Michael Williams v. Sanjeev Batra

NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS JAN 25 2018 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT MICHAEL B. WILLIAMS, No. 17-16790 Plaintiff-Appellant, D.C. No. 1:17-cv-00732-SAB v. MEMORANDUM* SANJEEV BATRA, Doctor at Coalinga State Hospital; et al., Defendants-Appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California Stanley Albert Boone, Magistrate Judge, Presiding Submitted January 16, 2018** Before: REINHARDT, TROTT, and HURWITZ, Circuit Judges. Michael B. Williams, a civil detainee under California’s Sexually Violent Predators Act, appeals pro se from the magistrate judge’s order dismissing his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action alleging retaliation and due process violations. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We review de novo whether the magistrate * This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3. ** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2). judge validly entered judgment on behalf of the district court. Allen v. Meyer, 755 F.3d 866, 867-68 (9th Cir. 2014). We vacate and remand. Williams consented to proceed before the magistrate judge. See 28 U.S.C. § 636(c). The magistrate judge then screened and dismissed Williams’s action before the named defendants had been served. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii). Because all parties, including unserved defendants, must consent to proceed before the magistrate judge for jurisdiction to vest, Williams v. King, 875 F.3d 500, 503- 04 (9th Cir. 2017), we vacate the magistrate judge’s order and remand for further proceedings. To the extent that Williams requests appointment of counsel on remand (Docket Entry No. 7), the request is denied without prejudice to Williams requesting appointment of counsel by the district court. Williams’s request that his pending appeals, Case Nos. 17-15530, 17-15834, and 17-16790, be assigned to the same merits panel (Docket Entry No. 7) is granted. VACATED and REMANDED. 2 17-16790