holding that a plaintiff who alleged that he "was forced to sleep on a sheet metal bunk without a mattress, for one night” did not state a cognizable constitutional violation but not discussing how long he was in processing or at what time of day or night he entered the cell in question
How later courts described this case
- holding that a plaintiff who alleged that he "was forced to sleep on a sheet metal bunk without a mattress, for one night” did not state a cognizable constitutional violation but not discussing how long he was in processing or at what time of day or night he entered the cell in question
- holding that allegation that inmate slept without a mattress for one night is insufficient to state an Eighth Amendment violation
- noting that § 1983 “has been successfully utilized to correct tens of thousands of civil rights violations of all description, in high school classrooms to maximum security wings of state prisons”
- allegation that inmate slept without 25 mattress for one night insufficient to state 8th Amendment violation and no amendment can alter 26 1 It is unclear if Plaintiff is a pre-trial detainee or incarcerated pursuant to a conviction. A pretrial 27 detainee’s claim regarding the food (s)he is served is governed by the Fourteenth Amendment, 1 that deficiency
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
WALLACE, Circuit Judge,
concurring:
I concur in Judge Schroeder’s opinion insofar as it reverses the district court’s dismissal of Hernandez’s claims based upon alleged deprivation of footwear, rape, and other physical abuse. Under the controlling precedent of this circuit, Noll v. Carlson, 809 F.2d 1446 (9th Cir.1987), unless it is “absolutely clear” that a pro se civil rights plaintiff’s complaint could not be amended to allege constitutional violations, the district court errs by dismissing the action without notifying the plaintiff of the complaint’s deficiencies and allowing him leave to amend. Id. at 1449 . Here, as in Noll , Hernandez amended his complaint, but did so without the benefit of a statement by the court notifying him of the deficiencies in his pleadings. Id. The magistrate’s recommendations to the district court, which erroneously concluded that Hernandez’s allegations were “wholly fanciful” because unlikely, did not serve as adequate notice of the complaint’s deficiencies under Noll . Thus, while I agree with Judge Aldisert that Hernandez’s various complaints failed to state claims upon which relief could be granted, see Aldisert, J., dissenting, reversal is required under Noll to allow Hernandez a chance to remedy the deficiencies in his complaint.
As Judge Aldisert points out in his persuasive dissent, it is not enough for a complaint to allege conclusions that are merely “possible”; a plaintiff must allege facts from which the liability of each defendant can rationally be inferred. I agree with Judge Schroeder that Hernandez should be allowed to amend his complaints, if he can, to add allegations that will establish the connection of each defendant to the deprivations claimed by Hernandez and that will establish that Hernandez has been the victim of unconstitutional conduct, rather than mere negligence. However, I write separately to emphasize that, should Hernandez fail to remedy the problems in his complaints after being informed of their deficiencies, his claims properly may be dismissed as frivolous for the reasons stated in Judge Aldisert’s dissent.