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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN

SOUTHERN DIVISION

VIRGIL MITCHELL,

 Civil Case No. 09-11467

 Plaintiff, HONORABLE AVERN COHN

v. 

PATRICIA CARUSO, et. al. 

Defendants.

__________________________/

OPINION AND ORDER OVERRULING OBJECTION TO THE ORDER 

DIRECTING PLAINTIFF TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL COPIES AND 

DIRECTING PLAINTIFF TO CURE THE DEFICIENCY

Now before the Court is Plaintiff Virgil Mitchell’s pro se civil rights complaint filed

pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff is an inmate currently confined at the Cotton

Correctional Facility in Jackson, Michigan. On April 23, 2009, Magistrate Judge R. Steven

Whalen signed an order directing plaintiff to provide the Court with eleven additional copies

of his complaint in order to effect proper service upon the Defendants. Plaintiff was given

thirty days to respond to the order. To date, Plaintiff has not complied with the order. 

On May 6, 2009, Plaintiff filed a paper entitled “Objection to Order for Service,”

which in actuality, is an objection to the order directing him to provide additional copies of

the complaint for service upon the defendants. Plaintiff says that because he has been

granted in forma pauperis status, he should be excused from having to make additional

copies of the complaint due to his indigency.

An inmate bringing a civil rights complaint must specifically identify each defendant

against whom relief is sought, and must give each defendant notice of the action by serving

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upon him or her a summons and copy of the complaint. Feliciano v. DuBois, 846 F. Supp.

1033, 1048 (D. Mass. 1994). Where a plaintiff is proceeding in forma pauperis, the district

court has the responsibility for issuing the plaintiff’s process to the United States Marshal’s

Office, who must effect service upon the defendants once the plaintiff has properly

identified the defendants in the complaint. Williams v. McLemore, 10 Fed. Appx. 241, 243

(6th Cir. 2001); Byrd v. Stone, 94 F. 3d 217, 219 (6th Cir. 1996); Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(c)(2); 28

U.S.C. § 1915(d). A plaintiff’s failure to comply with a magistrate judge’s order to provide

the requested copies needed to effect service upon the defendants may lead to the

dismissal of the complaint for want of prosecution. See Erby v. Kula, 113 Fed. Appx. 74,

75-6 (6th Cir. 2004); Davis v. United States, 73 Fed. Appx. 804, 805 (6th Cir. 2003).

Under Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(c)(1), it is the plaintiff’s responsibility to furnish a sufficient

number of copies for service. Although Plaintiff claims that his indigency prevents him from

making copies of the complaint, the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) has a

policy regarding the copying of court papers, whereby an inmate’s prison account is debited

for the cost. See Laster v. Pramstaller, No. 2009 WL 482701, *1 (E.D. Mich. Feb. 25,

2009). In addition, Plaintiff does not say that he has requested the prison where he is in

custody to copy his papers, pursuant to that MDOC policy. Id. Accordingly, the Court must

deny Plaintiff’s objection to the order directing him to provide the Court with additional

copies. Plaintiff has thirty days from the date of this order to cure the deficiency by

providing the eleven additional copies of the complaint for service upon the defendants. 

ORDER

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IT IS ORDERED that Plaintiff’s objection to the order directing him to provide

additional copies, entitled “Objection for Order for Service” [dkt. 5] is OVERRULED.

Plaintiff shall have thirty (30) days from the date of this order to cure the deficiency and

provide eleven additional copies of the complaint for service upon the defendants. Failure

to file the required copies may result in dismissal of the complaint. 

 s/ Avern Cohn 

AVERN COHN

UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Dated: May 19, 2009

I hereby certify that a copy of the foregoing document was mailed to Virgil Mitchell 

349178, G. Robert Cotton Correctional Facility, 3500 N. Elm Road, Jackson, MI 49201 on

this date, May 19, 2009, by electronic and/or ordinary mail.

 s/ Julie Owens 

Case Manager, (313) 234-5160

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