Pugh v. Malone
- Jeffrey White
- 4:22-cv-01487
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 3
In Pugh v. Malone, Judge Jeffrey White dismissed Pugh's complaint for failing to state a claim but allowed him to amend.
Terryonn D. Pugh may amend his complaint within the ordered deadline. The other inmates named as plaintiffs cannot proceed through Pugh's complaint; the order says their claims were dismissed, but the reproduced text is incomplete about the remaining amendment language. The defendants remain subject to the case only if a legally sufficient amended complaint proceeds.
What happened
In Pugh v. Malone, Terryonn Pugh, a jail inmate representing himself, sued over alleged failures to prevent COVID-19 from spreading at the jail. He named other inmates as plaintiffs, but only he signed the complaint and filed the application to proceed without paying fees.
The court said Pugh had not described how he was exposed or became sick, or what each defendant specifically did or failed to do. It dismissed the complaint for failing to state a claim, while allowing Pugh to file an amended complaint within 28 days. The court also dismissed claims brought by the other inmates, although the reproduced order is incomplete about whether they could amend.
Judge Jeffrey White ordered Pugh to include all claims in a new complaint and warned that failing to amend on time could result in dismissal of the case.
The detailed version
- Pugh v. Malone · No. 4:22-cv-01487
- Jeffrey White
- Apr. 25, 2022
Background
Terryonn D. Pugh, an inmate at the Contra Costa County Jail, filed a civil-rights complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 concerning jail conditions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. He proceeded without a lawyer and sought to bring the case for himself and other inmates. The order states that Pugh was separately allowed to proceed without paying the filing fee.
Claims and screening
Because Pugh was a prisoner suing a governmental entity or its personnel, the court conducted an initial screening under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A. That screening requires the court to identify claims that can proceed and dismiss claims that are frivolous, malicious, inadequately pleaded, or seek money from an immune defendant. The court also explained that it must read a self-represented litigant's allegations liberally, but the complaint still must contain enough facts to make a legally plausible claim.
Pugh alleged that the defendants failed to take adequate precautions against COVID-19 at the jail and that many inmates became sick. The court found that he did not allege the circumstances of his own exposure, whether, when, or how he became ill, or the specific action or inaction by each defendant that caused him to become sick. The court also stated that jail supervisors are not liable for subordinates' conduct merely because they hold supervisory positions.
The court further held that Pugh could not represent the other inmates because he is not a lawyer. It stated that those inmates could pursue claims together if represented by a lawyer, or could each file an individual complaint if proceeding without a lawyer.
Disposition
The court dismissed Pugh's complaint for failure to state a claim and granted him leave to file an amended complaint. He was required to file it within 28 days, use the case caption and number specified by the court, identify it as a court-ordered first amended complaint, and include all claims he wished to pursue because an amended complaint replaces the original complaint. The court warned that failure to amend as required could result in dismissal of the case and that failure to prosecute could also lead to dismissal under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b).
The conclusion states that claims brought by all plaintiffs other than Pugh were dismissed without leave to [text incomplete in the reproduced opinion]. The missing text prevents a definitive statement of the full qualifier or scope of that ruling. The order was signed by Judge Jeffrey S. White on April 25, 2022.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.