United States District Court, E.D. California
ORDER DENYING MOTION TO SUPPLEMENT TO INCLUDE
RETALIATION AND DUE PROCESS CLAIMS (ECF NO. 175)
Gina
Caruso (“Plaintiff”) is a state prisoner
proceeding in forma pauperis in this civil rights
action filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
On
September 26, 2019, Plaintiff filed a Motion to Supplement to
Include Retaliation and Due Process Claims. (ECF No. 175).
Plaintiff seeks to add claims related to her allegedly
illegal transfer in March 2019 from the California
Institution for Women (“CIW”) to the Central
California Women's Facility (“CCWF”) for:
“(1) retaliation for enforcing her constitutional right
of access to the courts, in violation of the First Amendment;
and (2) [a] due process violation under the Fourteenth
Amendment for transferring Ms. Caruso in violation of Title
15 regulations and pursuant to an underground
regulation.” (Id. at 2).
Plaintiff's
proposed supplemental claims would be brought against
defendants not currently in this lawsuit, namely Molly Hill,
the Warden of CIW, and Ralph Diaz, the Secretary of the
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
(“CDCR”). The current defendants have filed an
opposition to the Motion. (ECF No. 181). The Court held a
hearing on the motion on November 1, 2019. (ECF No. 191).
Plaintiff's counsel Jenny Huang and Defendants'
Counsel Derrek Lee were telephonically present.
For the
reasons set forth below, the Court denies Plaintiff's
motion.
I.
Background
Plaintiff
filed her first complaint in this action on May 22, 2015.
(ECF No. 1). After several amendments and screening orders,
this Court found cognizable claims against Defendants Ingram,
Martinez, Lopez and Solario for excessive force in violation
of the Eighth Amendment and an unreasonable search in
violation of the Fourth Amendment. (ECF Nos. 45 & 53).
These claims stem from a July 22, 2013 search of Plaintiff
and her cell while Plaintiff was incarcerated at CCWF.
After
multiple extensions of the schedule, trial is set before
District Judge Anthony W. Ishii on June 16, 2020. (ECF No.
141).
Plaintiff
now moves to file a supplemental complaint for retaliation
and violation of due process. (ECF No. 175). That
supplemental complaint alleges in part:
After MS. CARUSO filed this action, she was transferred to
the California Institution for Women (“CIW”)
where she was housed from on or around October 15, 2015 until
March 14, 2019. During the course of litigation in this case,
CIW repeatedly denied MS. CARUSO access to the courts and to
her attorney. In response, MS. CARUSO encouraged this Court
to impose sanctions against CIW for violating her First
Amendment right of access to the courts. On March 14, 2019,
in retaliation for enforcing her constitutional rights, CIW
transferred MS. CARUSO to CCWF in violation of prison
regulations and pursuant to an underground regulation. Since
March 14, 2019, MS. CARUSO has been confined at CCWF in
Administrative Segregation (“Ad Seg”) to protect
her from her documents and validated enemy concerns at CCWF.
For the past six months, due to her Ad Seg status at CCWF,
MS. CARUSO has been unable to have personal visits or phone
communication with her family, who reside in Southern
California.
(ECF No. 175, at p. 5).
II.
Legal Standards
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(d) provides for
supplemental pleadings as follows: On motion and reasonable
notice, the court may, on just terms, permit a party to serve
a supplemental pleading setting out any transaction,
occurrence, or event that happened after the date of the
pleading to be supplemented. The court may permit
supplementation even though the original pleading is
defective in stating a claim or defense. The court may order
that the opposing party plead to the supplemental pleading
within a specified time.
Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(d).
The
Ninth Circuit has provided the following guidance in ruling
on ...