Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_16-cv-01435/USCOURTS-caed-2_16-cv-01435-1/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 550
Nature of Suit: Prisoner - Civil Rights (U.S. defendant)
Cause of Action: 42:1983 Prisoner Civil Rights

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

CHARLES E GRIFFIN, II,

Plaintiff,

v.

DOROTHY DOWILLIAMS, et al.,

Defendants.

No. 2:16-cv-1435 CKD P

ORDER

Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding pro se and seeking relief pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 

1983. This proceeding was referred to this court by Local Rule 302 pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 

636(b)(1).

Plaintiff requests leave to proceed in forma pauperis. Since plaintiff has submitted a 

declaration that makes the showing required by 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a), his request will be granted. 

Plaintiff is required to pay the statutory filing fee of $350.00 for this action. 28 U.S.C. §§ 

1914(a), 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 the Court. 

Thereafter, plaintiff will be obligated for monthly payments of twenty percent of the preceding 

month’s income credited to plaintiff’s prison trust account. These payments will be forwarded by 

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Case 2:16-cv-01435-WBS-CKD Document 11 Filed 09/01/16 Page 1 of 4
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the appropriate agency to the Clerk of the 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).

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 has conducted the required screening.

First, plaintiff’s complaint is too long, with repetitive information not relevant or 

meaningful to any cognizable claim arising under federal law. Although the Federal Rules of 

Civil Procedure adopt a flexible pleading policy, a complaint must give fair notice and state the 

elements of the claim plainly and succinctly. Jones v. Community Redev. Agency, 733 F.2d 646, 

649 (9th Cir. 1984). 

Further, plaintiff attempts to join too many claims against too many defendants. As a 

general rule, plaintiff may include as many claims as he likes with respect to one defendant in one 

action. However, claims against additional defendants in the same action must be related in some 

meaningful way to claims asserted against the first defendant. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 20(A)(2). 

For these reasons, plaintiff’s complaint will be dismissed. However, the court will grant 

plaintiff leave to file an amended complaint if plaintiff wishes to attempt to cure the deficiencies 

in his pleadings. 

 If plaintiff elects to file an amended complaint, it must be limited to 20 pages. The 

amended complaint must not contain repetitive and immaterial information and must not contain 

improperly joined defendants as described above. 

Plaintiff seeks damages with respect to inadequate healthcare. Plaintiff is informed that 

denial or delay of medical care for a prisoner’s serious medical needs may constitute a violation 

of the prisoner’s Eighth Amendment rights. Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 104-05 (1976). An 

individual is liable for such a violation only when the individual is deliberately indifferent to a 

prisoner’s serious medical needs. Id. If plaintiff wishes to state a claim for denial of medical 

care in his amended complaint, he must clearly and concisely allege facts indicating a defendant 

denied him care for a serious medical need and that plaintiff suffered injury as a result of that 

denial. 

Case 2:16-cv-01435-WBS-CKD Document 11 Filed 09/01/16 Page 2 of 4
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Finally, plaintiff is informed that if he elects to file an amended complaint, the court 

cannot refer to a prior pleading in order to make plaintiff’s amended complaint complete. Local 

Rule 220 requires that an amended complaint be complete in itself without reference to any prior 

pleading. This is because, as a general rule, an amended complaint supersedes the original 

complaint. See Loux v. Rhay, 375 F.2d 55, 57 (9th Cir. 1967). 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. 

The court notes that plaintiff has three motions seeking preliminary injunctions having to 

do with medical care. In light of the fact that plaintiff’s complaint is being dismissed, those 

requests will be denied. Furthermore, plaintiff does not seek injunctive relief in his complaint, so 

any request for preliminary injunctive relief is improper. If plaintiff seeks injunctive relief 

regarding the medical care he is receiving, he must, generally speaking, allege in his pleadings 

that his rights are currently being violated, not that they have been violated in the past. Plaintiff is 

free to initiate a separate action regarding the medical care he is currently receiving. If he wishes 

to challenge that care in this action, he must do so while abiding with all the instructions given 

above, including the instructions regarding proper joinder of defendants. 

In accordance with the above, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:

1. Plaintiff’s request for leave to proceed in forma pauperis (ECF No. 2) is granted.

2. Plaintiff is obligated to pay the statutory filing fee of $350.00 for this action. All fees 

shall be collected and paid in accordance with this court’s order to the Director of the California 

Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation filed concurrently herewith.

3. Plaintiff’s complaint is dismissed. 

4. Plaintiff is granted thirty days from the date of service of this order to file an amended 

complaint that complies with the requirements of this order, the Civil Rights Act, the Federal 

Rules of Civil Procedure, and the Local Rules of Practice; the amended complaint must bear the 

docket number assigned this case and must be labeled “Amended Complaint”; failure to file an 

amended complaint in accordance with this order will result in a recommendation that this action 

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be dismissed.

5. Plaintiff’s requests for preliminary injunctive relief (EFC Nos. 6, 8 & 10) are denied.

Dated: September 1, 2016

1

grif1435.14

_____________________________________

CAROLYN K. DELANEY

UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

Case 2:16-cv-01435-WBS-CKD Document 11 Filed 09/01/16 Page 4 of 4