Scott Craft v. Anita Ahuja

MEMORANDUM

California state prisoner Scott James Craft appeals pro se from the district court’s judgment dismissing his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action alleging constitutional violations in connection with restitution payments. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We review de novo, Barnett v. Centoni, 31 F.3d 813, 816 (9th Cir.1994) (per curiam), and we affirm.

The district court properly construed Craft’s habeas petition as a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 civil rights complaint. See Ramirez v. Galaza, 334 F.3d 850, 859 (9th Cir.2003) (“[H]abeas jurisdiction is absent, and a § 1983 action [is] proper, where a successful challenge to a prison condition will not necessarily shorten the prisoner’s sentence.”).

The district court properly dismissed Craft’s substantive due process claim based on restitution deductions from his inmate trust account because California Penal Code § 2085.5, requiring the California Director of Corrections to make deductions from the wages and trust account deposits of prisoners for payment of restitution obligations, is rationally related to legitimate state interests in compensating crime victims. See Turner v. Safley, 482 U.S. 78, 89 , 107 S.Ct. 2254 , 96…