(PC) Jacques v. Ellis ( 2023 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 MICHAEL EUZELLE JACQUES, No. 2:22-cv-00080-EFB (PC) 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER 14 ELLIS, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding without counsel in an action brought under 42 18 U.S.C. § 1983. In addition to filing a complaint (ECF No. 1), she has filed an application to 19 proceed in forma pauperis (ECF No. 2) and a supplement to her complaint (ECF No. 7).1 The 20 court will grant the in forma pauperis application and address the complaint and supplement 21 thereto. 22 Leave to Proceed In Forma Pauperis 23 Plaintiff’s application makes the showing required by 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1) and (2). 24 Accordingly, by separate order, the court directs the agency having custody of plaintiff to collect 25 and forward the appropriate monthly payments for the filing fee as set forth in 28 U.S.C. 26 § 1915(b)(1) and (2). 27 28 1 Plaintiff is transgender and uses feminine pronouns. ECF No. 1 at 8. 1 Complaint and Supplemental Complaint 2 Federal courts must engage in a preliminary screening of cases in which prisoners seek 3 redress from a governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity. 28 U.S.C. § 4 1915A(a). The court must identify cognizable claims or dismiss the complaint, or any portion of 5 the complaint, if the complaint “is frivolous, malicious, or fails to state a claim upon which 6 relief may be granted,” or “seeks monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such 7 relief.” Id. § 1915A(b). 8 After plaintiff filed the initial complaint, she filed a document styled “Plaintiff’s Notice of 9 Motion to Amend Incorrect Spelling of Defendant, ” which the court construes as a supplement to 10 the complaint. ECF No. 7. In the document, plaintiff not only corrects the spelling of defendant 11 E. Steffensmeier, but also revises her original request for relief. See id. at 3. To add, omit, or 12 correct information in the operative complaint, however, plaintiff must file an amended complaint 13 that is complete within itself. Filing separate documents that are intended to be read together as 14 one is not the proper means of amending or supplementing a complaint. See Forsyth v. Humana, 15 114 F.3d 1467, 1474 (9th Cir. 1997) (the “‘amended complaint supersedes the original, the latter 16 being treated thereafter as non-existent.’”) (quoting Loux v. Rhay, 375 F.2d 55, 57 (9th Cir. 17 1967)). Accordingly, plaintiff’s complaint and the supplement thereto is dismissed with leave to 18 amend in accordance with the requirements set forth in this order. 19 Leave to Amend 20 Plaintiff is cautioned that any amended complaint must identify as a defendant only 21 persons who personally participated in a substantial way in depriving her of her constitutional 22 rights. Johnson v. Duffy, 588 F.2d 740, 743 (9th Cir. 1978) (a person subjects another to the 23 deprivation of a constitutional right if he does an act, participates in another’s act or omits to 24 perform an act he is legally required to do that causes the alleged deprivation). 25 The amended complaint must also contain a caption including the names of all defendants. 26 Fed. R. Civ. P. 10(a). 27 ///// 28 ///// ] Plaintiff may not change the nature of this suit by alleging new, unrelated claims. See 2 || George, 507 F.3d at 607. Nor may she bring multiple, unrelated claims against more than one 3 || defendant. /d. 4 Conclusion 5 Accordingly, it is ORDERED that: 6 1. Plaintiffs application to proceed in forma pauperis (ECF No. 2) is granted; 7 2. Plaintiff's complaint and supplement thereto (ECF Nos. 1 & 7) is dismissed with leave 8 to amend within 30 days from the date of service of this order; and 9 3. Failure to comply with any part of this this order may result in dismissal of this action. 10 11 | DATED: March 10, 2023. □□ PDEA EDMUND F. BRENNAN 12 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28