Opinion
Case No: 2:18-cv-589-FtM-38CM
10-02-2018
MATTHEW MICHAEL CHANDLER WOLFE, EDWIN LEDESMA and ANTHONY DAKOTA ANDREWS, Plaintiffs, v. FLORIDA ATTORNEY GENERAL OFFICE, STATE OF FLORIDA, STATE ATTORNEY'S OFFICE and 20TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, Defendants.
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Plaintiffs Wolfe, Ledesma, and Andrews, who are pretrial detainees confined in the Lee County Jail, filed a civil rights complaint alleging violations of U.S. and Florida constitutional law in connection with their respective arrests and prosecutions. See generally Doc. 1 at 5-7. Each Plaintiff seeks permission for leave to proceed in this action in forma pauperis. See Doc. 6, Doc. 8 and Doc. 11.
Eleventh Circuit law prohibits prisoner plaintiffs from proceeding in forma pauperis in the same civil action. Hubbard v. Haley, 262 F.3d 1194, 1196 (11th Cir. 2001)(affirming dismissal of multi-plaintiff prisoner action as conflicting with PLRA's requirement that each prisoner must pay the filing fee); Bowens v. Turner Guilford Knight Detention, 510 F. App'x 863, 864 (11th Cir. 2013)(affirming dismissal of complaint filed by six inmates as violative of the PLRA and § 1915's requirement that each plaintiff is required to pay the filing fee in an initial action). Additionally, while a pro se litigant has a right to litigate his individual claims in federal court, "[i]t is plain error to permit [an] imprisoned litigant who is unassisted by counsel to represent his fellow inmates in a class action." Wallace v. Smith, 145 F. App'x 300, 302 (11th Cir. 2005) (per curiam); see also Smith v. Warden, Hardee Corr.Inst., 597 F. App'x 1027 (11th Cir. 2015). Consequently, pro se prisoner Plaintiff's cannot jointly prosecute this action. To the extent that the Plaintiffs wish to prosecute the claims asserted in the instant Complaint they must initiate separate actions in their individual names, accompanied by the $350.00 filing fee or a motion to proceed in forma pauperis.
Accordingly, it is now
ORDERED:
1. The Complaint (Doc. 1) is DISMISSED without prejudice.
2. The Clerk shall terminate all pending motions, enter judgment, and close this case.
DONE and ORDERED in Fort Myers, Florida this 2nd day of October 2018.
/s/ _________
SHERI POLSTER CHAPPELL
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE SA: FTMP-1
Copies: All Parties of Record