Abney v. Alameida, CIV.02CV2136-BEN PCL.

• Citation: 334 F.Supp.2d 1221
• Decision Date: 20 August 2004
• Docket Number: No. CIV.02CV2136-BEN PCL.,CIV.02CV2136-BEN PCL.
• Court: United States District Courts. 9th Circuit. United States District Court (Southern District of California)
• Parties: Thomas William ABNEY, CDC # P-82196, Plaintiff, v. Edward S. ALAMEIDA,<SMALL><SUP>1</SUP></SMALL> Defendant.

Page 1221

334 F.Supp.2d 1221

Thomas William ABNEY, CDC # P-82196, Plaintiff, v. Edward S. ALAMEIDA,¹ Defendant.

No. CIV.02CV2136-BEN PCL.

United States District Court, S.D. California.

August 20, 2004.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Thomas William Abney, Calipatria, CA, pro se.

G. Michael German, Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General, San Diego, CA, for Defendant.

ORDER:

(1) GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO DISMISS PURSUANT TO FED.R.CIV.P. 12(b)(6) [Doc. No. 13-1];

(2) DENYING DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO STRIKE PURSUANT TO FED.R.CIV.P. 12(f) [Doc. No. 13-2];

(3) DENYING PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR ENTRY OF DEFAULT JUDGMENT [Doc. No. 18]; AND

(4) DISMISSING COMPLAINT WITH PREJUDICE

BENITEZ, District Judge.

Thomas William Abney (hereinafter "Plaintiff"), is a state prisoner proceeding pro se with a civil rights Complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. (Doc. No. 1.) Currently pending before the Court is a Motion to Dismiss the Complaint pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), and a Motion to Strike the prayer for punitive damages in the Complaint pursuant to F ed.R.Civ.P. 12(f), both filed on behalf Edward S. Alameida, the former Director of the California Department of Corrections ("CDC"), and the sole Defendant named in this action. (Doc. Nos. 13-15.) Plaintiff has filed an Opposition to both Motions (Doc. Nos. 22-23), and Defendant has filed a Waiver of Reply to Plaintiff's Opposition (Doc. No. 26). Also pending before the Court is Plaintiff's Motion for Entry of Default Judgment. (Doc. Nos. 18-21.) Defendant has filed an Opposition to Plaintiff's Motion. (Doc. No. 25.)

All Motions were taken under submission without oral argument pursuant to SO. DIST. CA LOCAL CIV. RULE 7.1(d)(1), and are now ready for disposition.² For the following reasons, the Court GRANTS in part and DENIES in part Defendant's Motion to Dismiss, DENIES Defendant's Motion to Strike, DENIES Plaintiff's Motion for Entry of Default Judgment, DECLINES to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Plaintiff's state law claims, and DISMISSES this action in its entirety with prejudice.

I. Factual Background

Plaintiff alleges that victim restitution fines of $1000 and $1602.93 were entered against him by the sentencing court pursuant to California Penal Code §§ 1202.4(b) & 2085.5 as part of the judgment of conviction in his criminal case. (Compl. at 2-5.) Plaintiff alleges that upon being taken into the custody of the CDC he authorized Defendant Alameida to open and maintain a prison trust account on Plaintiff's behalf, which in turn established a trust relationship between Plaintiff and Defendant. (Id.) Plaintiff alleges that Defendant Alameida immediately began deducting twenty-two percent from all money orders sent to Plaintiff by his family before depositing the remainder of the funds into the prison trust account; twenty percent of the deduction was applied to pay the restitution fines, and two percent represented an administrative fee. (Id. at 3.)

Plaintiff contends that Defendant's actions constituted a violation of his rights under the Fifth Amendment's Takings Clause and the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause. (Id. at 2.) Under a liberal construction of the Complaint, Plaintiff also appears to allege violations of his due process rights under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, violations of state law predicated upon a breach of the fiduciary duty between Defendant and Plaintiff, and violations of state laws and regulations regarding administration of his prison trust account. (Id. at 3-4, 6-7.) Plaintiff requests compensatory and punitive damages, as well as an injunction preventing Defendant from continuing to make the deductions complained of and from imposing an additional $3.00 fee required by state law. (Id. at 8-9.)

In his Motion for Entry of Default Judgment, Plaintiff requests entry of default judgment on the basis that Defendant filed the Motion to Dismiss one day late. (See Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of Plaintiff's Motion for Entry of Default Judgment ["Pl.'s Motion"], Doc. No. 19, at 2-4.) Defendant admits his Motion to Dismiss was filed one day late, but contends the interests of justice do not favor entry of default judgment. (Defendant's Opposition to Plaintiff's Motion for Default Judgment ["Def.'s Opp."], Doc. No. 25, at 2-3.)

II. Defendant's Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) Motion to Dismiss.

Defendant seeks dismissal of Plaintiff's Complaint on the grounds that: (1) Plaintiff's allegations are insufficient to establish personal actions by Defendant Alameida; (2) Plaintiff's Fifth Amendment rights were not violated; (3) Plaintiff's Fourteenth Amendment rights to due process or equal protection were not violated; (4) Plaintiff's claims are barred by Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477, 114 S.Ct. 2364, 129 L.Ed.2d 383 (1994); (5) Plaintiff's claims are barred by the intent of the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995; and (6) Defendant is entitled to qualified immunity.

A. Applicable Legal Standards.

A Rule 12(b)(6) motion tests the legal sufficiency of a claim. Navarro v. Block, 250 F.3d 729, 732 (9th Cir.2001). A compliant "should not be dismissed for failure to state a claim unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief." Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957); Cahill v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., 80 F.3d 336, 338 (9th Cir.1996). In deciding such a motion, all material factual allegations of the complaint are accepted as true, as well as all reasonable inferences to be drawn from them. Cahill, 80 F.3d at 338. Dismissal is proper only where there is no cognizable legal theory or an absence of sufficient facts alleged to support a cognizable legal theory. Navarro, 250 F.3d at 732 (citing Balistreri v. Pacifica Police Dep't, 901 F.2d 696, 699 (9th Cir.1988)). When resolving a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, the court may not generally consider materials outside the pleadings. Schneider v. California Dep't of Corrections, 151 F.3d 1194, 1197 n. 1 (9th Cir.1998) ("The focus of any Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal ... is the complaint.").

Finally, where a plaintiff appears in propria persona in a civil rights case, the Court must also be careful to construe the pleadings liberally and afford plaintiff any benefit of the doubt. See Karim-Panahi v. Los Angeles Police Dept., 839 F.2d 621, 623 (9th Cir.1988); Bretz v. Kelman, 773 F.2d 1026, 1027 n. 1 (9th Cir.1985) (en banc). The rule of liberal construction is "particularly important in civil rights cases." Ferdik v. Bonzelet, 963 F.2d 1258, 1261 (9th Cir.1992); Noll v. Carlson, 809 F.2d 1446, 1448 (9th Cir.1987) ("Presumably unskilled in the law, the pro se litigant is far more prone to making errors in pleading than the person who benefits from the representation of counsel.").

In giving liberal interpretation to a pro se civil rights complaint, however, a court "may not supply essential elements of the claim that were not initially pled." Ivey v. Bd. of Regents of the University of Alaska, 673 F.2d 266, 268 (9th Cir.1982). "Vague and conclusory allegations of official participation in civil rights violations are not sufficient to withstand a motion to dismiss." Id.; see also Sherman v. Yakahi, 549 F.2d 1287, 1290 (9th Cir.1977) ("Conclusory allegations, unsupported by facts, [will be] rejected as insufficient to state a claim under the Civil Rights Act."). Thus, at a minimum, even the pro se "plaintiff must allege with at least some degree of particularity overt acts which defendants engaged in that support [his] claim." Jones v. Community Redevelopment Agency, 733 F.2d 646, 649 (9th Cir.1984) (internal quotation marks omitted).

B. Personal Participation by Defendant Alameida.

Defendant Alameida contends the Complaint should be dismissed because it fails to allege he engaged in any personal acts or omissions which caused the alleged constitutional deprivation. (Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of Motion to Dismiss ["MTD"], Doc. No. 14, at 4-6.) Specifically, Defendant contends that a supervisory official may be held liable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 only upon showing that he was personally involved in the alleged deprivation or if there is a sufficient causal connection to the alleged constitutional violation. (Id. at 4.) Defendant also contends that Plaintiff may not maintain a cause of action based on an alleged unconstitutional policy because the Complaint lacks factual allegations that Defendant Alameida implemented such a policy. (Id. at 5.)

A person deprives another "of a constitutional right, within the meaning of section 1983, if he does an affirmative act, participates in another's affirmative acts, or omits to perform an act which he is legally required to do that causes the deprivation of which [the plaintiff complains]." Johnson v. Duffy, 588 F.2d 740, 743 (9th Cir.1978). "The inquiry into causation must be individualized and focus on the duties and responsibilities of each individual defendant whose acts or omissions are alleged to have caused a constitutional deprivation." Leer v. Murphy, 844 F.2d 628, 633 (9th Cir.1988).

Plaintiff alleges that Defendant Alameida was the Director of the CDC when Plaintiff was taken into custody by the CDC. (Compl. at 2.) Plaintiff alleges that he completed a CDC Form 345 titled "Authorization for the Director to Maintain a Trust Account," which authorized the Director of the CDC to establish and maintain a prison trust account on Plaintiff's behalf. (Id. at 2-3.) Plaintiff alleges that Defendant Alameida willingly entered into a trust/trustee relationship with Plaintiff, thereby taking on certain duties which California law imposes upon trustees, as well as certain statutory duties imposed upon the Director of the CDC in particular. (Id. at 3.) Plaintiff also alleges that he disputed the Defendant's actions...