Treandous Cotton v. Jeffery Beard

MEMORANDUM

Treandous A. Cotton, a California state prisoner, appeals pro se from the district court’s judgment dismissing his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action alleging due process and equal protection violations. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We review de novo, Resnick v. Hayes, 213 F.3d 443, 447 (9th Cir.2000), and we affirm.

The district court properly dismissed Cotton’s due process claim regarding his classification as a gang member and subsequent placement on a modified program because Cotton failed to allege facts sufficient to show that he had a liberty interest at stake. See Wright v. Riveland, 219 F.3d 905, 913 (9th Cir.2000) (setting forth elements of a procedural due process claim, including “a liberty or property interest protected by the Constitution” (citation and internal quotation marks omitted)); Resnick, 213 F.3d at 448 (a prisoner only has a liberty interest “when a change occurs in confinement that imposes an atypical and significant hardship ... in relation to the ordinary incidents of prison life” (citation and internal quotation marks omitted)). .

The district court properly dismissed Cotton’s equal protection claim because Cotton failed to allege…