James Karnath v. Tracy Daniels

MEMORANDUM

Washington state prisoner James Karnath appeals pro se from the district court’s judgment dismissing with prejudice his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action alleging an excessive force claim, and from its order striking as moot his motion to amend. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We review de novo the district court’s dismissal for lack of standing. Colwell v. Dep’t of Health and Human Servs., 558 F.3d 1112, 1121 (9th Cir.2009). We review for abuse of discretion dismissal without leave to amend. Leadsinger, Inc. v. BMG Music Publ’g, 512 F.3d 522, 532 (9th Cir.2008). We vacate and remand.

The district court correctly identified critical deficiencies in the operative complaint, and determined that the record showed that Karnath was no longer housed at the facility where the sole defendant — against whom Karnath sought only injunctive relief — worked. However, the district court abused its discretion when it rejected Karnath’s motion for leave to amend on the ground that it was moot. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a); see also Lucas v. Dep’t of Cow., 66 F.3d 245, 248 (9th Cir.1995). The court did not discuss the fact that Karnath’s proposed second amended complaint added a…