Penny v. Alameda County

Background

Louis Levern Penny, an inmate at the Santa Rita Jail in Alameda County, filed this civil-rights action without a lawyer under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The court had previously dismissed his complaint with permission to amend. Penny filed an amended complaint, which the court reviewed under the prisoner-screening provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 1915A.

Penny alleged that on April 30, 2019, Alameda County Sheriff's Deputy Pereira unlocked his cell, entered, and kicked and punched him. He alleged that Deputy Wong accompanied Pereira, pointed a taser at him, and did not try to stop the attack. Penny also alleged that an unknown deputy later kicked his paperwork around and spilled a soapy substance on his property.

Screening and claims

The court explained that a claim under § 1983 requires an alleged violation of a federal constitutional or statutory right by a person acting under state law. Applying the standard for a pretrial detainee's excessive-force claim, the court stated that the force must have been purposely or knowingly used and objectively unreasonable.

The court held that Penny's allegations that Pereira punched and kicked him stated a cognizable Fourteenth Amendment claim for excessive force. It also held that the allegations that Wong stood by and failed to stop Pereira stated a cognizable Fourteenth Amendment claim for failing to intervene, because an officer may be liable when the officer had a realistic opportunity to intervene.

The court dismissed the § 1983 claim concerning the unknown deputy's alleged damage to or destruction of Penny's property. It explained that a random and unauthorized negligent or intentional deprivation of property does not violate due process when an adequate state post-deprivation remedy is available, and it found that California law provides such a remedy.

Disposition and next steps

The order states that the amended complaint, liberally construed, stated a cognizable Fourteenth Amendment claim against Pereira and Wong for excessive force, and that all other claims and defendants were dismissed. The Clerk was directed to issue a summons, and the U.S. Marshal was directed to serve Pereira and Wong without prepayment of fees.

The court set April 9, 2021, as the deadline for defendants to file and serve a summary-judgment motion or other dispositive motion; May 7, 2021, for Penny's opposition; and May 21, 2021, for any reply. The order also allowed discovery under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and warned Penny about the requirements for opposing summary judgment. Judge Edward M. Chen signed the order on February 17, 2021.