Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_19-cv-00721/USCOURTS-caed-2_19-cv-00721-7/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 

LEE SWAFFORD, 

Plaintiff, 

v. 

R. NEUSHMID, et al., 

Defendants. 

No. 2:19-cv-0721 AC P 

ORDER 

 Plaintiff, a state prisoner proceeding pro se with a civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 

§ 1983, has filed a document entitled “complaint for declaratory relief and monetary damages.” 

ECF No. 36. The purported complaint appears to reiterate the claims contained in the operative 

second amended complaint and to extend a settlement offer to defendant. Id. 

 To the extent plaintiff is attempting to amend the complaint, a party may amend a 

complaint once as a matter of course within twenty-one days of serving it or within twenty-one 

days of service of a responsive pleading. Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(1). For any other amendments, 

plaintiff must have the written consent of defendant or leave of the court. Fed. R. Civ. P. 

15(a)(2). Plaintiff has already amended the complaint twice, and even if he were proceeding on 

the original complaint, he would be well outside the time for amending as a matter of course. 

Accordingly, he may only amend the complaint if he has the written permission of defendant or 

leave of the court. Plaintiff has not moved for leave to amend. Moreover, the amended 

Case 2:19-cv-00721-DAD-AC Document 38 Filed 01/27/20 Page 1 of 2
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complaint contains the same claims against defendant Rohrer on which the case is already 

proceeding.1 

To the extent plaintiff is attempting to negotiate a settlement with defendant, plaintiff 

should communicate directly with defense counsel and refrain from filing related documents with 

the court. Because defendant opted out of the early ADR program for prisoner cases, see ECF 

No. 29, the court is not currently involved in any attempts to settle the case. 

 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Clerk of the Court is directed to strike 

plaintiff’s complaint and request for settlement, ECF No. 36, from the record. 

DATED: January 24, 2020 

 

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 Although the complaint also identifies Neushmid as a defendant, it contains no allegations 

against him other than conclusory assertions of supervisory liability that were previously found to 

be insufficient. 

Case 2:19-cv-00721-DAD-AC Document 38 Filed 01/27/20 Page 2 of 2