Opinion
CV 309-061.
December 7, 2009
ORDER
After a careful, de novo review of the file, the Court concurs in part with the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation, to which objections have been filed. While the majority of Plaintiff's objections are without merit, his objection regarding an alleged Georgia Department of Corrections ("GDOC") policy warrants further discussion.
In his complaint, Plaintiff made multiple allegations of deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs by prison officials at various prisons at which he has been incarcerated. (See generally doc. no. 1). Notably, Plaintiff described events that allegedly occurred at Baldwin State Prison ("BSP") in Hardwick, Georgia (located in the Middle District of Georgia), events that allegedly occurred at Appling State Prison ("ASP") in Waycross, Georgia (located in the Waycross Division of this District), and events that allegedly occurred at Dodge State Prison ("DSP") in Chester, Georgia (located in this District and Division). (See id.). The Magistrate Judge found that Plaintiff's BSP and ASP claims bore no "logical relationship" to his claims arising from his incarceration at DSP and accordingly recommended that his BSP and ASP claims be dismissed without prejudice, with leave to re-file in the appropriate District and/or Division. (Doc. no. 9, pp. 3-6). As Plaintiff had not identified by name any individuals who participated in any of the alleged constitutional violations regarding the events that purportedly occurred at DSP, the Magistrate Judge further recommended that Plaintiff be given the opportunity to amend his complaint as to his DSP claims only. (Id. at 6-7).
In his objections, Plaintiff clarifies that his first two years of imprisonment were spent at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison. (Doc. no. 14, pp. 1-2).
Plaintiff has objected to the Report and Recommendation, contending that the events giving rise to his claims at BSP, ASP, and DSP do bear a logical relationship to each other. Specifically, Plaintiff argues that the events giving rise to his complaint are a "series of negligent acts" and that he wishes to challenge the GDOC policy that allegedly permitted him to be transferred from one prison to another but failed to transmit his medical records and work assignment history along with him to each prison where he was transferred. (See doc. no. 14, pp. 2, 7-8). Plaintiff further contends that these alleged administrative errors have had serious effects on his health. (See id. at 8). As summarized by Plaintiff, this "action addresses []Dep't of Corrections policy[] through Corrections top executive Brian Owens, and other persons . . . [who] applied Corrections policy through a branch of state government. . . ." (Id. at 7).
Plaintiff has also informed the Court in his objections that he has "no complaint[s] regarding doctors and medical staff at any prison," except for two individuals at ASP. (Doc. no. 14, p. 8). Plaintiff specifically states that with respect to the medical treatment he has received at DSP, the "medical staff and administrators have performed well," and the "medical personnel" have been "excellent." (Id. at 9). He goes on to state that the medical staff at DSP have addressed his "medical situation" and that his health has stabilized since being incarcerated there. (Id.). Plaintiff further states that he does not wish to amend his complaint regarding his DSP claims. (Id. at 10).
Thus, while Plaintiff has stated that he does not desire to amend his complaint regarding his DSP claims, the Court construes Plaintiff's objections regarding the alleged GDOC policy as an attempt to amend his complaint. However, the preferred method for amending a complaint is to include all allegations in one document. Long v. Satz, 181 F.3d 1275, 1279 (11th Cir. 1999). Plaintiff has not provided the Court with enough factual information regarding this alleged policy to determine if Plaintiff has arguably stated a viable claim for relief. For example, it is unclear which individuals Plaintiff seeks to sue with respect to this claim, as Plaintiff simply mentions Defendant Owens as the "top executive" and "other persons" who allegedly applied the policy. (Id. at 7). Thus, Plaintiff is directed to file an amended complaint, to address only those allegations regarding the GDOC policy and to identify the defendants associated with those allegations, in one document, within fifteen (15) days of the date of this Order. Plaintiff's amended complaint should be filed in accordance with the following instructions.
The CLERK is DIRECTED to attach a standard form complaint used by incarcerated litigants in the Southern District of Georgia to Plaintiffs service copy of this Order.
The amended complaint shall supersede and replace in its entirety the previous complaint filed by Plaintiff. Malowney v. Fed. Collection Deposit Group, 193 F.3d 1342, 1345 n. 1 (11th Cir. 1999) (recognizing that amended complaint supersedes original complaint); King v. Dogan, 31 F.3d 344, 346 (5th Cir. 1994). It must be printed legibly or typed so that the Court may discern Plaintiff's claims. It must contain a caption that clearly identifies, by name, each party that Plaintiff is suing in the present lawsuit. Furthermore, the body of Plaintiff's amended complaint must contain sequentially numbered paragraphs containing only one act of misconduct per paragraph. The numbered paragraphs in Plaintiff's amended complaint should include information such as: (i) the alleged act of misconduct; (ii) the date on which such misconduct occurred; (iii) the names of each and every individual who participated in such misconduct; and (iv) where appropriate, the location where the alleged misconduct occurred. While Plaintiff may attach exhibits to his amended complaint, he shall not incorporate them by reference as a means of providing the factual basis for his complaint. Thus. Plaintiff must name the individuals and/or entities whom he seeks to include as defendants herein in both the caption and the body of his amended complaint; he may not rely on the fact that individuals are named in the exhibits attached to his amended complaint as a means of including such persons as defendants to his lawsuit. The Court will not independently examine exhibits that Plaintiff does not specifically reference (by the exhibit's page number) in his amended complaint.
For example, Plaintiff should not simply state, "See attached documents."
Plaintiff is further cautioned that no portion of any prior complaint shall be incorporated into his amended complaint by reference. Moreover, Plaintiff shall submit only one amended complaint in accordance with the terms of this Order. Therefore, Plaintiff shall state in the single amended complaint filed in accordance with the terms of this Order the claims concerning the GDOC policy that he wishes the Court to consider as a basis for awarding the relief sought.
Once Plaintiff has complied with the conditions of this Order, the Court will review the amended complaint to determine which, if any, claims are viable and which, if any, Defendant should be served with a copy of the amended complaint. If no amended complaint is submitted within fifteen (15) days from the date of this Order, the Court will presume that Plaintiff desires to have this case voluntarily dismissed and will dismiss this action, without prejudice.
All other objections are OVERRULED. Accordingly, the Report and Recommendation of the Magistrate Judge is ADOPTED as the opinion of the Court, as modified herein. Therefore, Plaintiff's BSP and ASP claims are DISMISSED without prejudice, with leave to re-file in the appropriate venue.
FORM TO BE USED BY PRISONERS IN FILING A COMPLAINT UNDER THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT, 42 U.S.C. § 1983 in the UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT for the SOUTHERN DISTRICT of GEORGIA in forma pauperis in forma pauperis in forma pauperis, _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ (Enter above full name of plaintiff or plaintiffs) v. _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ (Enter above full name of defendant or defendants) I. Previous lawsuits A. Have you begun other lawsuits in state or federal court dealing with the same facts involved in this action? Yes _____ No _____ If your answer to A is yes, describe each lawsuit in the space below. (If there is more than one lawsuit, describe the additional lawsuits on another piece of paper, using the same outline.) 1. Parties to this previous lawsuit: Plaintiffs: ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ Defendants: ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ 2. Court (if federal court, name the district; if state court, name the county): __________________________________________________________________________________ 3. Docket number: ___________________________________________________________________ 4. Name of judge assigned to case: __________________________________________________ 5. Disposition (for example, was the case dismissed? appealed? is it still pending?): __________________________________________________________________________________ 6. Approximate date of filing lawsuit: ______________________________________________ 7. Approximate date of disposition: _________________________________________________ 8. Were you allowed to proceed (without prepayment of fees)? Yes _____ No _____ B. While incarcerated or detained in any facility, have you brought any lawsuits in federal court which deal with facts other than those involved in this action? Yes _____ No _____ If your answer to B is yes, describe each lawsuit in the space below. (If there is more than one lawsuit, describe the additional lawsuits on another piece of paper, using the same outline.) 1. Parties to previous lawsuit: Plaintiffs: ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ Defendants: ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ 2. Court (name the district): __________________________________________________________________________________ 3. Docket number: ___________________________________________________________________ 4. Name of judge assigned to case: __________________________________________________ 5. Disposition (for example, was the case dismissed? appealed? is it still pending?): _________________________________________________________________________________ 6. Approximate date of filing lawsuit: ______________________________________________ 7. Approximate date of disposition: _________________________________________________ 8. Were you allowed to proceed (without prepayment of fees)? Yes _____ No _____ C. As to any lawsuit filed in federal court where you were allowed to proceed was any suit dismissed on the ground that it was frivolous, malicious, or failed to state a claim? Yes _____ No _____ 1. If your answer to C is yes, name the court and docket number for each case: _____________________________________________ __________________________________ _____________________________________________ __________________________________ _____________________________________________ __________________________________ _____________________________________________ __________________________________ II. Place of present confinement: ______________________________________________________________ A. Is there a prisoner grievance procedure in this institution? Yes _____ No _____ B. Did you present the facts relating to your complaint to the appropriate grievance committee? Yes _____ No _____ C. If your answer to B is yes: 1. What steps did you take? _________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ 2. What was the result? _____________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ 3. Did you appeal any adverse decision to the highest level possible in the administrative procedure? Yes _____ No _____ If yes, what was the result? _____________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ D. If you did not utilize the prison grievance procedure, explain why not: _______________ _______________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________ IV. Parties (In Item A below, list your name as plaintiff and current address. Provide the name and address of any additional plaintiffs on an attached sheet.) A. Name of plaintiff: ____________________________________________________________________ Address: ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ (In Item B below, list the defendant's full name, position, place of employment, and current address. Provide the same information for any additional defendants in Item C below.) B. Name of defendant: ____________________________________________________________________ Position: ____________________________________________________________________ Place of employment: __________________________________________________________________ Current address: ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ C. Additional defendants: ________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________ V. Statement of Claim State here as briefly as possible the FACTS in your case. Describe how each defendant is personally involved in the depriving you of your rights. You must include relevant times, dates, places, and names of witnesses. DO NOT GIVE LEGAL ARGUMENTS OR CITE ANY CASES OR STATUTES. If you intend to allege a number of related claims, number and set forth each claim in a separate paragraph. (Use as much space as you need. Attach extra sheets if necessary.) ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ VI. Relief State briefly exactly what you want the court to do for you. Make no legal arguments. Cite no cases or statutes. ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. Signed this _______ day of __________, 19__. Prisoner No. __________________ ____________________________________________________ (Signature of Plaintiff)