Sellers v. Gootkin, 6:24-cv-00020

Donnie Mack Sellers, a Montana state prisoner, filed a pro se civil rights suit alleging he was subjected to multiple physical and sexual assaults by other inmates, including known sex offenders, at Montana State Prison.
Sellers also claimed denial of necessary medical care related to eye surgery and other injuries, asserting that certain prison officials unlawfully overrode medical orders.
The Court screened and permitted claims for First Amendment retaliation, Fourteenth Amendment due process violations, and Eighth Amendment failure to protect/denial of medical care to proceed.
Multiple motions were before the Court: Sellers sought emergency injunctive relief for seizure medication, to further amend his complaint, and summary judgment; defendants sought partial dismissal for failure to state a claim.
Some defendants were dismissed for lack of sufficiently pled factual allegations linking them to the alleged misconduct, while medical claims against specific officials survived dismissal.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Injunctive Relief (Seizure Meds)	Defendants are retaliating by denying seizure medication.	Allegation is unrelated to this lawsuit; not appropriate here.	Denied; must be pursued separately.
Dismissal of Defendants for Failure to State	All named defendants are responsible for constitutional harms.	Some defendants not personally implicated by facts.	Granted in part; some defendants dismissed.
Leave to Amend/Comparative Service Issues	Needs to substitute a named defendant, clarify service.	No opposition stated; some substitution appropriate.	Granted in part (substitution approved).
Summary Judgment for Plaintiff	No genuine issues, entitled to judgment as a matter of law.	Plaintiff has not met proof burden for summary judgment.	Denied due to lack of supporting evidence.

Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662 (2009) (establishing plausibility requirement for pleadings)
Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (2007) (pleading standard for motions to dismiss)
Leer v. Murphy, 844 F.2d 628 (9th Cir. 1988) (personal participation required for §1983 liability)
Colwell v. Bannister, 763 F.3d 1060 (9th Cir. 2014) (Eighth Amendment standards for prison medical care)
L.A. Lakers, Inc. v. Fed. Ins. Co., 869 F.3d 795 (9th Cir. 2017) (when dismissal is appropriate for lack of legal theory)
Hebbe v. Pliler, 627 F.3d 338 (9th Cir. 2010) (liberal construction of pro se complaints)
Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122 (9th Cir. 2000) (standards on granting leave to amend)
United States v. Corinthian Colleges, 655 F.3d 984 (9th Cir. 2011) (amendment standards for pro se complaints)