Opinion
Civil Action No. 13-cv-03049-BNB
11-19-2013
MARK COLLINS, Plaintiff, v. THE GARFIELD COUNTY GOVERNMENT, Defendant.
ORDER DIRECTING PLAINTIFF TO FILE
AN AMENDED COMPLAINT
Plaintiff, Mark Collins, currently resides in Boulder, Colorado. Acting pro se, he initiated this action by filing a Complaint. The Court must construe the Complaint liberally because Plaintiff is not represented by an attorney. See Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 520-21 (1972); Hall v. Bellmon, 935 F.2d 1106, 1110 (10th Cir. 1991). The Court, however, should not act as a pro se litigant's advocate. See Hall, 935 F.2d at 1110. Plaintiff will be ordered to file an Amended Complaint for the reasons state below.
The Complaint does not comply with the pleading requirements of Rule 8 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The twin purposes of a complaint are to give the opposing parties fair notice of the basis for the claims against them so that they may respond and to allow the court to conclude that the allegations, if proven, show that the plaintiff is entitled to relief. See Monument Builders of Greater Kansas City, Inc. v. American Cemetery Ass'n of Kansas, 891 F.2d 1473, 1480 (10th Cir. 1989). The requirements of Fed. R. Civ. P. 8 are designed to meet these purposes. See TV Communications Network, Inc. v. ESPN, Inc., 767 F. Supp. 1062, 1069 (D. Colo. 1991), aff'd, 964 F.2d 1022 (10th Cir. 1992).
Specifically, Rule 8(a) provides that a complaint "must contain: (1) a short and plain statement of the grounds for the court's jurisdiction, . . . ." In the Jurisdiction section of the Complaint form, Plaintiff states that "Lawsuits against City and County Governments with contributing entity connections in the currant [sic] total of lawsuits filed." Plaintiff's statement of jurisdiction is gibberish and does not state the statutory authorities for his claim. The Court, therefore, will direct Plaintiff to file an Amended Complaint that complies with the pleading requirements of Rule 8 and to state the jurisdiction basis for his claims in this Court. Accordingly, it is
ORDERED that Plaintiff file an Amended Complaint as instructed above, within thirty days from the date of this Order. It is
FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff shall obtain the proper Court-approved form, along with the applicable instructions, at www.cod.uscourts.gov for use in filing the Amended Complaint. It is
FURTHER ORDERED that if Plaintiff fails to properly amend the Complaint, within thirty days from the date of this Order, the Complaint and action shall be subject to dismissal without further notice.
DATED November 19, 2013, at Denver, Colorado.
BY THE COURT:
Boyd N. Boland
United States Magistrate Judge