Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_06-cv-02903/USCOURTS-caed-2_06-cv-02903-0/pdf.json

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

---

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

1

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

JOHNATHAN S. WILLIAMS,

Plaintiff, No. CIV S-06-2903 MCE EFB P

vs.

CALIFORNIA DEPT. OF CORRECTIONS

AND REHABILITATION, et al.,, ORDER

Defendants. 

 /

Plaintiff, a state prisoner at High Desert State Prison, has filed a document styled “motion

for emergency injunctive relief,” seeking access to the law library, relief from placement in

administrative segregation, relief from being ordered to provide DNA samples, and return of

legal materials, among other things. No other pleadings have been filed by plaintiff. In order to

commence an action, plaintiff must file a complaint as required by Rule 3 of the Federal Rules of

Civil Procedure. The court will not issue any orders granting or denying relief until an action

has been properly commenced. Therefore, plaintiff’s motion will be denied without prejudice. 

Plaintiff will be provided the opportunity to file his complaint. 

Plaintiff has submitted a declaration that makes the showing required by 28 U.S.C.

§ 1915(a). Accordingly, the request to proceed in forma pauperis is granted. 

/////

Case 2:06-cv-02903-DOC Document 7 Filed 01/18/07 Page 1 of 4
1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

2

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

§§ 1914(a), 1915(b)(1). An initial partial filing fee of $5.92 will be assessed by this order. 

28 U.S.C. § 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 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).

 Plaintiff may not bring his complaint as a class action. Plaintiff is a non-lawyer

proceeding without counsel. It is well established that a layperson cannot ordinarily represent

the interests of a class. See McShane v. United States, 366 F.2d 286 (9th Cir. 1966). This rule

becomes almost absolute when, as here, the putative class representative is incarcerated and

proceeding pro se. Oxendine v. Williams, 509 F.2d 1405, 1407 (4th Cir. 1975). In direct terms,

plaintiff cannot “fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class,” as required by Rule

23(a)(4) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. See Martin v. Middendorf, 420 F. Supp. 779

(D.D.C. 1976). Once a complaint is filed, this case will therefore not be construed as a class

action and instead will be construed as an individual civil suit brought by plaintiff.

Plaintiff is cautioned that he must state his claim briefly and concisely. In McHenry v.

Renne, 84 F.3d 1172, 1177 (9th Cir. 1996), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal upheld the

dismissal of a complaint it found to be “argumentative, prolix, replete with redundancy, and

largely irrelevant. It consists largely of immaterial background information.” The court

observed the Federal Rules require that a complaint consist of “simple, concise, and direct”

averments. Id. As a model of concise pleading, the court quoted the standard form negligence

complaint from the Appendix to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure:

 1. Allegation of jurisdiction.

 2. On June 1, 1936, in a public highway, called Boylston Street, in Boston

Case 2:06-cv-02903-DOC Document 7 Filed 01/18/07 Page 2 of 4
1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

3

Massachusetts, defendant negligently drove a motor vehicle against plaintiff, who

was then crossing said highway.

3. As a result plaintiff was thrown down and had his leg broken, and was

otherwise injured, was prevented from transacting his business, suffered great

pain of body and mind, and incurred expenses for medical attention and

hospitalization in the sum of one thousand dollars.

Wherefore plaintiff demands judgment against defendant in the sum of one

thousand dollars.

Id. 

Plaintiff’s complaint suffers from many of the same problems as the pleading dismissed

in McHenry: there is much “‘narrative rambling’” yet a marked lack of “notice of what legal

claims are asserted against which defendants.” Id. at 1176. As in McHenry, “[p]rolix, confusing

complaints such as the ones plaintiffs filed in this case impose unfair burdens on litigants and

judges.” Id. at 1179.

If plaintiff chooses to amend the 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. Ivey v. Board of

Regents, 673 F.2d 266, 268 (9th Cir. 1982).

Plaintiff will be given an opportunity to file an amended complaint, limited to fifteen

pages. Plaintiff may use the court’s form for filing a civil rights action, which will be provided

again. Plaintiff is informed that the court cannot refer to a prior pleading in order to make

plaintiff’s amended complaint complete. Local Rule 15-220 requires that an amended complaint

be complete in itself without reference to any prior pleading. This is because, as a general rule,

Case 2:06-cv-02903-DOC Document 7 Filed 01/18/07 Page 3 of 4
1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

4

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. 

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

1. Plaintiff’s January 4, 2006, motion for preliminary injunction is denied without

prejudice;

2. Plaintiff’s request for leave to proceed in forma pauperis is granted.

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

is assessed an initial partial filing fee of $5.92. 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 a 

complaint, limited to fifteen pages, that complies with the requirements of the Civil Rights Act,

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

the docket number assigned this case; plaintiff must file an original and two copies of the

complaint. Plaintiff shall also submit, 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 $350.00. Plaintiff's failure to comply with this order will result in a

recommendation that this matter be dismissed; and

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

rights action.

DATED: January 17, 2007.

Case 2:06-cv-02903-DOC Document 7 Filed 01/18/07 Page 4 of 4