Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_15-cv-02378/USCOURTS-caed-2_15-cv-02378-0/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

GORDON D. MEADOR,

Plaintiff,

v.

UNKNOWN,

Defendants.

No. 2:15-cv-2378 KJN PC

ORDER

Plaintiff is a state prisoner, currently incarcerated at California State Prison-Sacramento in 

Represa, California (“CSP-SAC”), who is proceeding pro se in this civil rights action. 

Plaintiff has filed a motion for a temporary restraining order (ECF No. 1), but has failed

both to file a complaint, and to either pay the applicable filing fee or file an application to proceed 

in forma pauperis. 

Plaintiff is informed that, in order to commence an action, he must file a complaint as 

required by Rule 3 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

1 He must also either pay the required 

filing fee or file an application requesting leave to proceed in forma pauperis. See 28 U.S.C. 

§§ 1914(a), 1915(a). The court will not issue any orders granting or denying relief until an action 

is properly commenced. Therefore, a ruling on plaintiff’s motion for a temporary restraining 

 

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Local Rule 231(c)(1) also requires that a complaint be on file before the court will hear a 

temporary restraining order.

Case 2:15-cv-02378-KJN Document 3 Filed 11/20/15 Page 1 of 4
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order will be stayed until such time as (i) plaintiff files a complaint and (ii) either pays the 

required filing fee of $350.00 plus the $50.00 administrative fee or submits a properly-completed 

application to proceed in forma pauperis.

2

 

Out of an abundance of caution, the court will briefly consider plaintiff’s motion for a 

temporary restraining order. Plaintiff seeks an order compelling his return to the medical facility 

at Salinas Valley State Prison (“SVSP”). Plaintiff alleges that he has been subjected to retaliatory 

conduct since his recent settlement of a pro se civil rights action filed in this judicial district

against three correctional officers at CSP-SAC. See Meador v. Hammer, No. 11-cv-03342 KJM 

AC (E.D. Cal.). According to plaintiff, he was transferred to CSP-SAC from SVSP solely for the 

purposes of attending a settlement conference on November 5, 2015, but has not been returned to 

SVSP. Since his arrival at CSP-SAC, plaintiff alleges that the following has occurred:

 Plaintiff has been housed in an Administrative Segregation unit for psychiatric 

patients, despite the fact that he does not suffer from mental illness and is classified as 

a general population inmate. (ECF No. 3 at 1.)

 Plaintiff is wheelchair-bound, and his current housing is not wheelchair-accessible. 

(Id. at 2.)

 When plaintiff attempted to raise these concerns with correctional staff, Correctional 

Officer Bonilla laughed at him and stated, “We look out for our own,” and two other 

unidentified Correctional Officers told plaintiff that he was “in good hands, the ones 

you sued send their regards.” (Id. at 2.)

 An unidentified individual told plaintiff that he would be kept in the psychiatric 

services unit at CSP-SAC for as long as “they” could keep him “locked up” there. (Id.

at 2.)

 Plaintiff suffers from diabetes, a liver condition, asthma, and spinal damage, and is not 

receiving required treatment for these conditions. (Id. at 2-3.)

 

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 If leave to file in forma pauperis is granted, plaintiff will still be required to pay the filing fee 

but will be allowed to pay it in installments. Litigants proceeding in forma pauperis are not 

required to pay the $50.00 administrative fee.

Case 2:15-cv-02378-KJN Document 3 Filed 11/20/15 Page 2 of 4
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 Plaintiff has yet to appear before the CSP-SAC Institutional Classification Committee. 

(Id. at 3.)

The court is sufficiently concerned about these allegations that it will ask the California 

Department of Justice to look into the matter and report back regarding the circumstances 

surrounding plaintiff’s housing assignment at CSP-SAC. It may be that this matter can be 

resolved informally without the need for further litigation.

III. Conclusion

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

1. Plaintiff shall, within thirty days from the date of this order, file a complaint that 

complies with the requirements of the Civil Rights Act, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and 

the Local Rules of Practice. Plaintiff’s failure to comply with this order may result in the 

dismissal of this action.

2. The Clerk of the Court is directed to send plaintiff the form for filing a civil rights 

action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983

3. Plaintiff shall submit, within thirty days from the date of this order, a properlycompleted affidavit in support of his request to proceed in forma pauperis on the form provided 

by the Clerk of Court, or the required fees in the amount of $400.00. Plaintiff’s failure to comply 

with this order may result in the dismissal of this action.

4. The Clerk of the Court is directed to send plaintiff an Application to Proceed In Forma 

Pauperis By a Prisoner.

5. The Clerk of the Court is directed to serve copies of this Order and plaintiff’s motion 

for a temporary restraining order (ECF No. 1) on Monica Anderson, Supervising Deputy Attorney 

General, California Department of Justice. Deputy Attorney General Anderson, in turn, is 

requested to provide the undersigned with a status report in no less than fourteen days regarding 

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Case 2:15-cv-02378-KJN Document 3 Filed 11/20/15 Page 3 of 4
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plaintiff’s assignment to California State Prison-Sacramento, placement (if any) in segregated 

housing, and physical and mental health classification and status.

Dated: 11/20/15

mead.nocompl+3a+input

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