1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 VERNON LENARD HARRIS, Case No. 21-cv-06749-JD

8 Plaintiff, ORDER RE DISMISSAL v. 9

10 CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND REHABILITATION 11 (CDCR), et al., Defendants. 12 13 Plaintiff, a state prisoner, has filed a pro se civil rights complaint under

. 14 The original complaint was dismissed with leave to amend and plaintiff has filed an amended 15 complaint. 16 DISCUSSION 17 STANDARD OF REVIEW 18 Federal courts must engage in a preliminary screening of cases in which prisoners seek 19 redress from a governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity. 28 U.S.C. 20 § 1915A(a). In its review, the Court must identify any cognizable claims, and dismiss any claims 21 which are frivolous, malicious, fail to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or seek 22 monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. Id. at 1915A(b)(1),(2). Pro se 23 pleadings must be liberally construed. Balistreri v. Pacifica Police Dep’t,

(9th 24 Cir. 1990). 25 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2) requires only “a short and plain statement of the 26 claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Although a complaint “does not need detailed 27 factual allegations, . . . a plaintiff’s obligation to provide the ‘grounds’ of his ‘entitle[ment] to 1 cause of action will not do. . . . Factual allegations must be enough to raise a right to relief above 2 the speculative level.” Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly,

(2007) (citations 3 omitted). A complaint must proffer “enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its 4 face.”

. The United States Supreme Court has explained the “plausible on its face” 5 standard of Twombly: “While legal conclusions can provide the framework of a complaint, they 6 must be supported by factual allegations. When there are well-pleaded factual allegations, a court 7 should assume their veracity and then determine whether they plausibly give rise to an entitlement 8 to relief.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal,

(2009). 9 To state a claim under

, a plaintiff must allege that: (1) a right secured by 10 the Constitution or laws of the United States was violated, and (2) the alleged deprivation was 11 committed by a person acting under the color of state law. West v. Atkins,

(1988). 12 LEGAL CLAIMS 13 Plaintiff alleges that his rights were violated by the seizure of an eye dropper containing 14 drugs, and in a subsequent Rules Violation Report (“RVR”) hearing. “‘Federal law opens two 15 main avenues to relief on complaints related to imprisonment: a petition for habeas corpus, 28

, and a complaint under the Civil Rights Act of 1871, Rev. Stat. § 1979, as amended, 17

. Challenges to the lawfulness of confinement or to particulars affecting its 18 duration are the province of habeas corpus.’” Hill v. McDonough,

(2006) 19 (quoting Muhammad v. Close,

(2004)). “An inmate’s challenge to the 20 circumstances of his confinement, however, may be brought under § 1983.” Id. 21 Habeas is the “exclusive remedy” for the prisoner who seeks “‘immediate or speedier 22 release’” from confinement. Skinner v. Switzer,

(2011) (quoting Wilkinson 23 v. Dotson,

(2005)); see Calderon v. Ashmus,

(1998); Edwards 24 v. Balisok,

(1997); Preiser v. Rodriguez,

(1973). “Where the 25 prisoner’s claim would not ‘necessarily spell speedier release,’ however, suit may be brought 26 under § 1983.’” Skinner,

-34 (quoting Wilkinson,

). But a challenge 27 to a disciplinary finding that resulted in assessment of time credits must be brought in habeas if 1 To recover damages for an allegedly unconstitutional conviction or imprisonment, or for 2 other harm caused by actions whose unlawfulness would render a conviction or sentence invalid, a 3

plaintiff must prove that the conviction or sentence has been reversed on direct 4 appeal, expunged by executive order, declared invalid by a state tribunal authorized to make such 5 determination, or called into question by a federal court’s issuance of a writ of habeas corpus. 6 Heck v. Humphrey,

(1994). This “favorable termination” requirement has 7 been extended to actions under § 1983 that, if successful, would imply the invalidity of prison 8 administrative decisions which result in a forfeiture of good-time credits. Balisok,

- 9 49. 10 In the original complaint, plaintiff alleged that his Fourth Amendment rights were violated 11 when an eye dropper containing drugs was found in his room that he shares with other inmates. 12 He also alleged that his rights were violated at the RVR hearing where he was found guilty and 13 assessed 150 days loss of time credits due to the drugs. For relief, plaintiff sought money damages 14 and the restoration of the lost time credits. 15 Plaintiff was advised that if he succeeded in this action and the time credits were restored, 16 that would “necessarily spell speedier release.” Skinner,

. Accordingly, the claims 17 challenging the RVR should be brought as a petition for a writ of habeas corpus rather than a § 18 1983 action. Id. Although a district court may construe a habeas petition by a prisoner attacking 19 the conditions of his confinement as a civil rights action under

, see Wilwording 20 v. Swenson,

(1971), the opposite is not true: A civil rights complaint seeking 21 habeas relief should be dismissed without prejudice to bringing it as a petition for writ of habeas 22 corpus. See Trimble v. City of Santa Rosa,

(9th Cir. 1995). 23 Plaintiff was provided on opportunity to amend to address these legal standards set forth 24 above and indicate if the lost time credits had already been reversed or expunged. Plaintiff has 25 filed an amended complaint but has not addressed these issues. The complaint is dismissed 26 without prejudice. Plaintiff may seek money damages once he has successfully overturned the 27 disciplinary finding. 1 CONCLUSION 2 1. The complaint is DISMISSED without prejudice. 3 2. The Clerk is requested to CLOSE this case. 4 IT IS SO ORDERED. 5 || Dated: January 5, 2022 6 7 JAMES ATO 8 United St@tes District Judge 9 10 11 12

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