Starr

Opinion by Judge WILLIAM A. FLETCHER; Dissent by Judge TROTT.

OPINION

Plaintiff Dion Starr brings a § 1983 action for damages resulting from a violent attack he allegedly suffered while he was an inmate in the Los Angeles County Jail. The district court dismissed Starr’s supervisory liability claim for deliberate indifference against Sheriff Leroy Baca in his individual capacity under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim. Because we hold that Starr has adequately stated a claim, we reverse and remand for further proceedings.

I. Background

Because we are reviewing an order granting a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6), we take the facts alleged in the complaint to be true. Navarro v. Block, 250 F.3d 729, 732 (9th Cir.2001). Starr’s Third Amended Complaint alleges that on or about January 27, 2006, he was in custody in the Los Angeles County Jail. A group of inmates gathered at his cell door and threatened to inflict physical harm on him. He yelled for the deputies guarding the jail to come to his aid. Instead of protecting him, a deputy opened Starr’s cell gate in order to allow the group of inmates to enter. The inmates entered the cell and…

Dissenting:

I respect my experienced colleagues’ evaluation of Starr’s final complaint, but my view of it is different. In the main, his complaint has all the hallmarks of an attempted end run around the prohibition against using the vicarious liability doctrine of respondeat superior to get at the boss.

Judge Fletcher accurately describes what Starr must allege to support an actionable claim of individual supervisory liability, but I respectfully disagree that Starr’s complaint measures up to that standard. Yes, we have held that “acquiescence or culpable indifference” may suffice to show that a supervisor “personally played a role in the alleged constitutional violations,” Menotti v. City of Seattle, 409 F.3d 1113, 1149 (9th Cir.2005); but simply alleging generally that the Sheriff is “answerable for the prisoner’s safekeeping” doesn’t cut it. Id. Plaintiffs complaint does nothing more than allege raw legal conclusions with insufficient facts to support them. Starr’s complaint runs afoul of our Circuit’s rule that to establish a claim for individual supervisory liability, a plaintiff must allege facts, not simply conclusions; and those facts must show that the *1206 individual…