Covello

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 JOSEPH ANTHONY CASTRO, No. 2:23-cv-0694 DC AC P 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER AND FINDINGS AND

RECOMMENDATIONS

14 COVELLO, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff, a state prisoner proceeding without an attorney, seeks relief pursuant to 42 18 U.S.C. § 1983. Pending before the court are plaintiff’s first amended complaint (“FAC”) and 19 plaintiff’s motion to consolidate cases. ECF Nos. 22, 23. 20 I. Background 21 A. Original Complaint 22 The original complaint alleged that defendants Covello and Does 1-5 violated plaintiff’s 23 rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments and state tort law. ECF No. 1. Specifically, 24 plaintiff alleged that between 2020 and 2022, Does 2-5 knowingly and willingly opened his legal 25 mail on approximately four separate occasions outside of his presence. Id. at 5. Plaintiff asserted 26 that the mail that was opened by Does 2-5 was clearly identified as legal/confidential mail and 27 was correspondence between…