Nunn v. University Medical Center ( 2024 )

2 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 2 3 3 TYRONE NOEL NUNN, Case No.: 2:24-cv-01796-RFB-BNW 4 4 Plaintiff, 5 ORDER 5 v. 6 6 UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER, et al., 7 7 Defendants. 8 8 9 On September 24, 2024, pro se plaintiff Tyrone Nunn, an inmate in the custody of the 9 10 Nevada Department of Corrections, submitted what appears to be a civil-rights complaint and 10 11 summonses. (ECF Nos. 1-1). Plaintiff has neither paid the full $405 filing fee for a civil action nor 11 12 applied to proceed in forma pauperis. (See ECF No. 1). And the Court cannot consider the 12 13 complaint because the handwriting is too light to read. (See ECF No. 1-1). The Court will grant 13 14 Plaintiff an extension of time to correct these deficiencies. 14 15 I. DISCUSSION 15 16 A. Plaintiff must file a single, signed amended complaint. 16 17 “A civil action is commenced by filing a complaint with the court.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 3. 17 18 Generally, a complaint must contain “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the 18 19 [plaintiff] is entitled to relief” and “a demand for the relief sought, which may include relief in the 19 20 alternative or different types of relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8. “A civil-rights complaint filed by a person 20 21 who is not represented by an attorney must be submitted on the form provided by this court or 21 22 must be legible and contain substantially all the information called for by the court’s form.” Nev. 22 23 LSR 2-1. And the complaint must be signed personally by the unrepresented party. Fed. R. Civ. P. 23 24 11(a). 24 25 This Court cannot consider Plaintiff’s complaint because the handwriting is too light to 25 26 read even though the document was scanned using the best possible setting to make it readable. If 26 27 Plaintiff wants to proceed with this action, he must file a signed amended complaint and ensure 27 28 that the handwriting is sufficiently clear such that it can be scanned and filed with the Court. 28 2 amended complaint must be complete in itself. See Hal Roach Studios, Inc. v. Richard Feiner & 2 3 Co., 896 F.2d 1542, 1546 (9th Cir. 1989). This means Plaintiff’s amended complaint must contain 3 4 all claims, defendants, and factual allegations that he wishes to pursue in this lawsuit that does not 4 5 duplicate his other lawsuits and complies with Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 18 and 20 5 6 regarding the joinder of multiple claims and defendants in a single action. Plaintiff must file the 6 7 amended complaint on this Court’s approved “Civil Rights Complaint” form, and he will title it 7 8 “First Amended Complaint.” Plaintiff must follow the instructions on the form. He need not and 8 9 should not allege very many facts in the nature of the case section of the form. Rather, in each 9 10 claim, Plaintiff should allege facts sufficient to show what each defendant did to violate his rights. 10 11 B. Plaintiff must either pay the filing fee or apply for in forma pauperis status. 11 12 The United States District Court for the District of Nevada must collect filing fees from 12 13 parties initiating civil actions. 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a). As of December 1, 2023, the fee for filing a 13 14 civil-rights action is $405, which includes the $350 filing fee and the $55 administrative fee. See 14 15 28 U.S.C. § 1914(b). “Any person who is unable to prepay the fees in a civil case may apply to the 15 16 court for leave to proceed in forma pauperis.” Nev. LSR 1-1. For an inmate to apply for in forma 16 17 pauperis status, the inmate must submit all three of the following documents to the Court: (1) a 17 18 completed Application to Proceed in Forma Pauperis for Inmate, which is pages 1–3 of the 18 19 Court’s approved form, that is properly signed by the inmate twice on page 3; (2) a completed 19 20 Financial Certificate, which is page 4 of the Court’s approved form, that is properly signed by 20 21 both the inmate and a prison or jail official; and (3) a copy of the inmate’s prison or jail trust 21 22 fund account statement for the previous six-month period. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1)–(2); 22 23 Nev. LSR 1-2. In forma pauperis status does not relieve an inmate of his or her obligation to pay 23 24 the filing fee, it just means that the inmate can pay the fee in installments. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b). 24 25 II. CONCLUSION 25 26 It is therefore ordered that Plaintiff has until November 29, 2024, to file a single, signed 26 27 amended complaint with the Court with handwriting that is legible and clear. 27 28 28 1 It is further ordered that Plaintiff has until November 29, 2024, to either pay the full $405 9| filing fee or file a fully complete application to proceed in forma pauperis with all three required 3} documents: (1) a completed application with the inmate’s two signatures on page 3, (2)a 4| completed financial certificate that is signed both by the inmate and the prison or jail official, and 5| (3) acopy of the inmate’s trust fund account statement for the previous six-month period. 6 Plaintiff is cautioned that this action will be subject to dismissal without prejudice if he 7| fails to timely comply with this order. A dismissal without prejudice allows Plaintiff to refile the g| case with the Court, under a new case number, when he can file a complete application to proceed 9| in forma pauperis or pay the required filing fee. 10 The Clerk of the Court is directed to send plaintiff Tyrone Nunn the approved form for 11| filing a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 complaint and instructions for the same and the approved form 12| application to proceed in forma pauperis for an inmate and instructions for the same. 13 DATED: September 30, 2024 15 16 17 Lrg la UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28