Covello

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 JEFFREY THOMAS HARDIN, JR., No. 2:23-cv-1902 DAD AC P Plaintiff, v. ORDER PATRICK COVELLO, et al., Defendants. 16 Plaintiff is a state inmate who filed this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 without a lawyer. Plaintiff was given an opportunity to file an amended complaint after the original complaint was screened and found to not state any claims for relief (ECF No. 9), and he has now filed a first amended complaint (ECF No. 14). I. Statutory Screening of Prisoner Complaints The court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief against “a governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). A claim is legally frivolous when it lacks an arguable basis either in law or in fact. Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 325 (1989). The court may dismiss a claim as frivolous if it is based on an indisputably meritless legal theory or factual…