive relief that has failed to remedy the deprivation of the

Federal right sought to be remedied through the prisoner release order,” and “the defendant has had

Plaintiff first filed suit in the Northern District of California using the same motion, but the action, case

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number 3:08-cv-02538-VRW, was dismissed on May 28, 2008, and Plaintiff was notified that he must file suit in this

district, where the events at issue arose.

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a reasonable amount of time to comply with the previous court orders.” 18 U.S.C. § 3626(a)(3)(A).

Section 3626 governs remedies available in a civil action. It does not provide an independent

basis for initiation of suit. Accordingly, on June 14, 2010, Plaintiff’s motions for a three-judge court

and a release order, filed pursuant to section 3626, were denied. 

In the June 14, 2010, order, Plaintiff was advised that any request for relief made pursuant

to orders and/or consent decrees in the Coleman, Plata, and/or Armstrong cases must be presented

through class counsel to the court presiding over the case. Plaintiff was specifically cautioned that

he may not use this suit as a means to interject himself into proceedings in other cases.

Plaintiff was provided with the option to continue with this suit as one filed pursuant to

section 1983, which “creates a cause of action for violations of the federal Constitution and laws.” 

Sweaney v. Ada County, Idaho, 119 F.3d 1385, 1391 (9th Cir. 1997) (internal quotations omitted). 

Plaintiff was provided a thirty-day period to voluntarily dismiss this action if he did not wish to

proceed. Plaintiff was advised that if he did not respond to this order, this action would proceed

pursuant to section 1983. Plaintiff failed to respond to the order of June 14, 2010. The Court will

therefore construe this action as a civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. 

I. Screening Requirement

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

governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity. 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. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1),(2). 

“Notwithstanding any filing fee, or any portion thereof, that may have been paid, the court shall

dismiss the case at any time if the court determines that . . . the action or appeal . . . fails to state a

claim upon which relief may be granted.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii). 

“Rule 8(a)’s simplified pleading standard applies to all civil actions, with limited

exceptions,” none of which applies to section 1983 actions. Swierkiewicz v. Sorema N. A., 534 U.S.

506, 512 (2002); Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a). Pursuant to Rule 8(a), a complaint must contain “a short and

plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief . . . .” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a). 

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“Such a statement must simply give the defendant fair notice of what the plaintiff’s claim is and the

grounds upon which it rests.” Swierkiewicz, 534 U.S. at 512. However, “the liberal pleading

standard . . . applies only to a plaintiff’s factual allegations.” Neitze v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 330

n.9 (1989). “[A] liberal interpretation of a civil rights complaint may not supply essential elements

of the claim that were not initially pled.” Bruns v. Nat’l Credit Union Admin., 122 F.3d 1251, 1257

(9th Cir. 1997) (quoting Ivey v. Bd. of Regents, 673 F.2d 266, 268 (9th Cir. 1982)).

II. Plaintiff’s Claims

Plaintiff is an inmate in the custody of the California Department of Corrections and

Rehabilitation (CDCR) at Avenal State Prison. Plaintiff does not name or identify any individual

defendants. Plaintiff sets forth allegations that the conditions at Avenal State Prison constitute cruel

and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment. Plaintiff specifically alleges that

as a result of prison overcrowding, he is “unnecessarily exposed to harmful, infectious,

communicable diseases, unsanitary conditions, below minimum standards of medical, dental, and 

mental health treatment, plus living conditions which present a danger to movant’s personal safety

due to increasing prisoner violence against other prisoners due to rising tensions caused by the

severity of prison overcrowding.” (Compl. 1:26-2:4.) 

To state a claim under section 1983, a plaintiff must allege that (1) the defendant acted under

color of state law and (2) the defendant deprived him of rights secured by the Constitution or federal

law. Long v. County of Los Angeles, 442 F.3d 1178, 1185 (9th Cir. 2006). “A person deprives

another of a constitutional right, where that person ‘does an affirmative act, participates in another’s

affirmative acts, or omits to perform an act which [that person] is legally required to do that causes

the deprivation of which complaint is made.’” Hydrick v. Hunter, 500 F.3d 978, 988 (9th Cir. 2007)

(quoting Johnson v. Duffy, 588 F.2d 740, 743 (9th Cir. 1978)). “[T]he ‘requisite causal connection

can be established not only by some kind of direct, personal participation in the deprivation, but also

by setting in motion a series of acts by others which the actor knows or reasonably should know

would cause others to inflict the constitutional injury.’” Id. (quoting Johnson at 743-44). 

Under Foster v. Runnels, 554 F.3d 807 (9 Cir. 2009), an inmate seeking to prove an Eighth th

Amendment violation must “objectively show that he was deprived of something ‘sufficiently

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serious,’ and “make a subjective showing that the deprivation occurred with deliberate indifference

to the inmate’s health or safety.” Id. at 812 (quoting Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 834 (1994)). 

The second step, showing “deliberate indifference,” involves a two part inquiry. First, the inmate

must show that the prison officials were aware of a “substantial risk of serious harm” to an inmate’s

health or safety. Farmer, 511 U.S. at 837. This part of our inquiry may be satisfied if the inmate

shows that the risk posed by the deprivation is obvious. See id. at 842. (“[A] factfinder may

conclude that a prison official knew of a substantial risk [to a prisoner’s health] from the very fact

that the risk was obvious.”) Second, the inmate must show that the prison officials had no

“reasonable” justification for the deprivation, in spite of that risk. See id. at 844. (‘[P]rison officials

who actually knew of a substantial risk to inmate health or safety may be found free from liability

if they responded reasonably.”)

In order to state a claim upon which relief could be granted, Plaintiff must allege facts

indicating that a named individual defendant or defendants knew of a sufficiently serious risk, and

acted with deliberate indifference to that risk, resulting in injury to Plaintiff. Plaintiff must identify

individual defendants in orderfor the Court to direct service of process. Here, Plaintiff fails to name

any individuals employed by the CDCR at Avenal State Prison. Plaintiff must identify each

individual defendant and charge that defendant with conduct indicating that they were deliberately

indifferent to a serious risk to Plaintiff’s health or safety, resulting in injury to Plaintiff. Plaintiff

has failed to do so. The complaint must therefore be dismissed. 

III. Conclusion and Order

The Court has screened plaintiff’s complaint and finds that it does not state any claims upon

which relief may be granted under section 1983. The Court will provide plaintiff with the

opportunityto file an amended complaint curing the deficiencies identified bythe Court in this order. 

Noll v. Carlson, 809 F.2d 1446, 1448-49 (9th Cir. 1987). Plaintiff is cautioned that he may not

change the nature of this suit by adding new, unrelated claims in his amended complaint. George,

507 F.3d at 607 (no “buckshot” complaints).

Plaintiff’s amended complaint should be brief, Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a), but must state what each

named defendant did that led to the deprivation of Plaintiff’s constitutional or other federal rights,

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Hydrick, 500 F.3d at 987-88. Although accepted as true, the “[f]actual allegations must be

[sufficient] to raise a right to relief above the speculative level . . . .” Bell Atlantic Corp. v.

Twombly, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 1965 (2007) (citations omitted). 

 Finally, plaintiff is advised that an amended complaint supercedes the original complaint,

Forsyth v. Humana, Inc., 114 F.3d 1467, 1474 (9th Cir. 1997); King v. Atiyeh, 814 F.2d 565, 567

(9th Cir. 1987), and must be “complete in itself without reference to the prior or superceded

pleading,” Local Rule 220. Plaintiff is warned that “[a]ll causes of action alleged in an original

complaint which are not alleged in an amended complaint are waived.” King, 814 F.2d at 567 (citing

to London v. Coopers & Lybrand, 644 F.2d 811, 814 (9th Cir. 1981)); accord Forsyth, 114 F.3d at

1474.

Accordingly, based on the foregoing, it is HEREBY ORDERED that:

1. Plaintiff’s complaint is dismissed, with leave to amend, for failure to state a claim;

2. The Clerk’s Office shall send to plaintiff a complaint form;

3. Within thirty (30) days from the date of service of this order, Plaintiff shall file an

amended complaint; 

4. Plaintiff may not add any new, unrelated claims to this action via his amended

complaint and any attempt to do so will result in an order striking the amended

complaint; and 

5. If Plaintiff fails to file an amended complaint, the Court will dismissthis action, with

prejudice, for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted.

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IT IS SO ORDERED. 

Dated: July 27, 2010 /s/ Gary S. Austin 

6i0kij UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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