Durden v. CDCR et al

Filing 11

ORDER Rejecting Plaintiff's Filings for Failure to Comply with Local Rule 130, signed by Magistrate Judge Gerald B. Cohn on 8/1/2011. (Document returned to Plaintiff per this order)(Martin-Gill, S)

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

8

EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

9
10

LARRY FRANCIS DURDEN,

11

Plaintiff,

12
13

v.

1:11-cv-01019-AWI-GBC

ORDER REJECTING PLAINTIFF’S FILINGS
FOR FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH LOCAL
RULE 130

CDCR, et al.,

14

CASE NO.

Defendants.
/ CLERK TO RETURN DOCUMENTS

15
16

ORDER

17
18
19

Plaintiff Larry Francis Durden (“Plaintiff”) is a state prisoner proceeding pro se in this
civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

20

Plaintiff filed this action on June 6, 2011. (ECF No. 1.) Plaintiff mailed documents

21

which he would like filed in this action to the Court.1 The intended filings are handwritten

22

on “homemade” paper, which, it appears, are large envelopes taped together to make

23

sheets of paper.

24
25
26
27

This format is clearly unacceptable for filing with the Court. The sheets of paper do

1

The Court notes that this action is m erely in the screening phase. At this stage in the
proceedings, it is not necessary for Plaintiff to file any other docum ents as he does not have any pending
deadlines and, m ost likely, will not have any or be required to file anything until after the Court screens his
Com plaint.

1

not comply with the size guidelines governed by Local Rule 130. Thus, Plaintiff’s filing is

2

rejected for filing.

3

Plaintiff is free to attempt to file again. However, for all filings he must comply with

4
5

Local Rule 130 not only for the size requirements of the sheets of paper, but also the

6

legibility requirement as Plaintiff’s handwritten pleadings, often using pencil, are nearly

7

illegible. Local Rule 130 governs the general format of documents

8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17

(a) Electronically-Filed Documents. Documents electronically filed shall be
created and formatted to comply, in appearance and presentation both in an
electronic format and when printed, with the requirements for
conventionally-filed paper documents.
(b) Conventionally-Filed Documents and Courtesy Copies. All documents
presented for conventional filing or lodging and the chambers courtesy
copies shall be on white, unglazed opaque paper of good quality with
numbered lines in the left margin, 8-1/2” x 11” in size, and shall be flat,
unfolded (except where necessary for presentation of exhibits), firmly bound
at the top left corner, pre-punched with two (2) holes (approximately 1/4”
diameter) centered 2-3/4” apart, 1/2” to 5/8” from the top edge of the
document, and shall comply with all other applicable provisions of these
Rules. Matters contained thereon shall be presented by typewriting, printing,
photographic or offset reproduction, or other clearly legible process, without
erasures or interlining that materially defaces the document, and shall
appear on one side of each sheet only.

18
19
20
21

(c) Spacing. Documents shall be double-spaced except for the identification
of counsel, title of the action, category headings, footnotes, quotations,
exhibits and descriptions of real property. Quotations of more than fifty (50)
words shall be indented.

22

(d) Numbering. Each page shall be numbered consecutively at the bottom
and shall provide a brief description of the document on the same line.

23

Plaintiff’s filings must be double-spaced. The formatting must be reasonably similar

24

to the formatting of this Order: 28 double-spaced lines written in 12-point font on 8.5 x 11

25
inch paper with 1-inch margins on the top, left, and right sides of the paper and a 0.5-inch
26
27

margin on the bottom. The Court will allow modest deviations from these standard

1

formatting requirements to accommodate the document drafting resources, or lack thereof,

2

at Plaintiff’s disposal. However, any significant deviation will result in rejection the filings.

3

Accordingly, Plaintiff’s filings are REJECTED and will not be filed in this action. The

4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27

Clerk is to return said documents to Plaintiff.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated:
1j0bbc

August 1, 2011
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE