Order Form (01/2005)

United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois

Name of Assigned Judge

or Magistrate Judge

RONALD A. GUZMÁN Sitting Judge if Other

than Assigned Judge

CASE NUMBER 12 C 2494 DATE May 3, 2012

CASE

TITLE

Charles Perkins (#2011-1128056) vs. Cook County Municipality, et al.

DOCKET ENTRY TEXT:

The plaintiff’s motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis [#3] is granted. The initial partial filing fee is

waived. The court orders the trust fund officer at the Cook County Jail to collect monthly payments from the

plaintiff’s trust fund account as stated below. The Clerk is directed to send a copy of this order to the Supervisor

of Inmate Trust Fund Accounts, Cook County Dept. of Corrections Administrative Office, Division V, 2700 S.

California, Chicago, Illinois 60608. However, summonses shall not issue at this time. The court dismisses the

complaint on file without prejudice. The plaintiff is granted thirty days in which to submit an amended complaint

(plus a judge’s copy and service copies). Failure to submit an amended complaint within thirty days of the date

of this order will result in summary dismissal of this case. The clerk is directed to provide the plaintiff with an

amended civil rights complaint form and instructions along with a copy of this order. 

O [For further details see text below.] Docketing to mail notices.

STATEMENT

The plaintiff, a pretrial detainee in the custody of the Cook County Department of Corrections, has

brought this pro se civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The plaintiff claims that the defendants, jail

officials, violated the plaintiff’s constitutional rights by denying him due process in jail disciplinary proceedings,

and by denying him needed medical/psychiatric care while he was in segregation. 

The plaintiff having shown that he is indigent, his motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis is

granted. As the plaintiff has neither available funds nor means to pay the initial partial filing fee, the initial fee

is waived pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(4). However, the trust fund officer at the correctional facility where

the plaintiff is confined is authorized to begin collecting monthly payments from his trust fund account in an

amount equal to 20% of the preceding month’s income credited to the account. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2). 

Monthly payments collected from the plaintiff’s trust fund account shall be forwarded to the clerk of court each

time the amount in the account exceeds $10 until the full $350 filing fee is paid. Id. All payments shall be sent

to the Clerk, United States District Court, 219 S. Dearborn St., Chicago, Illinois 60604, attn: Cashier’s Desk, 20th

Floor, and shall clearly identify the plaintiff’s name and this case number. The inmate trust account office shall

(CONTINUED)

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STATEMENT (continued)

notify transferee authorities of any outstanding balance in the event of the plaintiff’s transfer to another correctional

facility. 

However, the plaintiff must submit an amended complaint, as the document on file fails to indicate how each

named defendant was personally and directly involved in the alleged violations of the plaintiff’s constitutional

rights. Rule 8(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure requires “a short and plain statement of the claim

showing that the pleader is entitled to relief,” in order to “ ‘give the defendant fair notice of what the . . . claim is

and the grounds upon which it rests.’ ” Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007) (quoting Conley

v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 47 (1957)); Windy City Metal Fabricators & Supply, Inc. v. CIT Tech. Fin. Servs., Inc., 536

F.3d 663, 667 (7th Cir. 2008). To satisfy the notice pleading requirements of Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2), a plaintiff need

only state his basic legal claim and provide “some indication . . . of time and place.” Thompson v. Washington, 362

F.3d 969, 971 (7th Cir. 2004). Although the original complaint indicates that the plaintiff was denied due process

and needed psychiatric care, the body of the complaint makes no mention whatsoever of any of the named

defendants. The defendants cannot respond to the plaintiff’s charges without knowing what wrong each of them

is alleged to have committed.

For the foregoing reasons, the court dismisses the complaint on file without prejudice. The plaintiff is

granted thirty days in which to submit an amended complaint on the court’s required form. The plaintiff must write

both the case number and the judge’s name on the amended complaint, sign it, and return it to the Prisoner

Correspondent. The plaintiff should write or print as legibly as possible, and should write on the lines

provided rather than cramming the text on the pages. It is in the plaintiff’s own best interests to make his

amended complaint as readable as he is able. 

As with every document filed with the court, the plaintiff must provide an extra copy for the judge; he must

also submit a service copy for each defendant named in the amended complaint. The plaintiff is cautioned that an

amended pleading supersedes the original complaint and must stand complete on its own. Therefore, all allegations

against all defendants must be set forth in the amended complaint, without reference to the original complaint. Any

exhibits the plaintiff wants the court to consider in its threshold review of the amended complaint must be attached,

and each copy of the amended complaint must include complete copies of any and all exhibits. The plaintiff is

advised to keep a copy for his files. 

The clerk will provide the plaintiff with an amended civil rights complaint form and instructions along with

a copy of this order. If the plaintiff fails to comply within thirty days, the case will be summarily dismissed. 

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