1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 KENRY LEE YOUNG, Case No. 22-cv-02350-WHO (PR)

Plaintiff, 8 ORDER OF DISMISSAL v. 9

10 E. VALENZUELA, Defendant. 11

12 13 INTRODUCTION 14 Plaintiff Kenry Lee Young alleges that a deputy sheriff used insulting language 15 when interacting with him. His amended

complaint containing these 16 allegations is now before me for review pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). His federal 17 civil rights action cannot proceed; the use of vulgar, offensive or insulting language does 18 not state a constitutional claim. Accordingly, this civil rights action is DISMISSED for 19 failure to state a claim for relief. 20 DISCUSSION 21 A. Standard of Review 22 A federal court must conduct a preliminary screening in any case in which a 23 prisoner seeks redress from a governmental entity or officer or employee of a 24 governmental entity. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). In its review, the court must identify any 25 cognizable claims and dismiss any claims that are frivolous, malicious, fail to state a claim 26 upon which relief may be granted or seek monetary relief from a defendant who is immune 27 from such relief. See id. § 1915A(b)(1), (2). Pro se pleadings must be liberally construed. 1 A “complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a 2 claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’” Ashcroft v. Iqbal,

(2009) 3 (quoting Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly,

(2007)). “A claim has facial 4 plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the 5 reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.”

(quoting 6 Twombly,

). Furthermore, a court “is not required to accept legal 7 conclusions cast in the form of factual allegations if those conclusions cannot reasonably 8 be drawn from the facts alleged.” Clegg v. Cult Awareness Network,

, 754–55 9 (9th Cir. 1994). 10 To state a claim under

, a plaintiff must allege two essential 11 elements: (1) that a right secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States was 12 violated, and (2) that the alleged violation was committed by a person acting under the 13 color of state law. See West v. Atkins,

(1988). 14 B. Legal Claims 15 Young filed a complaint and then asked to file an amended complaint, a request I 16 granted. (Dkt. Nos. 1, 3, and 4.) When no amended complaint was filed, I ordered Young 17 to either file an amended complaint or file a notice that he wanted to proceed with the 18 original complaint. (Dkt. No. 6.) When there was no response to that Order, this suit was 19 dismissed. (Dkt. No. 7.) Young later filed a motion to reopen and an amended complaint, 20 which is the subject of this Order. (Dkt. No. 10.) 21 Young alleges that on April 2, 2022, when he was incarcerated at the Contra Costa 22 County Jail, he complained to Deputy Valenzuela that there was no soap in the dispenser. 23 (Am. Compl., Dkt. No. 10 at 5.) He alleges that Valenzuela then called him a “smart ass” 24 and told him to take his “black ass” downstairs and say it to his face. (Id.) Valenzuela 25 contends that this language was disrespectful, unprofessional, and racially discriminatory. 26 (Id.) 27 As unprofessional as this alleged language may be, it does not come close to stating 1 || amount to a constitutional violation. Freeman v. Arpaio,

(9th Cir. 2 1997); see, e.g., Keenan v. Hall,

(9th Cir. 1996) (disrespectful and 3 || assaultive comments by prison guard not enough to implicate Eighth Amendment); 4 || Oltarzewski v. Ruggiero,

(9th Cir. 1987) (directing vulgar language at 5 || prisoner does not state constitutional claim). This is so even if the verbal harassment is 6 || racially motivated. See Hoptowit v. Ray,

(9th Cir. 1982) (federal 7 || court cannot order guards to refrain from using racial slurs to harass prisoners). 8 CONCLUSION 9 This civil rights action is DISMISSED for failure to state a claim for relief. The 10 || Clerk shall enter judgment in favor of defendant, and close the file. 11 IT IS SO ORDERED. |] Dated: December 2, 2024 | i . \f CE ® ILLIAMH.ORRICK United States District Judge

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