David Pride, Jr. v. M. Correa

Plaintiff-Appellant David Pride is a California state prisoner. In an action brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 , Pride claims that Defendants-Appellees, officials and employees of Calipatria Prison, violated his Eighth Amendment rights by acting with deliberate indifference towards his serious medical needs. He seeks damages and injunctive relief concerning his own individual medical treatment. The district court dismissed Pride’s claim for injunctive relief on the ground that Pride’s claim is already being provided for in the class action Plata v. Brown, No. C01-1351 THE, pending in the Northern District of California. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We reverse the district court’s dismissal of Pride’s claim for in-junctive relief. We hold that because Pride’s claim for injunctive relief concerns only his individual medical care, his claim is not already encompassed in the Plata litigation, which seeks systemic reform of medical care in California prisons.

I.

In his pro se complaint, Pride alleges that he has a permanent shoulder injury from prior gunshot wounds. He alleges that his shoulder was shattered by bullets and could not be fully mended. His gunshot…