Rickey Beaver v. Western State Hospital

MEMORANDUM

Rickey A. Beaver, a civil detainee at Western State Hospital, appeals pro se from the district court’s judgment dismissing his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action alleging that defendants denied him adequate medical care. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We review de novo. Cholla Ready Mix, Inc. v. Civish, 382 F.3d 969, 973 (9th Cir.2004). We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.

The district court properly dismissed Beaver’s claims for monetary damages against Western State Hospital and Dr. Deem in her official capacity on the basis of Eleventh Amendment immunity. See Franceschi v. Schwartz, 57 F.3d 828, 831 (9th Cir.1995) (per curiam) (Eleventh Amendment bars suits in federal court for damages against a state or an arm of the state); see also Holley v. Cal. Dep’t of Corr., 599 F.3d 1108, 1111 (9th Cir.2010) (for sovereign immunity purposes, suits against state officials in their official capacities are treated as suits against the state).

However, dismissal of the claim against Dr. Deem in her individual capacity on the basis of qualified immunity was improper at this early stage of the proceedings because Beaver’s allegations that Dr. Deem knowingly…