Disability Rights Montana v. Batista, No. 15-35770 (9th Cir. 2019)
Annotate this Case
The Ninth Circuit reversed the district court's dismissal of a 42 U.S.C. 1983 action alleging that DOC defendants violated the Eighth Amendment rights of all prisoners with serious mental illness who are confined to the Montana State Prison.
The panel held that the complaint, which describes the horrific treatment of prisoners, was supported by factual allegations more than sufficient to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face under Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007), and Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009). In this case, the complaint alleged, among other things, that prisoners with serious mental illness are denied diagnosis and treatment of their conditions; described a distressing pattern of placing mentally ill prisoners in solitary confinement for "weeks and months at a time" without significant mental health care; and alleged the frequent, improper use of this punishment for behavior arising from mental illness. Furthermore, the district court had mistaken this case for another case brought by plaintiff against a different defendant. Therefore, the panel remanded for further proceedings and reassigned the case to a different district court judge.
Court Description: Prisoner Civil Rights The panel reversed the district court’s dismissal of a prisoner civil rights complaint, remanded for further proceedings, and reassigned the case to a different district court judge. Plaintiff, Disability Rights Montana, alleged pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 that the Director of the Montana Department of Corrections and the Warden of the Montana State Prison violated the Eighth Amendment rights of “all prisoners with serious mental illness who are confined to the Montana State Prison.” The district court dismissed the complaint for failing to state a claim pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). The panel held that the complaint, which described the horrific treatment of prisoners, was supported by factual allegations more than sufficient to “state a claim to relief that was plausible on its face” under Bell Atlantic Corp. v.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.