de Tagle v. Santa Clara County
- Van Keulen
- 5:24-cv-07046
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 2
In de Tagle v. Santa Clara County, Judge Van Keulen granted a fee waiver, ordered reassignment, and recommended dismissal because judicial immunity barred the suit.
Orlando Sanchez de Tagle, the self-represented plaintiff, and the defendants identified in the case as Santa Clara County and Judge Stephen Manley.
What happened
In de Tagle v. Santa Clara County, Orlando Sanchez de Tagle, representing himself, sued over actions by a Santa Clara County judge. He alleged that the judge ordered him to wear a GPS monitor and sent him to jail after he removed it.
The complaint identifies Judge Stephen Manley as the defendant, although the case caption names Santa Clara County. The court concluded that judicial immunity protects the judge from suit for actions taken in his official capacity as a judge, and that amending the complaint could not fix the problem.
Judge Susan Van Keulen granted de Tagle’s application to proceed without paying filing fees, ordered the case reassigned to a district judge because the parties had not all consented to a magistrate judge, and recommended dismissing the complaint without leave to amend. The parties had 14 days to object to that recommendation.
The detailed version
- de Tagle v. Santa Clara County · No. 5:24-cv-07046
- Van Keulen
- Oct. 21, 2024
Background
Orlando Sanchez de Tagle filed the case without a lawyer. The complaint names Santa Clara County as the defendant in the caption but identifies Judge Stephen Manley as the defendant in the allegations. De Tagle sued over actions taken by Judge Manley in his official capacity as a judge.
De Tagle alleged that, during a proceeding at the Santa Clara County Hall of Justice on December 14, 2023, Judge Manley ordered him to wear a GPS monitor. De Tagle further alleged that he was sent to jail on January 12, 2024, after removing the monitor. He claimed physical, mental, and emotional injuries and an invasion of privacy.
Court’s Analysis
The court noted that de Tagle had previously filed multiple lawsuits in the district against other Santa Clara County judges and that those cases had been dismissed based on judicial immunity. Judicial immunity is a legal protection that generally prevents judges from being sued for actions taken in their judicial roles. The court concluded that Judge Manley was immune from suit on the allegations in this case and that no amendment could cure the deficiency.
Orders and Recommendation
The court granted de Tagle’s application to proceed without paying filing fees. Because all parties had not consented to magistrate judge jurisdiction, the court ordered the Clerk of Court to reassign the case to a district judge.
Judge Susan Van Keulen recommended dismissal of the complaint without leave to amend. This was a recommendation rather than a final dismissal by a district judge. The order stated that any party could object to the recommendation within 14 days under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 72.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.