Opinion
CV 320-065 CV 320-070
10-19-2020
SHERWIN PERKINS, Plaintiff, v. ANTONIO CALDWELL, Warden; JAMES BLAIR, Deputy Warden; FAIRVIEW PARK HOSPITAL; KENNETH COWENS; BILLY McKENZIE, Inmate; JAMES MITCHEL, Inmate; UNIT MANAGER GIBBONS; PA OLIVER; HALL, Director of Nursing; LATISHA FRANKLIN, Deputy Warden; TIMOTHY C. WARD, Commissioner; MEDICAL COLLEGE of GEORGIA; UNIT MANAGER JACKSON; JOHNSON; MESSER, Deputy Warden; CHIEF COUNSELER BRAGG; and ALRFRED LUNDY, Inmate, Defendants.
ORDER
On September 3, 2020, Plaintiff Sherwin Perkins, an inmate at Johnson State Prison ("JSP") in Wrightsville, Georgia filed a complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 in the Middle District of Georgia. On September 22, 2020, United States District Judge Marc Thomas Treadwell transferred the case. Perkins v. Caldwell, CV 320-065 (S.D. Ga. Sept. 22, 2020). The complaint, along with a thirty-four page attachment, alleges physical abuse, failure to prosecute, deliberate denial of medical treatment, denial of outdoor access, and other constitutional violations. (Id. at 36-70.)
On October 14, 2020, Judge Treadwell transferred another case filed by Plaintiff, i.e. Perkins v. Caldwell, CV 320-070 (S.D. Ga. Oct. 14, 2020). The complaints in both civil actions were signed by Plaintiff on August 12, 2020, were mailed in the same envelope, and assert the same claims and grounds for relief. Cf. Perkins v. Caldwell, CV 320-065, doc. no. 1, pp. 4, 5, 71, (S.D. Ga. Sept. 22) with Perkins v. Caldwell, CV 320-070, doc. no. 1, pp. 4, 5, 35, (S.D. Ga. Oct. 14). The only discernable difference is Plaintiff's attachment to the complaint does not appear in CV 320-070. Because the cases are obvious duplicates, the Court DIRECTS the CLERK to CLOSE CV 320-070. Plaintiff shall not be responsible for a second filing fee. Nor shall the second case be counted against Plaintiff as a strike under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g). Plaintiff's claims shall proceed in CV 320-065, subject to the standard frivolity review under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A, in CV 320-065.
SO ORDERED this 19th day of October, 2020, at Augusta, Georgia.
/s/_________
BRIAN K. EPPS
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA