Johnny Evans v. El Dorado Hill

MEMORANDUM

Johnny Earl Evans, a California state prisoner, appeals pro se from the district court’s order dismissing his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action alleging denial of access to the courts. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We review de novo a dismissal for failure to state a claim under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A. Resnick v. Hayes, 213 F.3d 443, 447 (9th Cir.2000). We affirm.

The district court properly dismissed Evans’s action because Evans’s access-to-courts claim concerning his attempt to file a small claims court case failed to allege any actual injury as a result of his alleged inadequate access to the prison law library and legal research materials. See Lewis v. Casey, 518 U.S. 343, 349-51 , 353 n. 3, 354-55, 116 S.Ct. 2174 , 135 L.Ed.2d 606 (1996) (prisoner must demonstrate that the alleged shortcomings in the prison’s library or legal assistance program resulted in actual injury and hindered his efforts to pursue a non-frivolous legal claim challenging his sentence or conditions of confinement).

Because an amended complaint supersedes a previous complaint, Evans has waived any errors in the district court’s dismissal of his original complaint for any claims not…