Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-azd-2_14-cv-02303/USCOURTS-azd-2_14-cv-02303-0/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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WO MDR

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA 

John M. Scales, 

Plaintiff, 

vs. 

Public Defender Office, 

Defendant. 

No. CV 14-02303-PHX-SPL (MHB) 

ORDER 

On October 15, 2014, Plaintiff John M. Scales, who is confined in the Maricopa 

County Lower Buckeye Jail, filed a “Motion for Relief Civil Rights Violation” that the 

Court will construe as a Complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Doc. 1). 

I. Payment of Filing Fee

 When bringing an action, a prisoner must either pay the $350.00 filing fee and a 

$50.00 administrative fee in a lump sum or, if granted the privilege of proceeding in 

forma pauperis, pay the $350.00 filing fee incrementally as set forth in 28 U.S.C. 

§ 1915(b)(1). An application to proceed in forma pauperis requires an affidavit of 

indigence and a certified copy of the inmate’s trust account statement for the six months 

preceding the filing of the Complaint. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2). An inmate must submit 

statements from each institution where he was confined during the six-month period. Id. 

To assist prisoners in meeting these requirements, the Court requires use of a form 

application. LRCiv 3.4. 

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 If a prisoner is granted leave to proceed in forma pauperis, the Court will assess an 

initial partial filing fee of 20% of either the average monthly deposits or the average 

monthly balance in Plaintiff’s account, whichever is greater. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1). An 

initial partial filing fee will only be collected when funds exist. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(4). 

The balance of the $350.00 filing fee will be collected in monthly payments of 20% of 

the preceding month’s income credited to an inmate’s account, each time the amount in 

the account exceeds $10.00. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2). 

 Because Plaintiff has not paid the $400.00 filing and administrative fees or filed an 

Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis, Plaintiff will be permitted 30 days from the 

filing date of this Order to submit a properly executed and certified Application to 

Proceed In Forma Pauperis, using the form included with this Order, or pay the $400.00 

filing and administrative fees. 

II. Complaint not on Court-Approved Form

 Local Rule of Civil Procedure 3.4 requires in part that “[a]ll complaints and 

applications to proceed in forma pauperis by incarcerated persons shall be signed and 

legibly written or typewritten on forms approved by the Court and in accordance with the 

instructions provided with the forms.” Plaintiff’s Complaint is not on a court-approved 

form as required by Local Rule of Civil Procedure 3.4. Plaintiff’s Complaint will 

therefore be dismissed without prejudice, with leave to amend, in order for Plaintiff to 

file an amended complaint on a court-approved form. 

 Within 30 days, Plaintiff may submit a first amended complaint on a courtapproved form. The Clerk of Court will mail Plaintiff a court-approved form to use for 

filing a first amended complaint. If Plaintiff fails to use the court-approved form, the 

Court may strike the amended complaint and dismiss this action without further notice to 

Plaintiff. 

 Plaintiff must clearly designate on the face of the document that it is the “First 

Amended Complaint.” The first amended complaint must be retyped or rewritten in its 

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entirety on the court-approved form and may not incorporate any part of the original 

Complaint by reference. Plaintiff may include only one claim per count. 

 A first amended complaint supersedes the original Complaint. Ferdik v. Bonzelet, 

963 F.2d 1258, 1262 (9th Cir. 1992); Hal Roach Studios v. Richard Feiner & Co., 896 

F.2d 1542, 1546 (9th Cir. 1990). After amendment, the Court will treat the original 

Complaint as nonexistent. Ferdik, 963 F.2d at 1262. Any cause of action that was raised 

in the original complaint and that was voluntarily dismissed or was dismissed without 

prejudice is waived if it is not alleged in a first amended complaint. Lacey v. Maricopa 

County, 693 F.3d 896, 928 (9th Cir. 2012) (en banc). 

 If Plaintiff files an amended complaint, Plaintiff must write short, plain statements 

telling the Court: (1) the constitutional right Plaintiff believes was violated; (2) the name 

of the Defendant who violated the right; (3) exactly what that Defendant did or failed to 

do; (4) how the action or inaction of that Defendant is connected to the violation of 

Plaintiff’s constitutional right; and (5) what specific injury Plaintiff suffered because of 

that Defendant’s conduct. See Rizzo v. Goode, 423 U.S. 362, 371-72, 377 (1976). 

 Plaintiff must repeat this process for each person he names as a Defendant. If 

Plaintiff fails to affirmatively link the conduct of each named Defendant with the specific 

injury suffered by Plaintiff, the allegations against that Defendant will be dismissed for 

failure to state a claim. Conclusory allegations that a Defendant or group of 

Defendants has violated a constitutional right are not acceptable and will be 

dismissed. 

 If Plaintiff files an amended complaint, he should take note that § 1983 provides a 

cause of action against persons acting under color of state law who have violated rights 

guaranteed by the United States Constitution and federal law. 42 U.S.C. § 1983; see also

Buckley v. City of Redding, 66 F.3d 188, 190 (9th Cir. 1995). However, a prerequisite for 

any relief under § 1983 is a showing that the defendant has acted under the color of state 

law. A public defender or court-appointed attorney representing a criminal defendant 

does not act under color of state law. See Polk County v. Dodson, 454 U.S. 312, 325 

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(1981); see also Szijarto v. Legeman, 466 F.2d 864, 864 (9th Cir. 1972). 

 Moreover, although Plaintiff’s allegations are largely incoherent, it appears that 

Plaintiff is seeking to have the Public Defender’s Office withdraw as legal counsel and 

“withdraw and squash” a Rule 11 evaluation, is alleging that a Rule 11 evaluation will 

result in the denial of his right to a speedy trial and his “right to religious beliefs,” and is 

arguing that the criminal case against him and the Rule 11 evaluation should be 

“squashed.” Plaintiff should take note that the abstention doctrine set forth in Younger v. 

Harris, 401 U.S. 37 (1971), prevents a federal court in most circumstances from directly 

interfering with ongoing criminal proceedings in state court. “[O]nly in the most unusual 

circumstances is a defendant entitled to have federal interposition by way of injunction or 

habeas corpus until after the jury comes in, judgment has been appealed from and the 

case concluded in the state courts.” Drury v. Cox, 457 F.2d 764, 764-65 (9th Cir. 1972). 

Special circumstances occur “[o]nly in cases of proven harassment or prosecutions 

undertaken by state officials in bad faith without hope of obtaining a valid conviction and 

perhaps in other extraordinary circumstances where irreparable injury can be shown.” 

Carden v. Montana, 626 F.2d 82, 84 (9th Cir. 1980) (quoting Perez v. Ledesma, 401 U.S. 

82, 85 (1971)). “[T]he Speedy Trial Clause, when raised as an affirmative defense, does 

not embody a right which is necessarily forfeited by delaying review until after trial.” 

Carden, 626 F.2d at 84.

III. Warnings 

A. Address Changes

 Plaintiff must file and serve a notice of a change of address in accordance with 

Rule 83.3(d) of the Local Rules of Civil Procedure. Plaintiff must not include a motion 

for other relief with a notice of change of address. Failure to comply may result in 

dismissal of this action. 

. . . . 

. . . . 

. . . . 

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B. Copies

 Plaintiff must submit an additional copy of every filing for use by the Court. See

LRCiv 5.4. Failure to comply may result in the filing being stricken without further 

notice to Plaintiff. 

C. Possible Dismissal

 If Plaintiff fails to timely comply with every provision of this Order, including 

these warnings, the Court may dismiss this action without further notice. See Ferdik, 963 

F.2d at 1260-61 (a district court may dismiss an action for failure to comply with any 

order of the Court). 

IT IS ORDERED:

 (1) Within 30 days of the date this Order is filed, Plaintiff must either pay the 

$400.00 filing and administrative fees or file a complete Application to Proceed In 

Forma Pauperis and a certified six-month trust account statement. 

 (2) If Plaintiff fails to either pay the $400.00 filing and administrative fees or 

file a complete Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis within 30 days, the Clerk of 

Court must enter a judgment of dismissal of this action without prejudice and without 

further notice to Plaintiff. 

 (3) Plaintiff’s Complaint (Doc. 1) is dismissed without prejudice for failure 

to file on a court-approved form. Plaintiff has 30 days from the date this Order is filed to 

file a first amended complaint in compliance with this Order. 

 (4) If Plaintiff fails to file an amended complaint within 30 days, the Clerk of 

Court must, without further notice, enter a judgment of dismissal of this action without 

prejudice and without further notice to Plaintiff. 

. . . . 

. . . . 

. . . . 

. . . . 

. . . . 

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 (5) The Clerk of Court must mail Plaintiff a court-approved form for filing an 

Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis (Non-Habeas) and a court-approved form for 

filing a civil rights complaint by a prisoner. 

 Dated this 31st day of October, 2014.

Honorable Steven P. Logan

United States District Judge

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