RICHARD F. BOULWARE, II, District Judge.
Before the Court is Defendants' Motion to Dismiss. ECF No. 4. This case arises out of an allegedly illegal strip search of the Plaintiff by several female police officers. For the reasons stated below the Court GRANTS Defendants' Motion.
Plaintiff, pro se, alleges the following in his Complaint. ECF No. 1.
On October 11, 2014 at 7 AM, Sergeant C. Hooten of the Las Vegas Metro Police Department ("LVMPD"), who is female, required that Plaintiff, who is an African American male, conduct a swab of his mouth and penis in front of two Caucasian female police officers. Hooten then required that Plaintiff stand naked in an interviewing room until D. Keller left the room to find clothing for him. The jumpsuit provided for him did not fit properly, and when his genitalia were exposed, several female police officers began to laugh at him.
Plaintiff alleges three separate causes of action under the Fourth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendment violations for illegal search and seizures, as well as cruel and unusual punishment.
This case was removed on July 14, 2015. ECF No. 1. Defendants filed a Motion to Dismiss on July 17, 2015. ECF No. 4. The Court entered a Scheduling Order on September 16, 2015. ECF No. 18. Discovery was due by December 9, 2015. On January 7, 2016, the Court extended the dispositive motion deadline. ECF No. 26. Defendants filed a Motion for Summary Judgment on February 16, 2016. ECF No. 28.
On March 31, 2016, the Court entered a Minute Order granting Defendants' Motion to Dismiss. ECF No. 4.
An initial pleading must contain "a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief." Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a). The court may dismiss a complaint for failing to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). In ruling on a motion to dismiss, "[a]ll well-pleaded allegations of material fact in the complaint are accepted as true and are construed in the light most favorable to the non-moving party."
To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint need not contain "detailed factual allegations," but merely asserting "`labels and conclusions' or `a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action'" is not sufficient.
"As a general rule, a district court may not consider any material beyond the pleadings in ruling on a Rule 12(b)(6) motion."
The Eighth Amendment prohibits cruel and unusual punishment and imposes duties on prison officials to "provide humane conditions of confinement." Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 832 (1994). However, "[t]he Eighth Amendment protects only those who have been convicted of a crime."
The Defendants argue that Plaintiff does not allege he was searched after he was found guilty of a criminal offense. Rather, the facts allege indicate he was searched before any adjudication before a court. Therefore, his Eighth Amendment claim should be dismissed. In response, Plaintiff argues that it is unclear whether he was under arrest, and therefore his claim should survive.
The Court finds that Plaintiff has not sufficiently stated an Eighth Amendment claim in his Complaint because Plaintiff does not allege he was a prisoner, or that he had been convicted of a crime, at the time of the search. At best, he may have been under arrest. However, pre-trial detainees lack standing to bring an Eighth Amendment claim.
Plaintiff also asserts a Fourteenth Amendment claim for what the Court perceives to be duplicative of Plaintiff's unlawful Fourth Amendment search and seizure claim.
While a section 1983 plaintiff may maintain separate Fourteenth and Fourth Amendment claims, where the Fourteenth Amendment claim asserts an identical unlawful search and seizure claim—as opposed to arguing a separate claim for due process or equal protection—the Fourteenth Amendment does not constitute a separate cause of action that affords a plaintiff separate constitutional protections.
Therefore, the Court does not find that Plaintiff has asserted a separate Fourteenth Amendment claim and GRANTS dismissal of the claim.