Opinion
CIVIL ACTION NO. 07-0175-A-M3.
August 25, 2008
ORDER
This matter comes before the Court on the motion of a pro se inmate, Erran Evans, to intervene as a party-plaintiff in this proceeding, rec.doc. no. 56.
The original pro se plaintiff, an inmate confined at the Louisiana State Penitentiary ("LSP"), Angola, Louisiana, brought this action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Governor Kathleen Blanco, Secretary Richard Stalder and Warden Burl Cain, complaining that the defendants have violated his constitutional rights by exposing him to unconstitutional conditions of confinement at LSP, notably in the form of unhygienic conditions in the LSP food preparation areas.
In the instant motion to intervene, a co-inmate of the plaintiff seeks to join in this proceeding as a party-plaintiff. He has not, however, filed a proposed "pleading setting forth the claim or defense" as mandated by Rule 24 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, nor has he filed a motion to proceed in forma pauperis herein. Further, it does not appear that he has exhausted administrative remedies relative to his claims as mandated by 42 U.S.C. § 1997e.
Although Rules 20 and 24 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure allow permissive joinder or intervention by a party-plaintiff who claims the existence of a common question of law or fact, such allowance is addressed to the Court's sound discretion, and the Court in the instant case does not believe that the interests of justice will be served by allowing an unrepresented co-inmate plaintiff to intervene who has likely not exhausted administrative remedies, who has made no arrangements for the payment of the Court's filing fee, and who has not complied with the provisions of the Federal Rules by providing a pleading setting forth the factual and legal basis for his proposed intervention. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that the Motion to Intervene of inmate Erran Evans, rec.doc. no. 56, be and it is hereby DENIED, without prejudice to the right of this individual to file a separate lawsuit if he so chooses.