Jon Thomas Corso v. JOHN DOE 1, Warden;

This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent*
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision**
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
JON THOMAS CORSO,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
v.
JOHN DOE 1, Warden; et al.,
Defendants - Appellees.
No. 11-16524
D.C. No. 1:11-cv-00102-JMS-
BMK
MEMORANDUM*
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of Hawaii
J. Michael Seabright, District Judge, Presiding
Submitted June 26, 2012**
Before: SCHROEDER, HAWKINS, and GOULD, Circuit Judges.
Hawaii state prisoner Jon Thomas Corso appeals pro se from the district
court’s judgment dismissing his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action alleging Eighth
Amendment violations in connection with a fall he sustained in the prison showers.
FILED
JUL 12 2012
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U .S. C OU R T OF APPE ALS

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11-16524 2
We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We review de novo a dismissal
under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A. Resnick v. Hayes, 213 F.3d 443, 447 (9th Cir. 2000).
We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.
The district court properly dismissed Corso’s claim of deliberate
indifference to his medical needs because the complaint failed to allege facts
suggesting that the defendant acted with deliberate indifference. See Jackson v.
McIntosh, 90 F.3d 330, 332 (9th Cir. 1996) (“[A] plaintiff’s showing of nothing
more than a difference of medical opinion as to the need to pursue one course of
treatment over another was insufficient, as a matter of law, to establish deliberate
indifference.” (internal quotations omitted)).
The district court, however, prematurely dismissed Corso’s deliberate
indifference to prison conditions claim at screening. Corso’s allegations are
sufficient to suggest deliberate indifference in that prison officials knew the
slippery shower floors posed a substantial risk of serious harm because of serious
injury to other inmates. See Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 847 (1994) (a
prison official violates the Eighth Amendment prohibition against inhumane
conditions of confinement if he or she knows of a substantial risk of serious harm
to an inmate and fails to take reasonable measures to avoid the harm); Frost v.

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Agnos, 152 F.3d 1124, 1129 (9th Cir. 1998) (“Slippery floors without protective
measures could create a sufficient danger to warrant relief.”).
Accordingly, we reverse in part, and remand with instructions for the district
court to order service of the operative second amended complaint by the United
States Marshal.
Corso shall bear his own costs on appeal.
Corso’s motion for default judgment is denied.
AFFIRMED in part; REVERSED in part; REMANDED.

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