Robert Williams, Sr. v. State of California

Plaintiffs — Payne Care Center, Kingsley Home Care Center, and their named employees — appeal from the district court’s dismissal of their 42 U.S.C. § 1983 complaint. The complaint alleges that Defendants violated Plaintiffs’ First Amendment right to freedom of religion by forcing them to provide direct staff support to a developmentally disabled client who wished to attend Jehovah’s Witness services.

After carefully reviewing the briefs and record, and reviewing de novo the district court’s conclusions of law, we affirm: (1) the district court’s dismissal of Plaintiffs’ complaint against Defendant-Appellee Claire Matsushita because Plaintiffs failed to allege specific facts against Matsushita other than to identify her title; (2) the district court’s holding that Defendants’ interpretation of the Lanterman Act, Cal. Welf. & Inst.Code §§ 4500-4906, and its regulations, did not violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments; and (3) the district court’s denial of leave to amend because of futility of amendment.

We commend the district court for its thoughtful and legally correct approach to this case. We thus adopt the district court’s well-reasoned and comprehensive…