Opinion
Civil Action No. 04-1039.
April 30, 2004
ORDER
AND NOW, this day of March, 2004, the Court finding that:
(a) By order dated March 12, 2004, this Court informed plaintiff, a prisoner at the State Correctional Institution at Greensburg (S.C.I. Greensburg), that in accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 1915, a prisoner bringing a civil action must pay the full amount of the $150 filing fee;
(b) Based upon the financial information that plaintiff submitted to the Court, he was assessed an initial partial filing fee of $5.09. He was also advised that after the initial partial filing fee is collected and forwarded to the Clerk, the Superintendent or other appropriate official at S.C.I. Greensburg or any prison at which plaintiff may be incarcerated will be directed to deduct from plaintiff's prison account, each time that the balance in plaintiff's inmate trust fund account exceeds $10, an amount no greater than 20 percent of the money credited to plaintiff's account during the preceding month and forward that amount to the Clerk of Court until the filing fee is paid;
(c) Because plaintiff may not have realized when he brought this civil action that he is required to pay the filing fee, we gave him twenty (20) days to notify the Court whether he wished to discontinue this civil action;
(d) Plaintiff has informed the Court that he wishes to continue this civil action;
It is therefore ORDERED that:
1. Plaintiff, Vincent A. Cortlessa, FJ7676, shall pay the filing fee of $150;
2. Plaintiff is assessed an initial partial filing fee of $5.09. The Superintendent or other appropriate official at S.C.I Greensburg or at any prison at which plaintiff may be incarcerated is directed to deduct $5.09 from plaintiff's inmate trust fund account, when such funds become available, and forward that amount to be credited to Civil Action No. 04-1039, to the following address:
Clerk of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 601 Market Street, Room 2609, Philadelphia, PA 19106
3. The Superintendent or other appropriate official at S.C.I. Greensburg or at any prison at which plaintiff may be incarcerated shall, after the initial partial filing fee is collected and until the full filing fee is paid, deduct from plaintiff's account, each time that plaintiff's inmate trust fund account exceeds $10, an amount no greater than 20 percent of the money credited to his account during the preceding month and forward that amount, to be credited to Civil Action No. 04-1039, to the address provided above in ¶ 2; and
4. The Clerk of Court is directed to forward a copy of this order to the Superintendent of S.C.I. Greensburg; and
5. The Clerk of Court is directed to REOPEN this case statistically.
AND NOW, this day of March, 2004, having considered plaintiff's complaint and motion to proceed in forma pauperis, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:
1. Leave to proceed in forma pauperis is GRANTED pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915.
2. Plaintiff's claims against the defendant identified only as "John Doe" are DISMISSED without prejudice to their reassertion if, and when, plaintiff can amend his complaint to identify, with adequate specificity, such defendant and the manner in which he or she violated his constitutional rights. Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(a). The Clerk of Court is directed to strike this defendant from the caption of the complaint.
3. The complaint is to be filed, the summonses are to issue, service of the summonses and complaint is to be made upon the remaining defendants by the U.S. Marshals Service in the event that waiver of service is not effected under Fed.R.Civ.P. 4(d)(2). To effect waiver of service the Clerk of Court is specially appointed to serve written waiver requests on the remaining defendants. The Clerk of Court shall also send a copy of the complaint to the attorney representing the correctional institution where the claims are alleged to have arisen. The waiver of service requests shall be accompanied by a copy of the complaint and shall inform the remaining defendants of the consequences of compliance and of failure to comply with the requests. The requests shall allow the defendants at least 30 days from the date they are sent (60 days if addressed outside any judicial district of the United States) to return the signed waivers. If a signed waiver is not returned within the time limit given, the Clerk of Court's office shall transmit the summons and a copy of the complaint to the U.S. Marshals Service for immediate service under Fed.R.Civ.P. 4(c)(1), and a copy of this order is to be directed to all remaining parties.
4. All original pleadings and other papers submitted for consideration to the Court in this case are to be filed with the Clerk of this Court. Copies of papers filed in this Court are to be served upon counsel for all other parties (or directly on any party acting pro se). Service may be by mail. Proof that service has been made is provided by a certificate of service. This certificate should be filed in the case along with the original papers and should show the day and manner of service. An example of a certificate of service by mail follows:
"I, (name), do hereby certify that a true and correct copy of the foregoing (name of pleading or other paper) has been served upon (name(s) of person(s) served) by placing the same in the U.S. Mail, properly addressed, this (date) day of (month), (year).
________________________ (Signature)"
If any pleading or other paper submitted for filing does not include a certificate of service upon the opposing party or counsel for opposing party, it may be disregarded by the Court.
5. Any request for court action shall be set forth in a motion, properly filed and served. The parties shall file all motions, including proof of service upon opposing parties, with the Clerk of Court. The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and local rules are to be followed. Plaintiff is specifically directed to comply with Local Civil Rule 7.1 and serve and file a proper response to all motions within fourteen (14) days. Failure to do so may result in dismissal of this action.
6. Plaintiff is not required to comply with Section 4:01 of the Civil Justice Expense and Delay Reduction Plan for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (the "Plan"), unless directed by further order of the Court.
7. Plaintiff is specifically directed to comply with Local Rule 26.1(f) which provides that "[n]o motion or other application pursuant to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure governing discovery or pursuant to this rule shall be made unless it contains a certification of counsel that the parties, after reasonable effort, are unable to resolve the dispute." Plaintiff shall attempt to resolve any discovery disputes by contacting defendant's counsel directly by telephone or through correspondence.
8. No direct communication is to take place with the District Judge or United States Magistrate Judge with regard to this case. All relevant information and papers are to be directed to the Clerk of Court.
9. In the event a summons is returned unexecuted, it is plaintiff's responsibility to ask the Clerk of the Court to issue an alias summons and to provide the Clerk of Court with the defendant's correct address, so service can be made.
10. The parties should notify the Clerk of Court's Office when there is an address change. Failure to do so could result in court orders or other information not being timely delivered, which could affect the parties' legal rights.