Opinion
2:21-cv-0903 KJN P
06-11-2021
JEFFREY CHARLES WREN, Plaintiff, v. WARDEN MULE CREEK PRISON, et al., Defendants.
ORDER
KENDALL J. NEWMAN, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
Plaintiff, a state prisoner, proceeds pro se with this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff filed the action in the Fresno Division of this court; on May 19, 2021, the action was transferred to the undersigned. On May 21, 2021, the undersigned gave plaintiff the opportunity to either submit the appropriate affidavit in support of a request to proceed in forma pauperis or to submit the required fees totaling $402.00, in order to properly commence this action. Plaintiff's response to such order is due June 20, 2021.
In the meantime, plaintiff filed multiple documents, including a motion to amend, as well as various supplements. Plaintiff is advised that he may amend his complaint once as a matter of right before defendants file a responsive pleading. Thus, no motion to amend is required at this juncture. However, plaintiff is cautioned that any amended pleading must include all of his claims. The court cannot refer to a prior pleading in order to make plaintiffs amended complaint complete. Local Rule 220 requires that an amended complaint be complete in itself without reference to any prior pleading. This requirement exists because, as a general rule, an amended complaint supersedes the original complaint. See Ramirez v. County of San Bernardino, 806 F.3d 1002, 1008 (9th Cir. 2015) (“an ‘amended complaint supersedes the original, the latter being treated thereafter as non-existent.'” (internal citation omitted)). Once plaintiff files an amended complaint, the original pleading no longer serves any function in the case. Therefore, in an amended complaint, as in an original complaint, each claim and the involvement of each defendant must be sufficiently alleged. Plaintiff should use the court's form civil rights complaint.
In addition, plaintiff continues to include the prior Fresno case number and refer to its assigned magistrate judge. Plaintiff is advised that the Fresno case is now closed. All future filings should only bear the instant case number: 2:21-cv-0903 KJN P.
That said, plaintiff is reminded that this case cannot proceed until he complies with the court's May 21, 2021 order and either pays the court's filing fee or submits a request to proceed in forma pauperis.
In accordance with the above, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:
1. Plaintiffs motion to amend (ECF No. 7) is denied;
2. Plaintiffs supplemental filings (ECF Nos. 8 and 9) are disregarded; and
3. The Clerk of the Court is directed to send plaintiff the form for filing a civil rights complaint.