Johnson v. Evans
- Susan Illston
- 3:22-cv-02664
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 2
In Johnson v. Evans, Judge Illston adopted the recommendation and dismissed Johnson’s case without leave to amend.
Sean Lyon Johnson and the defendants he sued: Kelli Evans and two state-court deputy clerks. The case was dismissed without leave to amend.
What happened
In Johnson v. Evans, Sean Lyon Johnson challenged the amount awarded in an earlier state-court case and the work of two deputy clerks. He sought apologies, changes involving the judge and one clerk, and money from each defendant.
Magistrate Judge Beeler recommended dismissal because Johnson had not pleaded legally viable claims. Johnson objected in a filing labeled a notice of appeal, but Judge Illston found the objection unpersuasive.
Judge Illston adopted the recommendation and dismissed the lawsuit without leave to amend. The court said the judge was protected from damages claims for judicial acts, that similar protection covered the clerks’ necessary judicial functions, and that challenges to the state-court decisions were barred as improper appeals.
The detailed version
- Johnson v. Evans · No. 3:22-cv-02664
- Susan Illston
- June 22, 2022
Background
Sean Lyon Johnson sued Kelli Evans, identified in the opinion as a judge of the Alameda County Superior Court, and two state-court deputy clerks. The lawsuit arose from an earlier state-court case. Johnson was dissatisfied with the damages amount awarded to him and with how the two clerks performed their duties.
Johnson sought a written apology, the removal or reassignment of Judge Evans and one of the clerks, and $10,000 from each defendant.
Report and Recommendation and Objection
On May 23, 2022, Magistrate Judge Beeler recommended dismissing Johnson’s complaint for failure to plead legally viable claims. Johnson filed an objection on June 6, 2022, in a document captioned “notice of appeal.” Judge Illston found the submission unpersuasive.
Court’s Analysis
The court adopted Magistrate Judge Beeler’s reasoning. It stated that Judge Evans had absolute immunity from damages liability for decisions made while performing judicial functions. The court also stated that this immunity extends to court clerks when they perform functions necessary to the judicial process.
The court further stated that, to the extent Johnson was challenging Judge Evans’s decisions, his claims amounted to direct or indirect appeals from state-court judgments. The court cited the rule barring federal district courts from reviewing such state-court judgments.
Disposition
The court adopted the Report and Recommendation and dismissed the lawsuit without leave to amend. The opinion does not identify a separate disposition for individual claims beyond dismissing the case.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.