Toscano v. Baldwin

United States District Court for the Northern District of California

Toscano v. Baldwin

Trial Court Opinion

1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 RUBEN TOSCANO, Case No. 22-cv-01710-JSC

8 Plaintiff, ORDER OF SERVICE v. 9

10 V. BALDWIN, et al., Defendants. 11

12 INTRODUCTION 13 Plaintiff, a California prisoner, filed this pro se civil rights complaint under

42 U.S.C. § 14

1983 against three officials at the California Training Facility (“CTF”) for their conduct in 15 “validating” him as a member of a “Security Threat Group.” Plaintiff’s application to proceed in 16 forma pauperis is granted in a separate order. For the reasons explained below, the complaint is 17 ordered served upon Defendants. 18 STANDARD OF REVIEW 19 Federal courts must engage in a preliminary screening of cases in which prisoners seek 20 redress from a governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity.

28 U.S.C. § 21

1915A(a). The Court must identify cognizable claims or dismiss the complaint, or any portion of 22 the complaint, if the complaint “is frivolous, malicious, or fails to state a claim upon which relief 23 may be granted,” or “seeks monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief.”

Id.

24 § 1915A(b). Pleadings of prisoners unrepresented by an attorney must be liberally construed. 25 Balistreri v. Pacifica Police Dep't,

901 F.2d 696, 699

(9th Cir. 1990). 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.” “Specific facts are not necessary; the 27 1 which it rests.” Erickson v. Pardus,

127 S. Ct. 2197, 2200

(2007) (citations omitted). Although to 2 state a claim a complaint “does not need detailed factual allegations, . . . a plaintiff’s obligation to 3 provide the grounds of his entitle[ment] to relief requires more than labels and conclusions, and a 4 formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do. . . . Factual allegations must 5 be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level.” Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 6

127 S. Ct. 1955, 1964-65

(2007) (citations omitted). A complaint must proffer “enough facts to 7 state a claim for relief that is plausible on its face.”

Id. at 1974

. 8 To state a claim under

42 U.S.C. § 1983

, a plaintiff must allege two elements: (1) that a right secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States was violated, and (2) that the alleged 9 violation was committed by a person acting under the color of state law. West v. Atkins,

487 U.S. 10

42, 48 (1988). 11 LEGAL CLAIMS 12 Plaintiff’s allegations that Defendants validated him as a member of a Security Threat 13 Group (“STG”) based upon his refusal to answer a questionnaire, that they did not provide him 14 with due process prior to such validation, that they based their actions upon his ethnicity, and that 15 they validated him in retaliation for filing administrative grievances and a prior lawsuit, when 16 liberally construed, state cognizable claim for the violation of his rights under the First 17 Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause. 18 CONCLUSION 19 1. Defendants Institutional Correctional Counselor V. Baldwin, Correctional Counselor 20 M. Botello, and Correctional Counselor Ortega shall be served at the California Training Facility 21 in Soledad, California. 22 Service shall proceed under the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s 23 (CDCR) e-service program for civil rights cases from prisoners in CDCR custody. In accordance 24 with the program, the Clerk is directed to serve on CDCR via email the following documents: the 25 Complaint, a Magistrate Judge jurisdiction consent form, this Order, a CDCR Report of E-Service 26 Waiver form, and a summons. The Clerk also shall serve a copy of this Order on the Plaintiff. 27 No later than 40 days after service of this order via email on CDCR, CDCR shall provide 1 the Court a completed CDCR Report of E-Service Waiver advising the Court which Defendant(s) 2 listed in this order will be waiving service of process without the need for service by the United 3 States Marshal Service (USMS) and which Defendant(s) decline to waive service or could not be 4 reached. CDCR also shall provide a copy of the CDCR Report of E-Service Waiver to the 5 California Attorney General’s Office which, within 21 days, shall file with the Court a waiver of 6 service of process for the Defendant(s) who are waiving service. 7 Upon receipt of the CDCR Report of E-Service Waiver, the Clerk shall prepare for each 8 Defendant who has not waived service according to the CDCR Report of E-Service Waiver a 9 USM-205 Form. The Clerk shall provide to the USMS the completed USM-205 forms and copies 10 of this Order, the summons, and the operative complaint for service upon each Defendant who has 11 not waived service. The Clerk also shall provide to the USMS a copy of the CDCR Report of E- 12 Service Waiver. 13 2. Defendants shall complete and file the Magistrate Judge jurisdiction consent form 14 Within 28 days of filing the Report of E-Service Waiver. They shall also file an answer in 15 accordance with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. 16 3. To expedite the resolution of this case: 17 a. No later than 91 days from the date this order is issued, Defendants shall file a 18 motion for summary judgment or other dispositive motion. The motion shall be supported by 19 adequate factual documentation and shall conform in all respects to Federal Rule of Civil 20 Procedure 56 and shall include as exhibits all records and incident reports stemming from the 21 events at issue. If Defendants are of the opinion that this case cannot be resolved by summary 22 judgment, they shall so inform the Court prior to the date the summary judgment motion is due. 23 All papers filed with the Court shall be promptly served on Plaintiff. b. At the time the dispositive motion is served, Defendants shall also serve, on a 24 separate paper, the appropriate notice required by Rand v. Rowland,

154 F.3d 952, 953-954

(9th 25 Cir. 1998) (en banc). See Woods v. Carey,

684 F.3d 934, 940-941

(9th Cir. 2012). 26 c. Plaintiff's opposition to the dispositive motion, if any, shall be filed with the 27 1 Plaintiff must read the attached page headed “NOTICE -- WARNING,” which is provided to him 2 pursuant to Rand v. Rowland,

154 F.3d 952, 953-954

(9th Cir. 1998) (en banc). 3 d. Defendants shall file a reply brief no later than 14 days after the opposition is 4 filed. 5 e. The motion shall be deemed submitted as of the date the reply brief is due. No 6 hearing will be held on the motion unless the Court so orders at a later date. 7 4. All communications by Plaintiff with the Court must be served on Defendants or 8 their counsel once counsel has been designated, by mailing a true copy of the document to Defendants or their counsel. 9 5. Discovery may be taken in accordance with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. 10 No further Court order under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 30(a)(2) is required before the 11 parties may conduct discovery. 12 Plaintiff is reminded that state prisoners inmates may review all non-confidential material 13 in their medical and central files, pursuant to In re Olson,

37 Cal. App. 3d 783

(Cal. Ct. App. 14 1974), 15 California Code of Regulations § 3370, and the CDCR’s Department Operations 15 Manual §§ 13030.4, 13030.16, 13030.16.1-13030.16.3, 13030.21, and 71010.11.1. Requests to 16 review these files or for copies of materials in them must be made directly to prison officials, not 17 to the Court. 18 // 19 // 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 1 6. It is Plaintiff's responsibility to prosecute this case. Plaintiff must keep the Court 2 || informed of any change of address by filing a separate paper with the clerk headed “Notice of 3 Change of Address.” He also must comply with the Court's orders in a timely fashion. Failure to 4 || do so may result in the dismissal of this action for failure to prosecute pursuant to Federal Rule of 5 Civil Procedure 41(b). Reasonable requests for an extension of a deadline will be allowed upon a 6 || showing of good cause if the request is filed prior to the deadline. 7 IT IS SO ORDERED. 8 || Dated: April 15, 2022 9 10 re CQUWELINE SCOTT CORLEY I United States District Judge 12

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1 NOTICE -- WARNING (SUMMARY JUDGMENT) 2 If Defendants move for summary judgment, they are seeking to have your case dismissed. 3 A motion for summary judgment under Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure will, if 4 granted, end your case. 5 Rule 56 tells you what you must do in order to oppose a motion for summary judgment. 6 Generally, summary judgment must be granted when there is no genuine issue of material fact-- 7 that is, if there is no real dispute about any fact that would affect the result of your case, the party 8 who asked for summary judgment is entitled to judgment as a matter of law, which will end your case. When a party you are suing makes a motion for summary judgment that is properly 9 supported by declarations (or other sworn testimony), you cannot simply rely on what your 10 complaint says. Instead, you must set out specific facts in declarations, depositions, answers to 11 interrogatories, or authenticated documents, as provided in Rule 56(e), that contradict the facts 12 shown in Defendant's declarations and documents and show that there is a genuine issue of 13 material fact for trial. If you do not submit your own evidence in opposition, summary judgment, 14 if appropriate, may be entered against you. If summary judgment is granted, your case will be 15 dismissed and there will be no trial. 16

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Reference

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