Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-azd-2_04-cv-02845/USCOURTS-azd-2_04-cv-02845-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 555
Nature of Suit: Prisoner - Prison Condition
Cause of Action: 42:1983 Prisoner Civil Rights

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Effective February 7, 2005, the filing fee for a civil rights action increased from

$150.00 to $250.00. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914, amended by, Consolidated Appropriations Act

of 2005, Pub. L. No. 108-447, 118 Stat. 2809, Sec. 307 (December 8, 2004). Plaintiff’s

Complaint is not subject to the increased fee because it was filed prior to the effective date

of the increase.

TERMPSREF

JDN

WO

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

David Anthony Stokes, 

Plaintiff, 

vs.

Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, et al., 

Defendants. 

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No. CV 04-2845-PHX-DGC-(MEA)

ORDER

Plaintiff, a county jail inmate at the Towers Jail in Phoenix, Arizona, filed a pro se

Complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. This action is one of more than one thousand

lawsuits filed in this district since September 2004 alleging that the overcrowded conditions

in the Maricopa County jail system have resulted in a variety of constitutional violations.

The Court will require an answer to the Complaint.

A. Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis & Filing Fee

Plaintiff’s request to proceed in forma pauperis will be granted. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a).

Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1), Plaintiff is required to pay the statutory filing fee of 

$150.00 for this action.1

 

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An initial partial filing fee of $6.23 will be assessed by this Order. 28 U.S.C. §

1915(b)(1). By separate order, the Court will direct the appropriate agency to collect the

initial partial filing fee from Plaintiff’s trust account and forward it to the Clerk of Court. 

Plaintiff will be obligated for monthly payments of 20 percent of the preceding

month’s income credited to Plaintiff’s trust account. The Court will direct the appropriate

agency to collect these monthly payments, which will be forwarded to the Clerk of Court

each time the amount in Plaintiff’s account exceeds $10.00, until the filing fee is paid in full.

28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2).

Plaintiff should take notice that if he is released before the filing fee is paid in full, he

must pay the remaining unpaid amount of the filing fee within 120 days of the date of his

release. If Plaintiff fails to pay the remainder of the filing fee within 120 days of the date of

his release, the action will be dismissed, unless Plaintiff shows good cause, in writing, why

he is unable to pay the remainder of the filing fee.

B. Statutory Screening of Prisoner Complaints

The Court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief against

a governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity. 28 U.S.C.

§ 1915A(a). The Court must dismiss a complaint or portion thereof if the Plaintiff has raised

claims that are legally “frivolous or malicious,” that fail to state a claim upon which relief

may be granted, or that seek monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such

relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1), (2). 

C. Claims and/or Parties to be Served and/or Dismissed

1. Service

In his Complaint Plaintiff alleges that the jail is severely overcrowded, the living

conditions are unsanitary, his physical health is in jeopardy, his medical care is inadequate,

and he has not received his medically prescribed meals. These allegations adequately state

a claim, and the Court will require an answer to the Complaint.

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2. Dismissal

a. Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office

The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office is not a proper Defendant. In Arizona, the

responsibility of operating jails and caring for prisoners is placed by law upon the sheriff.

See A.R.S. § 31-101. A sheriff’s office is simply an administrative creation of the county

sheriff to allow him to carry out his statutory duties and not a “person” amenable to suit

pursuant to § 1983. Accordingly, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office will be dismissed

from this action as an improper Defendant. Plaintiff cannot amend to cure this deficiency.

b. Towers Jail Facility

The Towers Jail Facility is not a proper Defendant to this action. Claims under §1983

are directed at “bodies politic and corporate.” Monell v. Dept. of Soc. Serv. of City of N.Y.,

436 U.S. 658, 688-89 (1978). Under the Civil Rights Act of 1871, Congress intended

municipalities and other local government units to be included among those persons to whom

§ 1983 applies. Id. at 689-690. Because a jail is neither a corporation nor a body politic, it

is not a person for purposes of §1983, and accordingly, the Towers Jail Facility will be

dismissed.

c. Hart v. Hill

Throughout his Complaint, Plaintiff refers to Hart v. Hill, No. CV 77-0477-PHXEHC (D. Ariz.), claiming that the conditions of his confinement violate that decision.

Jurisdiction to enforce the judgment is retained by the court which entered it. Jeff D. v.

Kempthorne, 365 F.3d 844, 853 (9th Cir. 2004). A civil rights action is not the proper means

by which to enforce the decree. Cagle v. Sutherland, 334 F.3d 980, 986 (11th Cir. 2003);

Klein v. Zavaras, 80 F.3d 432, 435 (10th Cir. 1996); DeGidio v. Pung, 920 F.2d 525, 534

(8th Cir. 1990); Green v. McKaskle, 788 F.2d 1116, 1122-23 (5th Cir. 1986). Standing

alone, remedial orders cannot serve as a substantive basis for a § 1983 claim for damages

because such orders do not create “rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the

Constitution and laws.” Green, 788 F.3d at 1123-24. Remedial decrees are the means by

which unconstitutional conditions are corrected but they do not create or enlarge

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constitutional rights. Id. at 1123. To the extent Plaintiff seeks to enforce Hart v. Hill, his

claim is not properly brought in this action. Instead, his allegations must separately state a

violation of a constitutional right. At this juncture, as described supra, Plaintiff’s allegations

do state a claim for a constitutional violation. He cannot, however, seek to enforce Hart v.

Hill in this civil rights action. 

D. Rule 41 Cautionary Notice

Plaintiff should take notice that if he fails to timely comply with every provision of

this Order, or any order entered in this matter, this action will be dismissed pursuant to Rule

41(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. See Ferdik v. Bonzelet, 963 F.2d 1258, 1260-

61 (9th Cir.) (district court may dismiss action for failure to comply with any order of the

Court), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 915 (1992).

IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that: 

(1) Plaintiff’s Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis is granted. Plaintiff is

obligated to pay the statutory filing fee of $150.00 for this action. The Director of the

Arizona Department of Corrections or her designee shall collect from Plaintiff’s trust account

an initial partial filing fee in the amount of $6.23 and shall forward the amount to the Clerk

of Court. Said payment shall be clearly identified by the name and number assigned to this

action.

(2) The Director of the Arizona Department of Corrections or her designee shall collect

the filing fee from Plaintiff’s trust account by collecting monthly payments in an amount equal to

20 percent of the preceding month’s income credited to Plaintiff’s trust account and forwarding the

payments to the Clerk of the Court each time the amount in the account exceeds $10.00 in

accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2). The payments shall be clearly identified by the name and

number assigned to this action.

(3) The following Defendants are dismissed without prejudice: Maricopa County Sheriff’s

Office, Towers Jail Facility.

(4) The Clerk of Court shall send Plaintiff a service packet including the Complaint, this

Order, and both summons and request for waiver forms for Defendant Arpaio.

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(5) Plaintiff shall complete and return the service packet to the Clerk of Court within 20 days

of the date of filing of this Order. The United States Marshal will not provide service of process if

Plaintiff fails to comply with this Order.

(6) If Plaintiff does not either obtain a waiver of service of the summons or complete service

of the Summons and Complaint on each Defendant within 120 days of the filing of the complaint

or within 60 days of the filing of this Order, whichever is later, the action may be dismissed as to

each Defendant not served pursuant to Rule 4(m) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Local

Rule of Civil Procedure 16.2(b)(2)(B)(i). 

(7) The United States Marshal shall retain the Summons, a copy of the Complaint, and a

copy of this Order for future use.

(8) The United States Marshal shall notify Defendants of the commencement of this action

and request waiver of service of the summons pursuant to Rule 4(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil

Procedure. The notice to Defendants shall include a copy of this Order. The Marshal shall file

waivers of service of the summons or requests for waivers that were returned as undeliverable as

soon as they are received. If a waiver of service of summons is not returned by a Defendant within

thirty days from the date the request for waiver was sent by the Marshal, the Marshal shall:

(a) Personally serve copies of the Summons, Complaint, and this Order upon the

Defendant pursuant to Rule 4(e)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure;

(b) Within 10 days after personal service is effected, file the return of service for the

Defendant, along with evidence of the attempt to secure a waiver of service of the summons

and of the costs subsequently incurred in effecting service upon the Defendant. The costs

of service shall be enumerated on the return of service form (USM-285) and shall include

the costs incurred by the Marshal for photocopying additional copies of the Summons,

Complaint, or this Order and for preparing new process receipt and return forms (USM-285),

if required. Costs of service will be taxed against the personally served defendant pursuant

to Rule 4(d)(2) and (5) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, unless otherwise ordered by

the Court.

(9) A Defendant who agrees to waive service of the Summons and Complaint shall

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return the signed waiver forms to the United States Marshal, not the Plaintiff.

(10) Defendants shall answer the Complaint or otherwise respond by appropriate motion

within the time provided by the applicable provisions of Rule 12(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil

Procedure.

(11) Any answer or responsive pleading shall state the specific Defendant(s) by name on

whose behalf it is filed. The Court may strike any answer, responsive pleading, or other motion or

paper that does not identify the specific Defendant(s) by name on whose behalf it is filed.

(12) Plaintiff shall serve upon Defendants, or if appearance has been entered by counsel,

upon counsel, a copy of every further pleading or other document submitted for consideration by

the Court. Plaintiff shall include with the original document and copy, to be filed with the Clerk of

the Court, a certificate stating the date a true and correct copy of the pleading or document was

mailed to Defendants or counsel. Any paper received by a District Court Judge or Magistrate Judge

which has not been filed with the Clerk of Court may be disregarded by the Court.

(13) At all times during the pendency of this action, Plaintiff shall immediately advise the

Court and the United States Marshal of any change of address and its effective date. Such notice

shall be captioned “NOTICE OF CHANGE OF ADDRESS.” The notice shall contain only

information pertaining to the change of address and its effective date. Plaintiff shall serve a copy

of the notice on all opposing parties. The notice shall not include any motions for any other relief.

Failure to file a Notice of Change of Address may result in the dismissal of the action for failure to

prosecute pursuant to Rule 41(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. 

(14) A clear, legible copy of every pleading or other document filed shall accompany each

original pleading or other document filed with the Clerk for use by the District Judge or Magistrate

Judge to whom the case is assigned. Failure to comply with this requirement may result in the

pleading or document being stricken without further notice to Plaintiff. 

(15) This matter is referred to Magistrate Judge Mark E. Aspey pursuant to Local Rules of

Civil Procedure 72.1 and 72.2 for further proceedings.

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Dated this 13th day of October, 2005.

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