Yochum

INTRODUCTION

18 Plaintiff Henry Moses Mitchell (aka Henry C. Hayes) alleges that defendant K. 19 Yochum, a prison guard, used excessive force against him when she closed his cell’s food 20 port door. Yochum has filed a motion for summary judgment. Mitchell’s constitutional 21 rights were not violated: the undisputed material facts show that the port door never made 22 physical contact with Mitchell and there are no facts to support a claim of constructive 23 force in which threats and intimidation were used to gain control over Mitchell or prevent 24 his resistance. And even if a constitutional right had been violated, Yochum is entitled to 25 qualified immunity because it was not so clearly established that she should have known 26 that she was violating it when she closed the food port door. Accordingly, her motion for 27 summary judgment is GRANTED. BACKGROUND The material factual allegations are undisputed. Mitchell, a California state prisoner, alleges that on December 9, 2022, Yochum, a correctional officer at Pelican Bay State Prison, “slammed the solid steel tray port door directly in the left ear of Plaintiff.” …