IN RE CIM-SQ TRANSFER CASES
- Edward Davila
- 5:20-cv-06326
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 7
Counsel of record per CourtListener. Firm names are approximate and have been consolidated across spelling variants.
In In re CIM-SQ Transfer Cases, Judge Davila granted amendment, ordered service on five officials, barred claims against some defendants, and kept the case stayed.
The self-represented prisoner’s amended civil-rights claims proceed at the screening stage against five named officials for service, while claims against California, two state agencies, and R. Steven Tharratt do not proceed; the case remains stayed except for service.
What happened
In In re CIM-SQ Transfer Cases, a California prisoner representing himself filed an amended civil-rights complaint about his transfer from the California Institution for Men to San Quentin State Prison and the COVID-19 outbreak there. The cases had been consolidated, and the individual case remained part of that consolidated proceeding.
The court found that the complaint plausibly alleged that the named officials were deliberately indifferent to the prisoner’s safety. It ruled that claims could not proceed against California, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, or California Correctional Health Care Services, and that R. Steven Tharratt was not properly named because the court understood that he had died. The court also said the prisoner could later seek permission to name additional defendants.
Judge Davila granted the motion to amend and ordered service on five officials: Ralph Diaz, Ron Davis, Clarence Cryer, Alison Pachynski, and Shannon Garrigan. The case will remain stayed for purposes other than serving the complaint.
The detailed version
- IN RE CIM-SQ TRANSFER CASES · No. 5:20-cv-06326
- Edward Davila
- July 30, 2025
Background
The plaintiff, a California prisoner proceeding without a lawyer, filed a civil-rights action concerning the May 2020 transfer of prisoners from the California Institution for Men to San Quentin State Prison and the related COVID-19 outbreak. The case was consolidated with related cases under the caption “In Re CIM-SQ Transfer Cases.” After the court dismissed the original complaint with permission to amend, the plaintiff filed a First Amended Complaint styled as a motion to amend.
The court screened the amended complaint under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A, which requires federal courts to review prisoner complaints against governmental entities or employees and dismiss claims that are frivolous, malicious, inadequately pleaded, or seek money from an immune defendant. The court also applied the rule that pleadings filed without a lawyer should be read liberally.
Claims and screening rulings
The amended complaint named California; the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation; California Correctional Health Care Services; Ralph Diaz; R. Steven Tharratt; Ron Davis; Clarence Cryer; Alison Pachynski; and Shannon Garrigan. It also referred generally to unnamed personnel and to people identified in reports concerning the transfer and the COVID-19 response.
The court held that, liberally construed, the allegations stated a plausible claim under the Eighth Amendment for deliberate indifference to the plaintiff’s safety against the named individual defendants in their individual capacities. The allegations concerned the transfer of prisoners, the procedures used for the transfer, the response to the COVID-19 outbreak, medical care, safety, and allegedly dangerous living and working conditions. The plaintiff alleged that he tested positive for COVID-19 on July 7, 2020.
The court ruled that the claims could not proceed against the State of California, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, or California Correctional Health Care Services because the Eleventh Amendment bars suits against a state and extends that protection to state agencies. It also stated that state agencies are not “persons” who can be liable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The court ruled that the claims could not proceed against R. Steven Tharratt because it understood, based on a filing and obituary of which it took judicial notice, that he had died on August 20, 2020. The court stated that he was therefore not appropriately named as a defendant and would be dismissed. The court did not allow the overinclusive references to unnamed individuals to proceed, but said the plaintiff could later seek to amend the complaint to identify additional defendants.
Order
The court granted the plaintiff’s motion to amend. It ordered service through the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s electronic-service program on Ralph Diaz, Ron Davis, Clarence Cryer, Alison Pachynski, and Shannon Garrigan. The order described procedures for service waivers and, when necessary, service by the United States Marshals Service.
The court cautioned defendants about the costs of refusing to waive service, directed the plaintiff to provide copies of court filings to defendants or their counsel, and reminded him to prosecute the case, update his address, and comply with deadlines. The case remains stayed for all purposes other than service of the complaint. Judge Davila signed the order.
Read the full 7-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.