Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_05-cv-01724/USCOURTS-caed-2_05-cv-01724-0/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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 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.

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

TIMOTHY O’KEEFE, 

Plaintiff, No. CIV S-05-1724 GEB GGH P

vs.

Unnamed,

Defendants. ORDER

 /

Plaintiff, a state prisoner at Salinas Valley State Prison, has filed a letter addressed

to Judge Lawrence K. Karlton, seeking unspecified assistance and expressing thoughts of

depression and suicide. The letter is docketed as filed on August 17, 2005, but was not actually

entered in this court’s docket until August 26, 2005. No other pleadings have been filed by the

plaintiff. In order to commence an action, plaintiff must file a complaint as required by Rule 3 of

the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and plaintiff must either pay the required filing fee or file

an application requesting leave to proceed in forma pauperis.1 See 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914(a),

1915(a). The court will construe plaintiff’s filing as a pleading claiming inadequate medical care

in violation of the Eighth Amendment for a serious psychiatric condition. However, this

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“complaint” must be dismissed and an action properly commenced, naming individual

defendants who have allegedly deprived plaintiff of the medical care for what he claims to be a

serious medical condition in order that any such individuals may be served with an operative

form of plaintiff’s complaint.

If plaintiff chooses to file an amended complaint, plaintiff must demonstrate how

the conditions complained of have resulted in a deprivation of plaintiff’s constitutional rights. 

See Ellis v. Cassidy, 625 F.2d 227 (9th Cir. 1980). Also, the complaint must allege in specific

terms how each named defendant is involved. There can be no liability under 42 U.S.C. § 1983

unless there is some affirmative link or connection between a defendant’s actions and the

claimed deprivation. Rizzo v. Goode, 423 U.S. 362 (1976); May v. Enomoto, 633 F.2d 164, 167

(9th Cir. 1980); Johnson v. Duffy, 588 F.2d 740, 743 (9th Cir. 1978). Furthermore, vague and

conclusory allegations of official participation in civil rights violations are not sufficient. See

Ivey v. Board of Regents, 673 F.2d 266, 268 (9th Cir. 1982).

Plaintiff will be provided the opportunity to file an amended complaint pursuant

to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and to submit an application requesting leave to proceed in forma pauperis

or to submit the appropriate filing fee pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914(a), 1915(a). In addition, the

court has little choice, in light of plaintiff’s expressions of suicidal ideation, notwithstanding that

they may be melodramatic and manipulative, but to direct the Office of the Attorney General to

contact SalinasValley State Prison officials to monitor plaintiff for his own safety.

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

1. Plaintiff’s vague request for assistance, filed in this court on August 17, 2005,

construed as a complaint, is dismissed with leave to file an amended complaint within thirty days

from the date of service of this order. The amended complaint must comply with the

requirements of 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; plaintiff

must file an original and two copies of the amended complaint. Plaintiff shall also submit,

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within thirty days from the date of this order, the application to proceed in forma pauperis on the

form provided by the Clerk of Court, or the filing fee in the amount of $250.00. Plaintiff's failure

to comply with this order will result in a recommendation that this matter be dismissed; 

2. The Clerk of the Court is directed to send plaintiff the court’s form for filing a

civil rights action, and the application to proceed in forma pauperis by a prisoner; 

3. The Clerk of the Court is also directed to send a copy of plaintiff’s letter, filed

on August 17, 2005, and a copy of this order upon Constance L. Picciano, Supervising Deputy

Attorney General; and

4. The Office of the Attorney General is directed to alert Salinas Valley State

Prison officials to plaintiff’s suicide threats and to take whatever steps are necessary to monitor

plaintiff to assure his health and safety in light of his expressed thoughts of depression and

suicide.

DATED: 9/6/05

/s/ Gregory G. Hollows

GREGORY G. HOLLOWS

UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

GGH:009

okee1724.noc

 

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