Turner v. State of Washington

THE HONORABLE JOHN C. COUGHENOUR UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE SUMMER DAWN TURNER, CASE NO. C22-0123-JCC 11 Plaintiff, MINUTE ORDER v. STATE OF WASHINGTON, et al., Defendants.

The following Minute Order is made by direction of the Court, the Honorable John C.

Coughenour, United States District Judge: This matter comes before the Court sua sponte. The Honorable Michelle L. Peterson, United States Magistrate Judge, granted Plaintiffs’ motion to proceed in forma pauperis and recommended the complaint be reviewed under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B) prior to the issuance of a summons. (Dkt. No. 4.) Once a complaint is filed in forma pauperis, the Court must dismiss it prior to service if it “fails to state a claim on which relief can be granted.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii); see Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 1129 (9th Cir. 2000).

To state a claim for relief, a pleading must contain “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). The statement must be sufficient 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). This requires the inclusion of sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to state a claim for relief that is plausible on its face. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 664 (2009). Otherwise, the complaint must be dismissed, either because it lacks a cognizable legal theory or states insufficient facts to support a cognizable legal theory. Zixiang v. Kerry, 710 F.3d 995, 999 (9th Cir. 2013).

6 Plaintiff alleges that she was terminated, refused shelter, and had her “emails and personal accounts erased and stolen . . . including school/disability paperwork.” (Dkt. No. 5 at 5.)

8 She argues these acts constitute 5th, 6th and 11th Amendment violations. (Id. at 5.) In her complaint, she names Washington State, Facebook, and BCforward as Defendants in this action.

10 (Id. at 2.) But Plaintiff fails to adequately allege which Defendant is responsible for which act and how the acts violated Plaintiff’s constitutional rights. (See generally id.) Therefore, Plaintiffs’ complaint fails to allege sufficient facts to place Defendants on fair notice of the nature of Plaintiffs’ claims.

14 Accordingly, the Court ORDERS Plaintiff to show cause why her complaint should not be dismissed for failure to state a claim. Plaintiff may do so by filing an amended complaint within thirty (30) days of the issuance of this order. If, in the amended complaint, Plaintiff fails to state sufficient facts to support a cognizable legal theory, the complaint will be dismissed. The Clerk is DIRECTED to mail a copy of this order to Plaintiff.

20 DATED this 4th day of February 2022.

Ravi Subramanian Clerk of Court s/Sandra Rawski Deputy Clerk