BRIAN W. STANGER, PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT,
v.
CITY OF SANTA CRUZ ET AL., DEFENDANTS-APPELLEES

9th Cir. | 1980-03-24
No. 76-2449
653 F.2d 1257 United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (1980) Positive Treatment
Cited by 10 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.


Holding

A dismissal of a prisoner's civil rights complaint with prejudice for failure to state a claim is appealable, and prisoners are generally entitled to process and an opportunity to amend.


Facts & Procedural History

A state prisoner filed a civil rights action against police and city officials, alleging harassment, false arrest, and conspiracy. The district court …

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
DUNIWAY, Circuit Judge:

DUNIWAY, Circuit Judge:

Brian Stanger, a state prisoner, filed a civil rights action in forma pauperis under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983, 1985(a) and (3), and 1986 against various members of the Santa Cruz Police Department and several city officials. Without issuing summons, the district court dismissed the complaint, with prejudice, for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. Stanger appeals.

Dismissal of a complaint “with prejudice” for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted is a dismissal of the action and is appealable. See Scott v. Eversole Mortuary, 9 Cir., 1975, 522 F. 2d 1110, 1112.

In Potter v. McCall, 9 Cir., 1970, 433 F. 2d 1087, 1088, we summarized a long line of cases in this circuit holding that a prisoner bringing a civil rights action is entitled, among other things, to have process issued and served, and an opportunity to amend his complaint to overcome any deficiency unless “it clearly appears . . . that the deficiency cannot be overcome by amendment.” (emphasis added) See also Crawford v. Bell, 9 Cir., 1979, 599 F. 2d 890, 893; Harmon v. Superior Court, 9 Cir., 1962, 307 F. 2d 796, 798. Stanger’s complaint alleged systematic harassment and unauthorized surveillance of his business establishment by the Santa Cruz Police, false arrest, and a conspiracy between the Chief of Police and the named members of the Planning Commission and City Council to deprive him of a license to do business without due process and in violation of his right to equal protection. Unlike the complaint in Worley v. California Department of Corrections, 9 Cir., 1970, 432 F. 2d 769, this complaint alleges, albeit imperfectly, actions which, if proven, could provide some basis for at least some of the claims made.

Reversed and remanded.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

Previewing 3 of 5 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw