Opinion
24-3052-JWL
05-07-2024
SKYLER DEAN EASTER, Plaintiff, v. D. HUDSON, et al., Defendants.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
JOHN W. LUNGSTRUM UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Plaintiff brings this pro se civil rights action under 28 U.S.C. § 1331 and Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388 (1971). Plaintiff is incarcerated at USP-Leavenworth in Leavenworth, Kansas. He has been granted leave to proceed in forma pauperis.
This matter is before the Court on Plaintiff's Motion to Amend Complaint (Doc. 8). Plaintiff states that he seeks to add two defendants to his Complaint, along with additional factual allegations and claims related to each. He includes the two counts that he wants to add to his Complaint.
Rule 15(a)(1) provides that a party may amend its pleading once as a matter of course within 21 days after serving the pleading. Fed.R.Civ.P. 15(a)(1)(A). The Complaint has not been served in this matter, so Plaintiff may file an amended complaint. However, to amend either as a matter of course or with leave of the Court, Plaintiff must file a complete amended complaint on the Court-approved forms. An amended complaint is not simply an addendum to the original complaint and instead completely supersedes it. Therefore, any claims or allegations not included in the amended complaint are no longer before the Court. It follows that a plaintiff may not simply refer to an earlier pleading, and the amended complaint must contain all allegations and claims that a plaintiff intends to pursue in the action, including those to be retained from the original complaint. Consequently, to the extent Plaintiff seeks to amend his Complaint by motion rather than by filing a complete amended complaint, the motion is denied.
The Court will give Plaintiff time to file an amended complaint. If he does not file an amended complaint by June 14, 2024, the case will proceed with the existing Complaint (Doc. 1) being screened as required by 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a).
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED BY THE COURT that Plaintiff's Motion to Amend Complaint (Doc. 8) is denied insofar as Plaintiff seeks to amend the Complaint by motion. Plaintiff may file an amended complaint by June 14, 2024, on Court-approved forms that includes all allegations and claims that he intends to pursue in this action.
The clerk is directed to send § 1331 forms and instructions to Plaintiff.
IT IS SO ORDERED.