Polk v. Cavin et al, No. 3:2008cv01483 - Document 74 (N.D. Cal. 2010)
Court Description: ORDER GRANTING 44 MOTION TO DISMISS BY DEFENDANTS GIBSON AND ROBERTS; DISMISSING UNSERVED DEFENDANT PATRICK; DIRECTIONS TO CLERK. Signed by Judge Maxine M. Chesney on March 18, 2010. (mmcsec, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 3/18/2010) (Additional attachment(s) added on 3/18/2010: # 1 Certificate of Service) (fj, COURT STAFF).
Download PDF
<![CDATA[
Polk v. Cavin et al Doc. 74 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 For the Northern District of California United States District Court 10 12 13 14 15 ) ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) ) DEPUTY JAMES CAVIN, et al., ) Defendants. _______________________________ ) SUSAN MAE POLK, No. C 08-1483 MMC (PR) ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO DISMISS BY DEFENDANTS GIBSON AND ROBERTS; DISMISSING UNSERVED DEFENDANT PATRICK; DIRECTIONS TO CLERK (Docket No. 44) 16 On March 17, 2008, plaintiff, a California prisoner incarcerated at the Central 17 California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, California (“CCWF”), and proceeding pro se, 18 filed the above-titled civil rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Thereafter, by order filed 19 April 30, 2009, the Court found the allegations in plaintiff’s third amended complaint 20 (“TAC”), when liberally construed, state the following cognizable claims for relief: 21 (1) violation of plaintiff’s constitutional rights by Contra Costa County Jail (“CCCJ”) 22 officials when plaintiff was in their custody in August 2003, and (2) the denial of access to 23 the courts by various prison officials at CCWF. By that same order, the Court directed 24 defendants to file a motion for summary judgment or other dispositive motion with respect to 25 plaintiff’s cognizable claims. 26 27 Now pending before the Court is the motion filed by CCWF defendants Sgt. Roberts and Sgt. Gibson to dismiss the claims against them on the ground that plaintiff failed to 28 Dockets.Justia.com 1 exhaust administrative remedies prior to filing suit.1 Plaintiff has opposed the motion and 2 defendants have filed a reply.2 BACKGROUND3 For the Northern District of California United States District Court 3 4 In the TAC, plaintiff alleges the following: 5 On August 29, 2003, when plaintiff was incarcerated at the CCCJ, she was assaulted 6 without cause by Sheriff’s Deputy James Cavin. (TAC at 16:¶¶ 18-20.) In February 2007, 7 plaintiff was transferred to the Valley State Prison for Women (“VSPW”) (TAC at 38:¶ 14), 8 and in June 2007 she was transferred to administrative segregation at CCWF (TAC at 40:¶ 9 18). In August 2007, plaintiff filed emergency administrative appeals, complaining that 10 CCWF defendants Sgt. Gibson and Sgt. Robertson were denying her access to the law library 11 and legal materials adequate to enable her to file a complaint concerning the above-noted 12 assault and to comply with other court deadlines. (TAC 44:¶ 6.) On August 19, 2007, 13 plaintiff was returned to CCCJ for court hearings (TAC 41:¶ 22), and she remained there 14 until she was returned to CCWF on November 5, 2007 (TAC 42:¶ 27). 15 Plaintiff believed the statutory deadline for filing the instant complaint was August 29, 16 2007. (TAC 41:¶ 22.) Because of the denial of access to the law library and legal materials 17 at CCWF, however, plaintiff was not able to file her original complaint in this matter until 18 March 2008. (TAC 43:¶ 3-45:¶ 7.) 19 20 Based on the above allegations, plaintiff claims CCWF Sgts. Gibson and Roberts, as well as Warden Gail Patrick, have violated her constitutional right of access to the courts. 21 DISCUSSION 22 1 23 24 Plaintiff has also named CCWF Warden Gail Patrick as a defendant to her claim. Warden Patrick, however, has not been served; consequently, no appearance has been made on her behalf. 2 25 26 The Contra Costa County defendants have filed a separate motion to dismiss with respect to the claims asserted against them in the TAC. (Docket No. 25.) The motion has been fully briefed and is addressed in a separate order filed concurrently herewith. 3 27 28 As the instant motion pertains solely to the claims asserted against the CCWF defendants, only the facts alleged by plaintiff in the TAC with respect to those claims are set forth herein. 2 Defendants Gibson and Roberts move to dismiss plaintiff’s claims on the ground 1 2 plaintiff has failed to exhaust her administrative remedies as required under 42 U.S.C. 3 § 1997(e). 4 A. Non-exhaustion under § 1997e(a) is an affirmative defense; defendants have the For the Northern District of California 5 United States District Court Standard of Review 6 burden of raising and proving the absence of exhaustion. Wyatt v. Terhune, 315 F.3d 1108, 7 1119 (9th Cir. 2003). A nonexhaustion defense should be raised in an unenumerated Rule 8 12(b) motion. Id. In deciding such a motion, the district court may look beyond the 9 pleadings and decide disputed issues of fact. Id. at 1119-20. If the court concludes the 10 prisoner has not exhausted nonjudicial remedies, the complaint is subject to dismissal without 11 prejudice. Id. at 1120; see also Lira v. Herrera, 427 F.3d 1164, 1175 (9th Cir. 2005) (holding 12 when complaint includes both exhausted and unexhausted claims court should dismiss 13 unexhausted claims). 14 B. 15 The Exhaustion Requirement The Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Pub. L. No. 104-134, 110 Stat. 1321 16 (1996) (“PLRA”) provides: “No action shall be brought with respect to prison conditions 17 under [42 U.S.C. § 1983], or any other Federal law, by a prisoner confined in any jail, prison, 18 or other correctional facility until such administrative remedies as are available are 19 exhausted.” 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a). Exhaustion is mandatory and not left to the discretion of 20 the district court. Woodford v. Ngo, 548 U.S. 81, 84 (2006). Exhaustion is a prerequisite to 21 all prisoner lawsuits concerning prison life, whether such actions involve general conditions 22 or particular episodes, whether they allege excessive force or some other wrong, and even if 23 they seek relief not available in grievance proceedings, such as money damages. Porter v. 24 Nussle, 534 U.S. 516, 524 (2002). 25 The State of California provides its prisoners and parolees the right to appeal 26 administratively “any departmental decision, action, condition or policy perceived by those 27 individuals as adversely affecting their welfare.” Cal. Code Regs. tit. 15, (“CCR”), 28 3 1 § 3084.1(a).4 In order to exhaust available administrative remedies within this system, a 2 prisoner must proceed through several levels of appeal: (1) informal review, (2) first formal 3 level appeal on a CDC 602 inmate appeal form, (3) second formal level appeal to the 4 institution head or designee, and (4) third formal level appeal to the Director of the California 5 Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (“CDCR”). See CCR § 3084.5; Barry v. 6 Ratelle, 985 F. Supp. 1235, 1237 (S.D. Cal. 1997). A final decision from the Director’s level 7 of review satisfies the exhaustion requirement under § 1997e(a). Id. at 1237-38. At each 8 level of appeal, the inmate “must submit the appeal within 15 working days of the event or 9 decision being appealed, or of receiving an unacceptable lower level appeal decision.” CCR § 3084.6(c). 11 For the Northern District of California United States District Court 10 The exhaustion requirement cannot be satisfied by the filing of an untimely or 12 otherwise procedurally defective administrative grievance or appeal. See Woodford, 548 13 U.S. at 84. Rather, “proper exhaustion” of available administrative remedies is required. Id. 14 at 92. The requirements of the prison’s grievance process, not the PLRA, define the 15 boundaries of proper exhaustion. Jones v. Bock, 549 U.S. 199, 218 (2007). 16 An action must be dismissed unless the prisoner first exhausted available 17 administrative remedies before filing suit. McKinney v. Carey, 311 F.3d 1198, 1199 (9th 18 Cir. 2002). 19 C. 20 Analysis Defendants argue plaintiff did not exhaust her administrative remedies because she 21 did not receive, before filing the instant action, a decision on the merits from the Director’s 22 level of review with respect to the claims plaintiff raises herein. 23 In support of their argument, defendants submit a declaration by N. Grannis 24 (“Grannis”), Chief of the Inmate Appeals Branch (“IAB”) at the California Department of 25 Corrections and Rehabilitation. According to Grannis, the IAB keeps an electronic record of 26 each inmate administrative appeal that has proceeded through the final level of review, the 27 4 28 Unless otherwise noted, all further references to code sections are to title 15 of the California Code of Regulations. 4 1 Director’s level. (Decl. N. Grannis Supp. Mot. Dismiss (“Grannis Decl.”) ¶ 3.) Grannis has 2 attached to his declaration the IAB computer printout of a report showing each inmate appeal 3 filed by plaintiff at the Director’s level of review since the time the computer system was 4 commenced in 1993. (Id. ¶ 4 & Ex. A.) The report lists which of plaintiff’s appeals were 5 addressed at the Director’s level of review and which appeals were “screened out,” i.e., 6 rejected for procedural reasons, at the Director’s level of review. (Id. ¶ 3.) For the Northern District of California United States District Court 7 As relevant to the instant action, the report of plaintiff’s Director’s-level appeals 8 shows that the Director’s level did not accept or review any inmate appeals from plaintiff 9 before she mailed her original complaint in the instant action to the court on March 12, 2008. 10 Specifically, the only inmate appeals received from plaintiff at the Director’s level before 11 March 12, 2008 were screened out for various reasons. Further, the report shows that a final 12 decision on plaintiff’s appeal number CCWF-08-0004, which appeal concerns plaintiff’s 13 access to the law library and legal supplies in order to meet court deadlines, was not issued 14 by the Director’s level until November 5, 2008, nearly eight months after plaintiff filed the 15 instant action. (Id. ¶ 7 & Ex. A.) 16 Based on the above evidence, defendants argue the administrative appeals process was 17 available to plaintiff to exhaust her claims before filing suit, and plaintiff failed to properly 18 exhaust her administrative appeals. 19 In opposition to the motion to dismiss, plaintiff does not dispute that her appeal 20 concerning her access-to-the-courts claim was not addressed on the merits at the Director’s 21 level of review before she filed the instant action. Rather, she argues the Court should allow 22 her claim to proceed because her administrative appeal was “granted” at the first level of 23 review, thereby exhausting the claim. In particular, the evidence shows that Correctional 24 Lieutenant V. Cambridge, on February 4, 2008, issued a First Level Appeal Response to 25 plaintiff’s grievance that she was not being allowed access to the law library and legal 26 supplies necessary for her to litigate her civil actions. The appeal described the action 27 requested by plaintiff as follows: “You are requesting access to the Law Library as well as 28 the necessary indigent station[e]ry supplies needed for you to complete your legal work.” 5 1 (Decl. of J. Nygaard (“Nygaard Decl.”) in Supp. of Defs.’ Reply Ex. 2 at 7.) Lt. Cambridge 2 then provided the following response to plaintiff’s request: APPEAL RESPONSE: I interviewed you on February 4, 2008 at the First Level of review to afford you the opportunity to explain your appeal issues in detail. During the interview, you indicated that you were getting access to the Law Library as well as the necessary indigent station[e]ry supplies needed for you to complete your legal work. 3 4 5 6 A review of the Administrative Segregation Unit’s (ASU) Isolation Logbook indicates that you have been provided access to the Law Library every Monday, which is the allotted time slot for ASU inmates. The ASU staff also confirms that you have been provided with station[e]ry supplies as allowed in the ASU. 7 8 9 APPEAL DECISION: Based on the aforementioned, your appeal is Granted at the First Formal Level of Review. 11 For the Northern District of California United States District Court 10 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 (Id.) In response to plaintiff’s opposition, defendants argue plaintiff’s claim was not exhausted when it was granted at the first level of review because plaintiff continued to seek relief at the second and third (Director’s) levels of review after she received the February 4, 2008 response. In particular, plaintiff, in her second-level appeal filed on March 6, 2008, stated she “disagree[d] with the remarks contained in the [first-level response]” and that she continued to be denied access to the law library and legal resources following the first-level interview. (Id. at 8-9.) At the second level of review, plaintiff’s request for law library access was granted because the first level response indicated she was receiving such access, and her request for legal supplies was partially granted on the ground that such supplies would be issued to her if she could show she was indigent. (Id. at 10.) Plaintiff was not satisfied with the second-level response, however, and appealed to the Director’s level of review on June 19, 2008, claiming her complaints had been misstated in the second-level response and stating she continued to be denied access to legal materials and supplies adequate to litigate her civil actions. (Id. at 10-13.) A prisoner is required to pursue the exhaustion of administrative remedies as long as prison officials can take some responsive action to the prisoner’s grievance. See Booth v. 6 1 Churner, 532 U.S. 731, 733-34 (2001). “The obligation to exhaust available remedies 2 persists as long as some remedy remains ‘available.’” Brown v. Valoff, 422 F.3d 926, 935 3 (9th Cir. 2005). Based on the above-noted course of events that followed the first-level 4 response to plaintiff’s appeal, the Court agrees with defendants that plaintiff’s express 5 disagreement with the decision granting her appeal, and her continued pursuit of further 6 responsive action from prison officials, show that “some remedy” remained available to her 7 even after the first-level appeal was granted. Consequently, the Court finds plaintiff’s claim 8 was not exhausted by issuance of the first-level response. For the Northern District of California United States District Court 9 Plaintiff further argues she should be allowed to proceed with her claim because 10 prison officials intentionally interfered with her ability to exhaust her administrative appeals 11 by “indefinitely” delaying the response to her first-level appeal. Specifically, plaintiff claims 12 that under prison regulations a response to her appeal should have been issued within twenty 13 days, but in the instant case her first-level appeal was submitted on August 17, 2007 and she 14 did not receive a response thereto until approximately five and one-half months later, when 15 the first-level response was issued on February 4, 2008. While Woodford left open the 16 possibility that proper exhaustion might not be required where prison administrators “devise 17 procedural requirements that are designed to trap unwary prisoners and thus to defeat their 18 claims,” 548 U.S. at 102, the Court finds the evidence herein does not support such a finding. 19 Specifically, the evidence shows: plaintiff filed her first-level appeal on August 17, 2007; she 20 was transferred from CCWF back to the county jail two days later on August 19, 2007; she 21 did not return to CCWF until November 6, 2007; after her return she was in the 22 administrative segregation unit at CCWF until February 2008; she received a first-level 23 response to her appeal on February 4, 2008. There is no evidence indicating when plaintiff 24 first acted to revive her appeal following her return to CCWF. The Court concludes the facts 25 derived from plaintiff’s evidence fail to support her assertion that defendants intentionally 26 and indefinitely delayed her access to the administrative appeals process for purposes of 27 exhausting her claim of denial of access to the courts. 28 Based on the foregoing, the Court finds unpersuasive plaintiff’s argument that her 7 For the Northern District of California United States District Court 1 failure to exhaust her administrative remedies as to her claims against the CCWF defendants 2 should be excused. Defendants have met their burden of raising and proving the absence of 3 exhaustion by showing plaintiff’s appeal was not addressed at the Director’s level of review 4 until more than seven months after she filed the instant action, and that administrative 5 remedies remained available to her to obtain the relief she sought after her first-level appeal 6 was granted. Plaintiff has not produced evidence to the contrary, nor has she shown an 7 inability to exhaust resulting from any procedural requirements designed to “trap” her and 8 make it impossible for her to complete the administrative appeals process. Accordingly, the 9 Court finds plaintiff did not properly exhaust her administrative remedies, and defendants’ 10 motion to dismiss the claims against them as unexhausted will be granted. 11 D. Unserved Defendant 12 In its April 30, 2009 Order of Service, the Court directed the United States Marshal 13 (“Marshal”) to serve the three CCCJ employees and the three CCWF employees named as 14 defendants to this action. The Marshal successfully served all defendants except Warden 15 Gail Patrick, the former warden of CCWF. The address provided by plaintiff for defendant 16 Patrick was a post office box at the headquarters of the CDCR in Sacramento. (Docket No. 17 12.) On November 23, 2009, the unexecuted summons was returned to the court with a 18 notation by the Marshal that the summons had been returned to the Marshal by the CDCR on 19 August 4, 2009, for the reason that the summons could not be delivered as addressed and 20 could not be forwarded. (Docket No. 8.) 21 To date, Patrick has not been served. It is clear, however, that the claims against her 22 are subject to dismissal for the reasons discussed above. Specifically, plaintiff alleges that 23 Patrick oversaw the actions of CCWF defendants Gibson and Roberts, and there is no 24 suggestion in the TAC and exhibits attached thereto, or in the briefs and exhibits filed in 25 connection with the instant motion to dismiss, that the analysis of the nonexhaustion 26 argument with respect to Patrick would differ in any respect from the analysis of such 27 argument with respect to Gibson and Roberts. Given the Court’s finding that plaintiff has 28 failed to produce evidence showing she exhausted her administrative remedies with respect 8 1 to her claim against Gibson and Roberts for denial of access to the courts, plaintiff cannot 2 prevail on that same claim as against Patrick. Accordingly, the Court will dismiss the claim 3 against defendant Patrick as unexhausted. See Abagninin v. AMVAC Chemical Corp., 545 4 F.3d 733, 742 (9th Cir. 2008) (holding district court properly granted motion for judgment on 5 pleadings as to unserved defendants where such defendants were in position similar to served 6 defendants against whom claim for relief could not be stated); Columbia Steel Fabricators, 7 Inc. v. Ahlstrom Recovery, 44 F.3d 800, 803 (9th Cir. 1995) (affirming grant of summary 8 judgment in favor of nonappearing defendant where plaintiff, in response to summary 9 judgment motion filed by defendant who had appeared, had “full and fair opportunity to brief and present evidence” on dispositive issue as to claim against nonappearing defendant). 11 For the Northern District of California United States District Court 10 CONCLUSION 12 For the foregoing reasons, the motion to dismiss plaintiff’s denial of access to the 13 courts claim as unexhausted is hereby GRANTED as to defendants Gibson, Roberts and 14 Patrick. 15 Upon the filing, concurrently herewith, of the Court’s separate order granting the 16 motion to dismiss filed by defendants Cavin, Chertkow and Rupf, the Clerk shall enter 17 judgment in favor of all defendants and close the file. 18 This order terminates Docket No. 44 19 IT IS SO ORDERED. 20 21 22 DATED: March 18, 2010 _________________________ MAXINE M. CHESNEY United States District Judge 23 24 25 26 27 28 9
]]>
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.
