Porter v. Wegman et al

Filing 86

ORDER DENYING 85 Motion to Join as Co-Plaintiff and DIRECTING Clerk's Office to Serve Courtesy Copy of Order on Inmate George Hamilton, CDC# K-54885, at Kern Valley State Prison, signed by Magistrate Judge Dennis L. Beck on 12/17/2013. (Marrujo, C)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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BRIAN ELLIS PORTER,

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Plaintiff,
v.
CHERYLEE WEGMAN, et al.,

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Defendants.

Case No. 1:10-cv-01500-LJO-DLB PC
ORDER DENYING MOTION TO JOIN AS
CO-PLAINTIFF AND DIRECTING
CLERK’S OFFICE TO SERVE COURTESY
COPY OF ORDER ON INMATE GEORGE
HAMILTON
(ECF No. 85)

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Plaintiff Brian Ellis Porter (“Plaintiff”) is a state prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma

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pauperis in a civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. Section 1983. On December 2, 2013, inmate

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George Hamilton filed a motion seeking to join in this action as a co-plaintiff. (ECF No. 85.)

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Plaintiff Porter is proceeding pro se and he may not represent the interests of any other
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inmates in this action. Simon v. Hartford Life, Inc., 546 F.3d 661, 664-65 (9th Cir. 2008); Fymbo v.

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State Farm Fire & Casualty Co., 213 F.3d 1320, 1321 (10th Cir. 2000); Johns v. Cnty. of San Diego,

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114 F.3d 874, 876 (9th Cir. 1997); C. E. Pope Equity Trust v. United States, 818 F.2d 696, 697 (9th

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Cir. 1987).

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Further, the Court will not permit inmates Porter and Hamilton to join as co-plaintiffs
proceeding pro se. Courts have broad discretion regarding the permissive joinder of parties. Fed. R.

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Civ. P. 20, 21; see Coleman v. Quaker Oats Co., 232 F.3d 1271, 1296-97 (9th Cir. 2000); Maddox v.
Cnty. of Sacramento, No. 2:06-cv-0072-GEB-EFB, 2006 WL 3201078, *2 (E.D. Cal. Nov. 6, 2006).
The need for all co-plaintiffs to agree upon and sign all filings becomes almost impossibly
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burdensome where the plaintiffs are incarcerated and it may become impossible if the plaintiffs can

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no longer verbally communicate with one another as a result of transfer to different prisons or even

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transfer to different yards within a single prison.1 Indeed, only inmate Hamilton filed a request for

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joinder, and Plaintiff Porter did not sign the motion.
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Due to the significant and sometimes insurmountable complications which result from

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multiple incarcerated plaintiffs proceeding pro se in the same action and because none of the inmates

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may represent the others in the action, inmate Hamilton’s motion to join as a co-plaintiff is

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HEREBY DENIED. See Campbell v. Burt, 141 F.3d 927, 931 (9th Cir. 1998) (affirming denial of

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joinder motion where proposed parties did not indicate a desire to join and the pro se litigant plaintiff

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could not represent their interests in court).

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The Clerk’s Office is DIRECTED to serve a courtesy copy of this order on George Hamilton,

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CDCR # K-54885, at Kern Valley State Prison.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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Dated:

/s/ Dennis

December 17, 2013

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L. Beck

UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
DEAC_Signature-END:

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3b142a

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Inmates may not correspond with each other inmates in the absence of written authorization from the warden. Cal.
Code Regs. tit. 15 § 3139.

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