Hamilton v. Edmund G. Brown Jr.

• Decision Date: 10 December 2010
• Docket Number: No. 09–15236.,09–15236.
• Citation: 630 F.3d 889
• Parties: George HAMILTON, Plaintiff–Appellant,v.Edmund G. BROWN Jr.,* Attorney General, et al., Defendants–Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

630 F.3d 889

11 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 162

2011 Daily Journal D.A.R. 206

George HAMILTON, Plaintiff–Appellant,

v.Edmund G. BROWN Jr.,* Attorney General, et al., Defendants–Appellees.

No. 09–15236.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Submitted Dec. 10, 2010.**Filed Jan. 4, 2011.

George Hamilton, Kern Valley State Prison, Delano, CA, plaintiff-appellant, appearing pro se.No appearance for the defendants-appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, Neil V. Wake, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CV 04–5929 NVW.Before: ROBERT E. COWEN,^*** A. WALLACE TASHIMA, and BARRY G. SILVERMAN, Circuit Judges.

OPINION

TASHIMA, Circuit Judge:

We must decide whether California state prison inmates constitutionally may be required to provide blood samples for DNA identification under California's DNA and Forensic Identification Database and Data Bank Act of 1998, as amended, Cal. Pen.Code § 295 et seq. (the “Act” or the “California DNA Act”). Pro se plaintiff George Hamilton, a California state prison inmate, alleges that prison officials forcibly extracted a blood sample for DNA identification without his consent. He contends that this violated his rights under the Fourth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and under California state law. The district court dismissed Hamilton's second amended complaint (“SAC”) with prejudice.¹ This appeal followed. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we affirm.

IBACKGROUND

A. Hamilton's allegations²

Hamilton is serving a sentence of thirty-nine years to life in state prison. He alleges that, on October 7, 2003, Corcoran State Prison guards attempted to break his arm in retaliation for his trouble-making, which included filing complaints against prison officials, accusing them of corruption, and helping a legally-blind fellow inmate to file a lawsuit against prison officials. The day after that incident, the same prison guards escorted Hamilton to the prison medical clinic and demanded that Hamilton provide a blood sample for DNA analysis. Hamilton refused on the grounds that he did not receive a written notice or proof of a valid court order. Hamilton alleges that defendants' true motive in collecting a blood sample was to “set him up” in retaliation for his complaints.

After Hamilton's refusal, he received a notice stating that blood sample collection is authorized by Cal.Penal Code § 296. The notice also stated: “ON 10/8/03 YOU WERE INFORMED OF YOUR REQUIREMENT TO SUBMIT AND YOU REFUSED. AS A RESULT, YOU ARE NOW SUBJECT TO USE OF FORCE.” In response, Hamilton wrote to various state and federal officials to inform them that he was “the victim of malicious and excessive force,” and that prison officials were trying to force him to turn over a blood sample without proper written notice or a “bona fide court order.”

On November 17, 2003, Hamilton received a medical pass, allowing him to visit the prison hospital the next day for what he thought was a podiatry appointment. The next day, defendant M. Jost came to Hamilton's cell, handcuffed him and escorted him to the medical clinic. When Hamilton arrived, defendants Sgt. E. Lawton, M. Chapman, a medical assistant, and a nurse demanded that he provide a blood sample. When he refused, the defendants exerted force. They strapped Hamilton, still handcuffed, into a chair and extracted a blood sample. On the prison's record of Hamilton's visit to the medical clinic, Hamilton wrote, “My DNA was taken against my will, under deception, fraud, force and fear, while I was handcuffed.”

B. Procedural History

In his complaint, Hamilton named the state Attorney General, a State Senator, and Does 1–100, identified as personnel of the state's Forensic Identification Data Base and Data Bank, as defendants. Reviewing Hamilton's complaint pursuant to the PLRA, 28 U.S.C. § 1915A,³ the magistrate judge dismissed the complaint for failure to state a claim, with leave to amend. The court explained that Hamilton “must link each named defendant with some affirmative act or omission that demonstrates a violation of plaintiff's federal rights.” In addition, the court explained that Hamilton could not pursue a claim for damages against the Attorney General in his official capacity.

Hamilton then filed an amended complaint, which the magistrate judge again dismissed with leave to amend. The court explained that Hamilton again failed to link his claims to any named defendant or any Doe defendant. The order reiterated that the Attorney General could not be sued for damages in his official capacity. Hamilton was instructed that he was required to

demonstrate in the Second Amended Complaint how the conditions complained of resulted in a deprivation of his constitutional rights. [Citation omitted.] The Second Amended Complaint must specifically state how each Defendant is involved. Further, there can be no liability under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 unless there is some affirmative link or connection between a defendant's actions and the claimed deprivation.

Hamilton's SAC adds as defendants prison officials and employees allegedly involved in the collection of the blood sample, including the prison warden, two prison guards, and prison medical clinic personnel. On January 6, 2009, the district judge dismissed the SAC with prejudice. He concluded that it was “not organized into a short and plain statement of the claim,” in violation of Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(a). In addition, the district court stated that Hamilton failed to “allege that [he] suffered a specific injury as a result of specific conduct of a defendant and show an affirmative link between the injury and the conduct of the defendant.”

Hamilton timely appealed.

IISTANDARD OF REVIEW

We review de novo a district court's dismissal of a prisoner complaint under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Resnick, 213 F.3d at 447. “Under § 1915A, when determining whether a complaint states a claim, a court must accept as true all allegations of material fact and must construe those facts in the light most favorable to the plaintiff.” Id. “Additionally, in general, courts must construe pro se pleadings liberally.” Id. (citing Balistreri v. Pacifica Police Dep't, 901 F.2d 696, 699 (9th Cir.1988)). We may affirm the district court on any ground supported by the record. O'Guinn v. Lovelock Corr. Ctr., 502 F.3d 1056, 1059 (9th Cir.2007).

IIIDISCUSSION

A. Overview of the California DNA Act

The California DNA Act, Cal. Pen.Code §§ 295–300.3, was adopted in 1998

to assist federal, state, and local criminal justice and law enforcement agencies ... in the expeditious and accurate detection and prosecution of individuals responsible for sex offenses and other crimes, the exclusion of suspects who are being investigated for these crimes, and the identification of missing and unidentified persons, particularly abducted children.

Cal. Pen.Code § 295(c). California contributes information in its DNA database to a national DNA index maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The FBI uses a computer program to identify forensic unknowns ( e.g. crime scene samples) with reference to a felony offender's known sample that was previously obtained, analyzed, and stored in accordance with state or federal law. United States v. Kincade, 379 F.3d 813, 818–820 (9th Cir.2004) (en banc) (plurality opinion); Cal. Pen.Code § 295(c), (g), (h)(4).

As is relevant here, the Act requires California prison inmates ⁴ to “provide buccal swab samples and thumb and palm print impressions and any blood or other specimens required pursuant to this chapter.” Id. § 296.1(a)(2)(A). The submission of samples is “mandatory and appl[ies] whether or not the court advises a person ... that he or she must provide the data bank and database specimens, samples, and print impressions.” Id. § 296(d); People v. Travis, 139 Cal.App.4th 1271, 44 Cal.Rptr.3d 177, 183 (2006) (“The provisions of the act are mandatory and automatic upon conviction of a felony.”). A prisoner who refuses to provide a sample after receiving a written or oral request is subject to the use of reasonable force. Specifically, the Act provides that

authorized law enforcement, custodial or corrections personnel, including peace officers ..., may employ reasonable force to collect blood specimens, saliva samples, or thumb or palm print impressions pursuant to this chapter from individuals who, after written or oral request, refuse to provide those specimens, samples, or thumb or palm print impressions.Cal. Pen.Code § 298.1(b)(1). Prison officials must make “efforts to secure voluntary compliance” before applying reasonable force. 15 Cal.Code Regs. § 3025(k).⁵

B. The Fourth Amendment Does Not Preclude the Collection of Blood Samples from Prison Inmates for DNA Identification

Hamilton alleges that the warrantless, suspicionless taking of his blood sample was an illegal seizure in violation of the Fourth Amendment, which protects “[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, ... against unreasonable searches and seizures.” U.S. Const. amend. IV. This claim fails as a matter of law. “The compulsory extraction of blood for DNA profiling unquestionably implicates the right to personal security embodied in the Fourth Amendment, and thus constitutes a ‘search’ within the meaning of the Constitution.” Kincade, 379 F.3d at 821 n. 15. We have repeatedly held, however, that such compulsory blood extractions from convicted felons on supervised release do not violate the Fourth Amendment.⁶ Id. at 836 (citations omitted); United States v. Kriesel, 508 F.3d 941, 946 (9th Cir.2007) (concluding that the federal DNA Act, as amended in 2004 to expand the qualifying offenses to all felonies, did not violate the Fourth Amendment); United States v. Hugs, 384 F.3d 762, 769 (9th Cir.2004) (“A condition of supervised release requiring a qualified felon to provide a DNA...