Thomas v. Hill

Opinion

1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 2 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 3 Kenneth D. THOMAS, Case No.: 24-cv-1528-AGS-MSB 4 Plaintiff, ORDER: (1) DENYING MOTION TO 5 v. PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS (ECF 4) AS MOOT AND 6 7 J. HILL, RJD Prison, (2) DENYING MOTION FOR 8 Defendants. RECONSIDERATION (ECF 5) 9 10 Plaintiff Kenneth Thomas, an inmate representing himself, brings a civil-rights claim 11 against his prison and its warden under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. On January 27, 2024, the Court 12 granted Thomas’s request to proceed without prepaying the filing fee due to poverty but 13 dismissed his original complaint for failure to state a claim. (ECF 3.) The Court granted 14 Thomas leave to file an amended complaint. (Id. at 7.) Instead, Thomas filed a motion for 15 reconsideration. (See ECF 4.) On the same day he also filed another motion to proceed 16 without prepaying the filing fee. (ECF 5.) 17 DISCUSSION 18 First, Thomas’s new motion to proceed without prepaying the filing fee is denied as 19 moot because the Court has already granted him leave to proceed without prepayment. (See 20 ECF 3.) 21 Second, in his motion for reconsideration, Thomas appears to argue the Court 22 erroneously dismissed his original complaint, in which he alleged he had been improperly 23 denied participation in an alternative custody program. (See ECF 5.) Thomas claims the 24 California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has improperly calculated his 25 sentence and applicable credits based on “discrimination.” (Id. at 10.) And he alleges that, 26 as a result, the CDCR has prevented him from participating in an alternative custody 27 placement and denied him an “opportunity to get out early.” (Id. at 8.) 28 A district court has inherent jurisdiction to modify, alter, or revoke a prior order. 1 United States v. Martin, 226 F.3d 1042, 1049 (9th Cir. 2000). Reconsideration of a prior 2 order is proper “if the district court (1) is presented with newly discovered evidence, 3 (2) committed clear error or the initial decision was manifestly unjust, or (3) if there is an 4 intervening change in controlling law.” School Dist. No. 1J v. ACandS, Inc., 5 F.3d 1255, 5 1263 (9th Cir. 1993). Reconsideration is an “extraordinary remedy, to be used sparingly in 6 the interests of finality and conservation of judicial resources.” Carroll v. Nakatani, 7 342 F.3d 934, 945 (9th Cir. 2003). 8 Thomas has not presented newly discovered evidence, alleged clear error, or an 9 intervening legal change. He instead vaguely repeats the assertions made in his original 10 complaint. “A party seeking reconsideration must show more than a disagreement with the 11 Court’s decision.” United States v. Westlands Water Dist., 134 F. Supp. 2d 1111, 1131 12 (E.D. Cal. 2001) (cleaned up). Therefore, the motion is denied. 13 CONCLUSION 14 Plaintiff’s motion to proceed in forma pauperis is DENIED as moot, and his motion 15 for reconsideration is DENIED. 16 The Court sua sponte GRANTS plaintiff an extension of time to file an amended 17 complaint, if he so chooses, by July 11, 2025. The amended complaint must be complete 18 by itself without reference to the original complaint. See S.D. Cal. CivLR 15.1. Any claims 19 dismissed with leave to amend that are not re-alleged in an amended pleading may be 20 “considered waived if not repled.” Lacey v. Maricopa Cnty., 693 F.3d 896, 928 (9th Cir. 21 2012). 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 If Thomas fails to timely file an amended complaint, the Court will enter a final 2 || Order dismissing this civil action based both on failure to state a claim upon which relief 3 be granted under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(e)(2) and 1915A(b), and failure to prosecute in 4 ||compliance with a court order. See Lira v. Herrera, 427 F.3d 1164, 1169 (9th Cir. 2005) 5 || (“If a plaintiff does not take advantage of the opportunity to fix his complaint, a district 6 || court may convert the dismissal of the complaint into dismissal of the entire action.”). 7 Dated: May 20, 2025 9 Hon. rew G. Schopler United States District Judge 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 3 a ee