Phelps Crowder v. Office of Personel Management et al

Filing 12

ORDER RE: SERVICE. The Clerk of Court shall issue the summons, and the Clerk's Office or the U.S. Marshal for the Northern District of California shall serve, without prepayment of fees, a copy of the complaint, any amendments or attachments, the affidavit, and this order upon Defendants. Signed by Judge Thomas S. Hixson on 11/14/2023. (tshlc1, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 11/14/2023)Any non-CM/ECF Participants have been served by First Class Mail to the addresses of record listed on the Notice of Electronic Filing (NEF)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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BRIGGETT C. PHELPS CROWDER,

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Plaintiff,
ORDER DIRECTING SERVICE

v.

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Case No. 23-cv-04412-TSH

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL
MANAGEMENT, et al.,

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

Defendants.
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On September 5, 2023, the Court granted Plaintiff Briggett Phelps Crowder’s application

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to proceed in forma pauperis and screened her original complaint, finding it deficient under 28

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U.S.C. § 1915(e). ECF No. 5. After Plaintiff filed a First Amended Complaint (ECF No. 7), the

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Court again found it deficient and directed her to file a second amended complaint (ECF No. 8).

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Plaintiff has now filed a Second Amended Complaint (“SAC”).1 ECF No. 11.
To say that the SAC is not a model of good pleading is an understatement. It is five pages

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long, handwritten, rambling, and has almost no punctuation. It has accusations against the

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Oakland police, lengthy run-on sentences, accusations of corruption, and a lot of irrelevant

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allegations. But it is not hard to see the real claim here: Plaintiff’s husband was a veteran, she is

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the beneficiary of his benefits, she alleges that she is being denied those benefits, and she is suing

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the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Federal Employees Retirement Service, and the Office of

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Personnel Management (Retirement Services). At least at this stage in the case, for purposes of

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screening to determine if there is something here that should be allowed to proceed, the Court

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finds that the amended complaint states a claim, is not frivolous, and does not seek monetary relief

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Plaintiff inadvertently captioned her most recent pleading as a First Amended Complaint.

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against a defendant who is immune from such relief. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2). Accordingly,

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the Clerk of Court shall issue the summons, and the Clerk’s Office or the U.S. Marshal for the

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Northern District of California shall serve, without prepayment of fees, a copy of the complaint,

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any amendments or attachments, the affidavit, and this order upon Defendants.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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Dated: November 14, 2023

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THOMAS S. HIXSON
United States Magistrate Judge

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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