Joseph Mizzoni v. State of Nevada

MEMORANDUM

Joseph L. Mizzoni, a Nevada state prisoner, appeals pro se from the district court’s summary judgment in his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action alleging deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We review de novo. Colwell v. Bannister, 763 F.3d 1060, 1065 (9th Cir.2014). We vacate and remand.

In granting summary judgment to defendants on Mizzoni’s claim that Bannister was deliberately indifferent to his left eye cataract condition, the district court did not have the benefit of our recent decision in Colwell, 763 F.3d at 1063 (concluding that “the blanket, categorical denial of medically indicated surgery solely on the basis of an administrative policy that ‘one eye is good enough for prison inmates’ is the paradigm of deliberate indifference.”). We vacate and remand for the district court to consider in the first instance the application of Colwell to Mizzoni’s Eighth Amendment claim against Bannister. Al though not raised by Mizzoni in his appeal, we suggest that on remand the district court reconsider its decision whether to appoint counsel.

Because Mizzoni states in his reply brief that he “does not argue and…