IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO

EASTERN DIVISION

William Sparks, :

Plaintiff, : Case No. 2:11-cv-0284

v. : 

 JUDGE EDMUND A. SARGUS, JR.

Zanesville Police Dept, et al., : Magistrate Judge Kemp 

Defendants. :

ORDER

Plaintiff, William Sparks, filed a motion for leave to

proceed in forma pauperis and has submitted a civil rights

complaint against the Zanesville Police Department and

approximately seventeen other defendants. From financial

standpoint, he qualifies for a waiver of the filing fee, so his

motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis (#1) is granted. 

However, before the Court orders service of process on the

defendants in such a case, it is required to review the complaint

to determine if it “(i) is frivolous or malicious; (ii) fails to

state a claim on which relief may be granted; or (iii) seeks

monetary relief against a defendant who is immune from such

relief.” 28 U.S.C. §1915(e)(2). Because that determination

cannot be made from the complaint which Mr. Sparks has submitted,

he will be given an opportunity to submit an amended complaint. 

Should he choose not to do so, this case will likely be

dismissed. 

In order for a complaint filed in a federal court to state a

claim for relief, it must not only identify the parties to the

case, but it must contain “a short and plain statement of the

claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief ....” 

Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(a)(2). The statement of the claim, although it

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can be short, must set forth enough facts about the claim from

which the Court can determine that it is plausible that the

plaintiff will be entitled to legal relief if he proves those

facts. See Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (2009); Bell

Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (2007). 

Mr. Sparks’ complaint does not do that. After the name or

names of each defendant, he simply recites something that

defendant allegedly did, such as “broke camcorder with evidence”

or “intimidated and harassed myself & daughter while laughing.” 

He does not provide any factual background for these claims,

although they may relate to one or more criminal charges brought

against him in state or local courts, since he has named several

judges or courts and some law enforcement personnel as

defendants. However, he has not explained the nature of the

charges, when they were filed, how they were resolved, whether he

was jailed, and how any of his claims relate to any of these

types of events. 

A number of the defendants he has named, such as judges, are

immune from suit for actions taken within their jurisdiction. 

See generally Stump v. Sparkman, 435 U.S. 349 (1978). It is

important for the Court to know, in a case brought against a

judge, whether the judge acted in a case pending before that

judge and what type of action the judge took, so that this Court

can decide if the judge is immune from suit or not. 

Additionally, if the person who files a complaint in a federal

court has been convicted of criminal charges in a state court,

many claims relating to the state court case cannot be brought

unless the conviction is overturned on state appeal or through a

federal writ of habeas corpus. Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477

(1994). Again, if there is a state court conviction, this Court

needs to know the details of that before it allows a case

challenging that conviction to go forward, particularly because

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money damages cannot be awarded against people who were involved

in that case if the award would call into question the validity

of the conviction. The same need for detail about Mr. Sparks’

other claims requires that if he wants this case to proceed, he

will have to file an amended complaint to supply the facts that

are missing from his initial complaint.

The Court therefore makes this order. If Mr. Sparks wishes

his case to proceed, he must file an amended complaint within

twenty-eight days. It must set out the facts which relate to his

claims against each of the defendants he has named and explain

how, in the context of the facts, he believes each defendant

violated his constitutional rights. He should include dates on

which various things happened (or allegedly happened) and should

advise this Court of whether any of his claims relate to state

criminal charges brought against him and what happened to those

charges (that is, was he convicted, and has the conviction ever

been overturned). The Court will then review his amended

complaint to see if it has enough facts in it to allow it to be

served on any of the defendants. If he does not file an amended

complaint, this case will be dismissed for failure to prosecute. 

/s/ Terence P. Kemp 

United States Magistrate Judge

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