Summary
The court dismissed plaintiff’s 42 U.S.C. § 1983 complaint with leave to amend because it improperly joined unrelated claims against sheriff’s deputies and an unidentified jail medical provider. The court granted plaintiff’s application to proceed in forma pauperis and ordered him to file an amended complaint or a notice of voluntary dismissal within thirty days.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the complaint satisfied the federal pleading and plausibility requirements applicable during screening of an in forma pauperis action.
- Whether claims arising from the alleged van incident could be joined in the same action with the unrelated claim concerning denial of prescribed medication by an unidentified jail medical provider.
- Whether plaintiff should be granted leave to amend after dismissal for improper joinder.
Holdings
- Claims against Deputies Babb and Duff concerning the van incident could not proceed in the same action as the unrelated claim against the unidentified medical provider concerning denial of medication. The complaint was therefore dismissed with leave to amend.
- A federal court must screen a complaint filed by a claimant seeking permission to proceed in forma pauperis and dismiss any portion that is frivolous, malicious, fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or seeks monetary relief from an immune defendant.
- The complaint was dismissed with leave to amend, and plaintiff was given thirty days to file either a first amended complaint or a notice of voluntary dismissal without prejudice.
Key quotations
“Multiple, unrelated claims against more than one defendant belong in separate suits.” (1)
“Plaintiff’s complaint, ECF No. 1, is DISMISSED with leave to amend.” (3)
Factual background
Plaintiff alleged that Deputies Duff and Babb left him handcuffed and unattended in a van without his inhaler for approximately an hour. He alleged that he passed out, suffered an asthma attack, and that Babb delayed assistance and taunted the inmates before turning on the van's air conditioning. Separately, plaintiff alleged that an unidentified Yuba County Jail medical provider refused to provide prescribed Gabapentin or Neurontin, resulting in withdrawal symptoms.
Procedural history
Anderson Purnell Thurston filed the action and an application to proceed in forma pauperis. The district court granted the application after finding the required showing satisfied, but on screening determined that the claims against Deputies Babb and Duff were unrelated to the claim against the unidentified medical provider. The court dismissed the complaint with leave to amend and allowed plaintiff thirty days to file an amended complaint or a notice of voluntary dismissal without prejudice.