Opinion
CV 22-01902-PHX-JAT (JFM)
03-31-2023
Shaine Carl Cagle, Plaintiff, v. David Shinn, et al., Defendants.
ORDER
On November 7, 2022, Plaintiff Shaine Carl Cagle, who is confined in the Arizona State Prison Complex-Eyman, filed a pro se civil rights Complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and an Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis. By Order dated November 18, 2022, the Court denied the Application to Proceed as deficient, and gave Plaintiff 30 days to either pay the filing fee or submit a complete Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis.
Plaintiff has now filed a new Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis (Doc. 8), two Motions to Amend his Complaint (Docs. 10 and 12), and a Motion requesting the Court to “order library staff [to] comply fully with General Order 14-17” (Doc. 14).
I. Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis and Filing Fee
The Court will grant Plaintiff's Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). Plaintiff must pay the statutory filing fee of $350.00. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1). The Court will not assess an initial partial filing fee. The remainder of the fee will be collected monthly in payments of 20% of the previous month's income credited to Plaintiff's trust account each time the amount in the account exceeds $10.00. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2). The Court will enter a separate Order requiring the appropriate government agency to collect and forward the fees according to the statutory formula.
II. Motion re: Library Staff
In his Motion, Plaintiff indicates that, after he files a document using the prison efile system, the librarian only provides him with the first page of the court-stamped copy of the filing. He seeks an order directing the librarian to provide “a complete copy of every page...”
The Court will deny the motion. General Order 14-17 provides in relevant part that:
3. Eyman and Lewis Complex staff will scan to PDF and, after quality review, email to the Court all documents presented by prisoners for filing with the Court. The original documents will be returned to the prisoner. All documents submitted for filing by prisoners in the Eyman Complex and in the six designated units of the Lewis Complex must be emailed to the Court in a PDF format. Sealed cases are exempt from this pilot project.
5. The Eyman Complex Units and the designated Lewis Complex Units will each establish an email address for receipt of NEFs of documents filed electronically. Staff in these Units will print the NEFs and the hyperlinked orders and other documents filed by the Court. Receipt of copies of the NEFs and hyperlinked documents by the prisoner constitutes service of the document on the prisoner. If the prisoner refuses delivery or is no longer at the designated Unit, Unit staff will indicate the reason for nondelivery on the NEF and email it to the Court.(Emphasis added).
Plaintiff does not allege that he has not received the original copy of his submissions back and he acknowledges receiving the first page of his submissions, which reflects the document was filed. The stamped first page is Plaintiff's receipt evidencing that the document has been filed. Put simply, the Court has received all of Plaintiff filings, and the originals of those filings should have been returned to him. Accordingly, the Court will deny the Motion without prejudice. If Plaintiff experiences difficulties with the document filing system in the future, he may again seek leave of this Court to clarify the issue.
III. Motions to Amend
In his Motions to Amend, Plaintiff appears to indicate that he has additional claims against additional Defendants. that he wishes to bring. The Court will thus grant the Motions to the extent Plaintiff seeks to submit a First Amended Complaint. Plaintiff shall have 30 days from the date of this Order to submit a First Amended Complaint that contains all of the claims he wishes to bring. If Plaintiff fails to file a First Amended Complaint within 30 days, the Court will proceed to screen the original Complaint pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a).
IV. Leave to Amend
In accordance with the above, Plaintiff may submit a first amended complaint within 30 days of the date of this Order. The Clerk of Court will mail Plaintiff a court-approved form to use for filing a first amended complaint. If Plaintiff fails to use the court-approved form, the Court may strike the first amended complaint.
Plaintiff must clearly designate on the face of the document that it is the “First Amended Complaint.” The first amended complaint must be retyped or rewritten in its entirety on the court-approved form and may not incorporate any part of any previous complaint by reference. Plaintiff may include only one claim per count.
A first amended complaint supersedes the original Complaint. Ferdik v. Bonzelet, 963 F.2d 1258, 1262 (9th Cir. 1992); Hal Roach Studios v. Richard Feiner & Co., 896 F.2d 1542, 1546 (9th Cir. 1990). After amendment, the Court will treat all previous complaints as nonexistent. Ferdik, 963 F.2d at 1262. Any cause of action that was raised in a previous complaint and that was voluntarily dismissed or was dismissed without prejudice is waived if it is not alleged in a first amended complaint. Lacey v. Maricopa County, 693 F.3d 896, 928 (9th Cir. 2012) (en banc).
Plaintiff must write short, plain statements telling the Court: (1) the constitutional right Plaintiff believes was violated; (2) the name of the Defendant who violated the right; (3) exactly what that Defendant did or failed to do; (4) how the action or inaction of that Defendant is connected to the violation of Plaintiff's constitutional right; and (5) what specific injury Plaintiff suffered because of that Defendant's conduct. See Rizzo v. Goode, 423 U.S. 362, 371-72, 377 (1976).
Plaintiff must repeat this process for each person he names as a Defendant. If Plaintiff fails to affirmatively link the conduct of each named Defendant with the specific injury suffered by Plaintiff, the allegations against that Defendant will be dismissed for failure to state a claim. Conclusory allegations that a Defendant or group of Defendants has violated a constitutional right are not acceptable and will be dismissed.
V. Warnings
A. Address Changes
If Plaintiff's address changes, Plaintiff must file and serve a notice of a change of address in accordance with Rule 83.3(d) of the Local Rules of Civil Procedure. Plaintiff must not include a motion for other relief with a notice of change of address. Failure to comply may result in dismissal of this action.
B. Possible Dismissal
If Plaintiff fails to timely comply with every provision of this Order, including these warnings, the Court may dismiss this action without further notice. See Ferdik, 963 F.2d at 1260-61 (a district court may dismiss an action for failure to comply with any order of the Court).
IT IS ORDERED:
(1) Plaintiff's Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis (Doc. 8) is granted.
(2) As required by the accompanying Order to the appropriate government agency, Plaintiff must pay the $350.00 filing fee and is not assessed an initial partial filing fee.
(3) Plaintiff's two Motions to Amend (Docs. 10 and 12) are granted. The Court will take no action on Plaintiff's Complaint at this time.
(4) Plaintiff has 30 days from the date this Order is filed to file a first amended complaint in compliance with this Order. If Plaintiff fails to file a first amended complaint within 30 days, the Court will screen the original Complaint.
(5) Plaintiff's Motion regarding library staff (Doc. 14) is denied.
(6) The Clerk of Court must mail Plaintiff a court-approved form for filing a civil rights complaint by a prisoner.