Williams v. Price
| Decision Date | 17 April 2018 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 1:18-cv-00102-LJO-SAB (PC) |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of California |
| Parties | COREY WILLIAMS, Plaintiff, v. BRANDON PRICE, et al., Defendants. |
FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS RECOMMENDING DISMISSING CERTAIN CLAIMS
Plaintiff Corey Williams, a civil detainee, is appearing pro se and in forma pauperis in this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff's complaint was screened on March 7, 2018, and Plaintiff was directed to either notify the Court that he is willing to proceed on the claims found to be cognizable in the screening order or file an amended complaint. (ECF No. 11.) On April 6, 2018, Plaintiff filed a first amended complaint. (ECF No. 17.)
Notwithstanding any filing fee, the court shall dismiss a case if at any time the Court determines that the complaint "(i) is frivolous or malicious; (ii) fails to state a claim on which relief may be granted; or (iii) seeks monetary relief against a defendant who is immune from such relief." 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2); see Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 1129 (9th Cir. 2000) (); Calhoun v. Stahl, 254 F.3d 845 (9th Cir. 2001) (); Cato v. United States, 70 F.3d 1103, 1106 (9th Cir. 1995) (); Barren v. Harrington, 152 F.3d 1193 (9th Cir. 1998) (). The Court exercises its discretion to screen the plaintiff's complaint in this action to determine if it "i) is frivolous or malicious; (ii) fails to state a claim on which relief may be granted; or (iii) seeks monetary relief against a defendant who is immune from such relief." 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2).
In determining whether a complaint fails to state a claim, the Court uses the same pleading standard used under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a). A complaint 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). Detailed factual allegations are not required, but "[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice." Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (citing Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007)).
In reviewing the pro se complaint, the Court is to liberally construe the pleadings and accept as true all factual allegations contained in the complaint. Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 94 (2007). Although a court must accept as true all factual allegations contained in a complaint, a court need not accept a plaintiff's legal conclusions as true. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678. "[A] complaint [that] pleads facts that are 'merely consistent with' a defendant's liability . . . 'stops short of the line between possibility and plausibility of entitlement to relief.'" Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678 (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 557). Therefore, the complaint must contain sufficient factual content for the court to draw the reasonable conclusion that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678.
Plaintiff is a civil detainee at Coalinga State Hospital ("CSH") facing commitment as a sexually violent predator ("SVP") under California's Sexually Violent Predator Act ("SVPA"),California Welfare and Institutions Code, section 6600 et seq. (First Am. Compl. ("FAC") 1,1 ECF No. 17.) He is actively pursuing a college degree in mathematics. (Id.) Plaintiff brings this action against Brandon Price, Executive Director of CSH, and Pam Ahlin in their personal and official capacities alleging that new revisions to section 4350 of Title 15 of the California Code of Regulations violate his constitutional right to own and possess certain property. Plaintiff's complaint is comprised mainly of legal argument making it somewhat unclear which claims Plaintiff is attempting to pursue in this action. The following factual allegations are included in the first amended complaint.
Defendant Ahlin signed and submitted the newly revised section 4350 to the Office of Administrative Law, and Defendant Price is responsible for the implementation of the newly revised section 4350 at CSH. (FAC at 1.) On January 12, 2018, Plaintiff received a memorandum from Defendant Price regarding an emergency regulation that was approved by the Office of Administrative Law. (Id.) The memorandum informed the patients at CSH that certain electronic devices and items were considered contraband and implementation of the new regulation would begin in several weeks. (Id. at 2-3.) The regulations make certain of Plaintiff's devices, including multi-media players, mp3 music players, gaming devices such as an Xbox360 and or PSP, and graphing calculators, which Plaintiff has been able to possess for years, contraband. (Id. at 4.)
Plaintiff alleges that confiscation of these devices denies him the right to access the courts, play video games, listen to music, watch television shows and movies, and pursue his college degree. (Id.) Pursuant to the new regulation, Plaintiff is allowed only one television, one radio, thirty commercial CDs, DVDs or BlueRay disks, and no graphing calculators or mp3 players which have no internet capability. (Id.)
CSH is located in a rural area and external antennas are required to be removed from radios. (Id. at 5.) Plaintiff cannot have a television antenna attached to his window. (Id.) Plaintiff's room is not fitted with any type of cable or master television distribution system and televisionand FM radio reception are virtually nonexistent. (Id.) Plaintiff relies on his multi-media players and mp3 player for entertainment. (Id.) There are two televisions per unit in the housing area for fifty patients. (Id.) These televisions receive satellite service, but he cannot get 49 other people to agree on the programing to watch so he cannot enjoy television in the public areas. (Id.) The majority of physical altercations in the facility result from disagreements over the public televisions and which programs to watch. (Id.)
On January 22, 2018, unidentified defendants confiscated most of Plaintiff's personal property. (Id. at 7.) Not only were items within section 4350 confiscated, but food items, utensils, bowls, plates, papers, legal work, cords, power supplies, batteries, powder drink mixes, toiletries, soap, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, pens, instant coffee, and condiments were confiscated. (Id.) Plaintiff should have been allowed by section 4350 to keep his Android tablet device, Xbox 360, and other peripheral devices such as controllers, keyboards, power supplies, and battery chargers, but these items were confiscated. (Id.) Plaintiff has been allowed to have certain property for more than a decade that is now considered to be contraband. (Id.)
The new regulation was justified due to the "epidemic of child pornography" at CSH, however the regulation affects all institutions statewide. (Id. at 8.) Since CSH opened five employees have been caught in possession of child pornography. (Id. at 9.) It is not clear if these individuals were included in the numbers to justify the alleged epidemic of child pornography. (Id.)
Prior to instituting the new regulation, patients were entitled to have more than one radio, one television, one CD/DVD/BluRay player, and 30 factory CDs/DVDs/BluRay disks. (Id.)
Since the defendants have taken control of his property, Plaintiff contends there is no safety and security concern remaining so they may not search his property for illegal material. (Id. at 9-10.) Sgt. Jones stated that all confiscated property was booked into evidence and would be searched for illegal material. (Id. at 10.) Plaintiff contends that a search warrant must be sought before any of the confiscated property can be searched. (Id. at 11.)
Plaintiff alleges that there was no notice of the change in the regulation to Plaintiff or otherpatients at CSH.2 (Id.) According to the memorandum that circulated after section 4350 had been amended, the emergency regulation package was submitted on December 22, 2017 without notice to the patients so that they could comment. (Id.) The Regulation became effective on January 12, 2018. (Id.) On January 13, 2018, the facility was placed on lock-down and Plaintiff had no access to the law library. (Id. at 12.) Plaintiff had typewriters in his unit but beginning January 13, 2018, he was denied use of them for his legal documents. (Id.) Plaintiff did not have any lined paper because he usually creates documents with a word processor and normally types or prints his documents. Due to the lock down Plaintiff was not able purchase lined paper. (Id.) Plaintiff got paper from another patient and got assistance from another patient to prepare his claim. (Id.) Defendants refused to make copies for Plaintiff. (Id.) The nursing station has a copy machine but it is not available for patient's use. (Id.) Staff made copies of memorandums from Defendant Price to the patients but would not make Plaintiff copies of his court paperwork. (Id.)
Plaintiff has been denied telephone access for all calls. (Id. at 13.) Plaintiff was denied when he asked to contact his attorney and the patient advocate. (Id.) All visits were suspended due to the lockdown. (Id.) Due to the denial of telephone access, Plaintiff could not inform potential visitors that they could not visit. (Id.)
Plaintiff was handicapped in preparing his original complaint because he did not have access to any cases other than those that he had memorized or stored on his electronic storage media. (Id.) Plaintiff did not have access to a computer or printer. (Id.) He had to rely on an outside party to type and...
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