United States District Court, D. Rhode Island
LEMUEL O. TAYLOR, Plaintiff,
v.
JEFFREY ACETO, CAPTAIN DUFFY, LT. JUSTIN AMARAL, SIU INVESTIGATOR FIGUEROA, OFFICER BASTINE, OFFICER BARBER PATRICIA COYNE-FAGUE, C/O MARVILLIE, and C/O CRIG, Defendants.
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
PATRICIA A. SULLIVAN, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
On
August 9, 2018, Plaintiff Lemuel O. Taylor filed a pro
se, handwritten complaint against nine employees of the
Adult Correctional Institutions. ECF No. 1. Along with his
complaint, Plaintiff filed an Application to Proceed without
Prepayment of Fees and Affidavit (the “IFP
Motion”), ECF No. 2, which has been referred to me for
determination.[1]
As an
initial matter, the Court cannot rule on the IFP Motion
because Plaintiff has not submitted a copy of his prisoner
trust fund account statement certified by an appropriate
official at the Adult Correctional Institutions as required
by 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2).[2] Accordingly, Plaintiff is
instructed to file within thirty days of the Court's
adoption of this report and recommendation a certified copy
of his prisoner trust fund account statement for the
six-month period immediately preceding the filing of his
complaint on August 9, 2018.
Further,
Plaintiff's request for in forma pauperis status
renders this case subject to preliminary screening under 28
U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B). Based on my liberal review of
Plaintiff's complaint, [3] I find that the Court is unable
to determine if it states a claim upon which relief may be
granted by this Court. Accordingly, in addition to filing a
certified copy of his prisoner trust fund account statement,
I recommend that Plaintiff be ordered to file an amended
complaint to cure the deficiencies described in this report
and recommendation; otherwise, I recommend that the case be
dismissed without prejudice. 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B);
Fed.R.Civ.P. 72(b)(1).
The
legal standard for dismissing a complaint for failure to
state a claim pursuant to § 1915(e)(2) is the same as
that used when ruling on a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss.
Hodge v. Murphy, 808 F.Supp.2d 405, 408 (D.R.I.
2011). To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must
contain sufficient factual allegations to “state a
claim to relief that is plausible on its face.”
Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (quoting
Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570
(2007)). A viable complaint must also satisfy Fed.R.Civ.P.
8(a), which requires a plaintiff to include “a short
and plain statement of the grounds for the court's
jurisdiction . . . and of the claim showing that the pleader
is entitled to relief, ” as well as Fed.R.Civ.P. 10(b),
which requires that the claims be set out in numbered
paragraphs, each limited to a single set of circumstances.
Plaintiff's
complaint does not comply with the requirements either of
Rule 8(a) or of Rule 10(b) in that his statement of the claim
is four pages of tightly-packed handwritten stream of
consciousness, without breaks for sentences or paragraphing
and with no margins. The result is largely unreadable and
what is readable is very difficult to comprehend. In
performing its duty to screen, the Court has attempted
several times to read Plaintiff's filing but has found it
impossible to ascertain which defendants are being accused of
which actions or inactions. Because of these deficiencies, in
its current state, the complaint fails to set forth the
“who, what, when, where and why” information that
are essential for a plausible claim. Kilby v. Johnson
& Wales Univ., No. CA 14-217 ML, 2014 WL 2196942, at
*2 (D.R.I. May 27, 2014) (dismissing complaint that
“fails to set forth the ‘who, what, when, where
and why' information necessary for a plausible claim,
[and] fails to identify the legal basis for bringing an
action”). Before such a complaint is served at public
expense, it must be brought into conformity with Rules 8(a)
and 10(b) so that the Court can assess whether it should
survive § 1915(e)(2) scrutiny.
Based
on the foregoing, I recommend that Plaintiff be directed to
file an amended complaint that complies with Rules 8 and 10
as follows:
1. Plaintiff must set forth the claim in separately-numbered
paragraphs, with each paragraph limited to a single set of
circumstances;
2. Plaintiff must connect each defendant to a specific set of
facts so that a reader can understand what each defendant is
accused of;
3. Plaintiff should use print large enough to be read; and
4. Plaintiff should use one-inch margins so that the words on
the edge of the page are not obliterated when each page is
copied.
In
conclusion, within thirty days of the Court's adoption of
this report and recommendation, Plaintiff is ordered to
provide a certified copy of his prisoner trust fund account
statement for the six-month period immediately preceding the
filing of his complaint on August 9, 2018. Additionally, I
recommend that the Court order Plaintiff to file an amended
complaint that conforms with the requirements set forth above
within thirty days of the Court's adoption of this report
and recommendation. If Plaintiff fails to file an amended
complaint, or if the amended complaint fails to cure the
deficiencies noted in this report and recommendation or
otherwise fails to state a claim, or is frivolous or
malicious, I recommend that the complaint be dismissed
without prejudice. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2).
Any
objection to this report and recommendation must be specific
and must be served and filed with the Clerk of the Court
within fourteen (14) days after its service on the objecting
party. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 72(b)(2); DRI LR Cv 72(d).
Failure to file specific objections in a timely manner
constitutes waiver of the right to review by the district
judge and the right to appeal the Court's decision.
See United States v. Lugo ...