(PC) Hammler v. The State of California ( 2021 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 ALLEN HAMMLER, Case No. 1:19-cv-00785-NONE-HBK 12 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART PLAINTIFF’S MOTION 13 v. TO CORRECT NAME OF DEFENDANT AND REQUEST FOR COPIES 14 STATE OF CALIFORNIA, et al., (Doc. No. 22) 15 Defendants. ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S MOTIONS 16 FOR RULING AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF MOTIONS 17 (Doc. Nos. 23, 25) 18 ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME 19 (Doc. No. 24) 20 21 22 23 This matter comes before the court upon initial review of this case that was reassigned to 24 the undersigned. (See Doc. No. 21). Plaintiff Allen Hammler, a current state prisoner, initiated 25 this action by filing a pro se civil rights complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 on June 4, 2019. (Doc. 26 No. 1). Pending review are the following motions filed by plaintiff: (1) motion to correct name 27 of defendant and for copies of documents (Doc. No. 22); motion for ruling (Doc. No. 23); motion 28 for extension of time (Doc. No. 24); and motion for formal acknowledgement of prior motions 1 (Doc. No. 25). The court addresses each motion in seriatim. 2 1. Motion to Correct Name of Defendant and for Copies of Documents 3 On December 11, 2020, plaintiff moved to correct a defendant’s name and for copies of 4 documents referenced by the court in an earlier order. (See generally Doc. No. 22). Plaintiff 5 requests the case’s “caption and record” be changed from “S. Savoie” to the “State of California, 6 et al.” (Id. at 1). A review of the docket and reveals none of the currently named defendants are 7 named “S. Savoie.” Further, plaintiff was ordered to file an amended complaint. (Doc. No. 20). 8 To the extent plaintiff wishes to alter the names of any defendants, he may do so in his amended 9 complaint. See Beavers v. New Penn Fin. LLC, at *2 (E.D. Cal. Jan. 11, 2018). Thus, no court 10 action is necessary to achieve the relief plaintiff seeks and thus this component of his motion is 11 denied. 12 Plaintiff also requests copies of two previous filings: his motion for reconsideration (Doc. 13 No. 14) and his motion for a ruling on his motion for reconsideration (Doc. No. 16). Prison inmates 14 are not entitled to receive complimentary copies of their filings. Blair v. CDCR, 2018 WL 1959532, 15 at *6 (E.D. Cal. Apr. 25, 2018). However, as a one-time courtesy to expedite this matter, the court 16 will direct the Clerk of Court to furnish plaintiff with copies of these earlier pleadings. Any further 17 copies will come at plaintiff’s expense, and he is urged to keep copies of all court documents going 18 forward. 19 2. Motion for Ruling 20 On January 21, 2020, plaintiff moved for a ruling on his motion “to correct name of 21 defendant and for document needed to comply with order.” (Doc. Nos. 22-23). This order rules 22 on that motion, so his relief is granted. 23 3. Motion for Extension of Time 24 On January 25, 2021, plaintiff moved for additional time to file his amended complaint. 25 (Doc. No. 24). On November 16, 2020, the court ordered plaintiff to file an amended complaint 26 within 45 days of receiving the order. The instant motion is therefore untimely. Nonetheless, 27 before recommending the dismissal of this action for failure to prosecute and timely comply with 28 the court’s orders, the court will grant plaintiff a limited extension of time and a final opportunity 1 | to amend his complaint. As ordered below, plaintiff must deliver his amended complaint to prison 2 | officials for mailing to the Court no later than April 23, 2021. Plaintiff is cautioned that, if he fails 3 | to timely file an amended complaint, this matter will be subject to dismissal without prejudice 4 | without further notice, and no further extensions will be granted absent exceptional circumstances. 5 4. Motion for Acknowledgement of Prior Motions 6 On February 19, 2021, plaintiff moved for acknowledgement of his pending motions. (Doc. 7 | No. 25). The court’s ruling on the pending motions effectively acknowledges these motions. 8 Accordingly, it is ORDERED: 9 1. Plaintiff's motion to correct name of defendant and for document needed to 10 comply with order (Doc. No. 22) is DENIED IN PART and GRANTED IN PART. 11 Plaintiff’s motion to correct defendant’s name is DENIED for the reasons stated supra. 12 Plaintiffs motion for copies is GRANTED to the extent the Clerk of Court is directed to 13 provide plaintiff with a one-time courtesy copy of his previous motions (Docs Nos. 14, 14 16) with this Order. 15 2. Plaintiff's motion for ruling (Doc. No. 23) is GRANTED. 16 3. Plaintiff's motion for extension of time (Doc. No. 24) is GRANTED to the extent 17 that plaintiff must deliver his amended complaint to prison officials for mailing to the 18 court no later than April 23, 2021. Plaintiff’s failure to timely file his amended 19 complaint may result in a dismissal of this action. 20 4. Plaintiff's motion for acknowledgement of prior motions (Doc. No. 25) is 21 GRANTED. 22 73 IT IS SO ORDERED. 24 Dated: _ March 16, 2021 Mile. Wh fareh fackte 25 HELENA M. BARCH-KUCHTA 26 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 27 28