Opinion
3:22-cv-00418-MMD-CSD
11-21-2022
KARA SAMPSON, Plaintiff v. W.C.S.O., et al., Defendant
ORDER
I. DISCUSSION
On September 19, 2022, Plaintiff, an inmate in the custody of the Nevada Department of Corrections (“NDOC”), submitted a civil rights complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and filed an application to proceed in forma pauperis. (ECF Nos. 1-1, 1.) Plaintiff's application to proceed in forma pauperis is incomplete. Plaintiff has not submitted this Court's approved application to proceed in forma pauperis, a financial certificate, or an inmate account statement for the previous six-month period with Plaintiff's application.
Under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2) and Local Rule LSR 1-2, an inmate seeking to begin a civil action in this Court may apply to proceed in forma pauperis in order to file the civil action without prepaying the full $402 filing fee. To apply for in forma pauperis status, an inmate must submit all three of the following documents to the Court:
(1) a completed Application to Proceed in Forma Pauperis for Inmate , on this Court's approved form (i.e. pages 1 through 3 with the inmate's two signatures on page 3),
(2) a Financial Certificate properly signed by both the inmate and a prison or jail official (i.e. page 4 of this Court's approved form), and
(3) a copy of the inmate's prison or jail trust fund account statement for the previous six-month period .
Accordingly, the Court denies Plaintiff's application to proceed in forma pauperis (ECF No. 1) without prejudice because the application is incomplete. The Court will grant Plaintiff a one-time extension to file a fully complete application to proceed in forma pauperis containing all three of the required documents. Plaintiff will file a fully complete application to proceed in forma pauperis on or before January 23, 2023. Absent unusual circumstances, the Court will not grant any further extensions of time. If Plaintiff does not file a fully complete application to proceed in forma pauperis with all three required documents on or before January 23, 2023, this case will be subject to dismissal without prejudice for Plaintiff to file a new case with the Court when Plaintiff is able to acquire all three of the documents needed to file a fully complete application to proceed in forma pauperis or pays the full $402 filing fee.
A dismissal without prejudice means Plaintiff does not give up the right to refile the case with the Court, under a new case number, when Plaintiff has all three documents needed to submit with the application to proceed in forma pauperis. Alternatively, Plaintiff may choose not to file an application to proceed in forma pauperis and instead pay the full filing fee of $402 on or before January 23, 2023, to proceed with this case.
The Court will retain Plaintiff's civil rights complaint (ECF No. 1-1) but the Court will not file the complaint unless and until Plaintiff timely files a fully complete application to proceed in forma pauperis with all three documents or pays the full $402 filing fee.
The Court also notes that parts of the complaint are very difficult to read. Nevada Local Rule of Practice IA 10-1(a)(1)-(3) provides that a filed document cannot contain more than 28 lines of text per page, the text size must be size 12 font or larger, and handwriting must be legible. If Plaintiff files a complete application to proceed in forma pauperis by January 23, 2023, the Court will screen Plaintiff's complaint, and the Court will do its best to understand Plaintiff's allegations. However, to the extent that the Court cannot read or understand portions of the complaint, the Court will have no option but to ignore those allegations for the purposes of screening. The Court notes that Plaintiff may file a first amended complaint with clearer handwriting. If Plaintiff chooses to file a first amended complaint, Plaintiff will file the first amended complaint on or before January 23, 2023.
II. CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, IT IS ORDERED that Plaintiff's application to proceed in forma pauperis (ECF No. 1) is denied without prejudice to file a new fully complete application to proceed in forma pauperis with all three documents.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Clerk of the Court will send Plaintiff the approved form application to proceed in forma pauperis by an inmate, as well as the document entitled information and instructions for filing an in forma pauperis application.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that on or before January 23, 2023, Plaintiff will either pay the full $402 filing fee for a civil action (which includes the $350 filing fee and the $52 administrative fee) or file with the Court:
(1) a completed Application to Proceed in Forma Pauperis for Inmate on this Court's approved form (i.e. pages 1 through 3 of the form with the inmate's two signatures on page 3),
(2) a Financial Certificate properly signed by both the inmate and a prison or jail official (i.e. page 4 of this Court's approved form), and
(3) a copy of the inmate's prison or jail trust fund account statement for the previous six-month period .
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, if Plaintiff does not file a fully complete application to proceed in forma pauperis with all three documents or pay the full $402 filing fee for a civil action on or before January 23, 2023, this case will be subject to dismissal without prejudice for Plaintiff to refile the case with the Court, under a new case number, when Plaintiff has all three documents needed to file a complete application to proceed in forma pauperis or pays the the full $402 filing fee.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Clerk of the Court will retain the complaint (ECF No. 1-1) but will not file it at this time.
It is further ordered that the Clerk of the Court will send to Plaintiff the approved form for filing a § 1983 complaint, instructions for the same, and a copy of Plaintiff's original complaint (ECF No. 1-1). If Plaintiff chooses to file an amended complaint, Plaintiff should use the approved form and Plaintiff will write the words “First Amended” above the words “Civil Rights Complaint” in the caption.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that if Plaintiff chooses to file an amended complaint with more legible handwriting, Plaintiff will file the amended complaint on or before January 23, 2023.