YOUNG v. CAULFIELD

Filing 3

MEMORANDUM OPINION Signed by Judge Rosemary M. Collyer on 5/15/09. (ls, )

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FILED
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

MAy 262009
Clerk, U.S. District and
Bankruptcy Courts

Herbert Francis Young, Plaintiff,

v.
John Caulfield, Warden, Defendant.

Civil Action No.

09 0979

MEMORANDUM OPINION
The plaintiff has filed a pro se complaint and an application to proceed in forma
pauperis. The Court will grant the application to proceed in forma pauperis and dismiss the

complaint. Rule 8 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure states the minimum requirements for complaints. Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a). Rule 8(a) requires that a complaint contain a short and plain statement of the grounds upon which federal jurisdiction rests, a short and plain statement showing that the plaintiff is entitled to relief, and a demand for judgment for the relief sought. The minimum requirements Rule 8 imposes are designed to provide defendants with sufficient notice of the claim or claims being asserted in order to allow defendants to prepare a responsive answer and an adequate defense, and to determine whether the doctrine of res judicata applies.
Brown v. Califano, 75 F.R.D. 497, 498 (D.D.C. 1977). Compliance with Rule 8(a)'s

requirements should also provide a court with sufficient information to determine whether it has jurisdiction over the claims.

As submitted, there are no factual allegations in the complaint. Attached to the form of the complaint are various grievances that the plaintiff submitted in the past, which give some indication of the nature of his complaint, but they are not sufficient to meet the requirements of Rule 8. As submitted, there is no indication of which of plaintiff s civil rights are alleged to have been violated, the facts on which the civil rights claim(s) is/are based, or the relief sought. Accordingly, the complaint will be dismissed without prejudice because it does not meet the minimum requirements ofa complaint. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 8. A separate order accompanies this memorandum opinion.

Date:

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