Silverman v. Napa State Hospital

Background

Jacob S. Silverman, a California inmate, filed this civil-rights action without a lawyer under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. He alleged that, while he was at Napa State Hospital from August 7, 2018, through August 28, 2018, the bathrooms and showers were unsanitary because they were not adequately and regularly cleaned.

The original complaint named Napa State Hospital as the only defendant. The court dismissed the complaint twice, allowing Silverman to amend so that he could name a proper defendant. After a prior amendment named various entities and unidentified supervisors, the court stated that the potential defendant was the supervisor responsible for maintaining the bathrooms and showers in Unit Q-9, if such a person existed.

Silverman then filed a document seeking to add Erin Sherman and Ken Maiseld as supervisors. The court treated that filing as an amendment to the prior amended complaint rather than as a separate second amended complaint.

Screening and claim

Because a prisoner sought relief from a governmental entity or its officer or employee, the court conducted the required preliminary screening under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A. At this stage, the court must identify claims that can proceed and dismiss claims that are frivolous, malicious, inadequately pleaded, or seek money from an immune defendant. The court also said that filings by people without lawyers must be read liberally.

The court explained that a claim under § 1983 requires allegations that a constitutional or federal-law right was violated and that the violation was committed by a person acting under state law. Silverman alleged that Erin Sherman knowingly refused to allow him to use cleaning disinfectants and deliberately declined to create a proper sanitary environment for the bathroom and shower. The court found that these allegations stated a cognizable claim for unsanitary conditions at Napa State Hospital during the period described.

Order

The action was ordered to proceed against Erin Sherman and Ken Maiseld at Napa State Hospital. The clerk was directed to terminate all other defendants from the action. The clerk was also directed to send the defendants the lawsuit notice, waiver-of-service forms, the relevant pleadings and attachments, and a copy of the order.

The defendants were ordered, no later than 91 days after the order was filed, to file a summary-judgment motion or another dispositive motion addressing the claims found cognizable. The order set deadlines for Silverman’s opposition and the defendants’ reply, allowed discovery under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and gave additional instructions concerning service, communications, address changes, prosecution of the case, and requests for extensions. The order did not decide ultimate liability on the unsanitary-conditions claim.