Smith v. Chaney

Filing 11

ORDER directing Plaintiff to amend his 1 Complaint within 14 days from the date of this Order including all of the allegations and defendants in one document with the standard form provided. (Compliance due by 6/26/2018.) Signed by Magistrate Judge Brian K. Epps on 06/12/2018. (Attachments: # 1 Prisoner Complaint Form) (jlh)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA
DUBLIN DIVISION
ROBERT FRANK SMITH,
Plaintiff,
v.
DAVID CHANEY, Medical Doctor,
Defendant.

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CV 318-035

ORDER
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Plaintiff, incarcerated at Telfair State Prison in Helena, Georgia, commenced the
above-captioned case pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff has filed a declaration, which
he purports “through incorporation, shall constitute and be a counter-part and of the same
equivalence as plaintiffs [sic] original complaint.” (Doc. no. 10, pp. 1-2.) However, such
incorporation by reference of previously submitted claims or papers is forbidden.

See

O’Connor v. Carnahan, No. 3:09CV224/WS/EST, 2009 WL 3712316, at *1 (N.D. Fla. Nov.
3, 2009).

Moreover, Plaintiff’s declaration violates the prohibition against piecemeal

amendment by simply amending sections of his complaint or submitting separate filings. See
Holland v. Burnette, CV 308-090, 2009 WL 1579507, at *1 (S.D. Ga. June 3, 2009).
The Court recognizes Plaintiff is proceeding pro se and will therefore give him an
opportunity to attempt to cure the pleading deficiencies outlined above by amending his
complaint. Accordingly, the Court hereby ORDERS Plaintiff to file an amended complaint
including all of the allegations and defendants in one document, within fourteen days of the

date of this Order.1 Plaintiff must use the standard form provided along with this Order, with
no more than six handwritten or typed pages attached. See Goodison v. Washington Mut.
Bank, 232 F. App’x 922, 923 (11th Cir. 2007) (affirming dismissal of case where plaintiff
failed to heed pleading instructions from court to re-draft complaint to make more concise);
see also London v. Georgia Dep’t of Corr., CV 502-107, doc. no. 10 (M.D. Ga. May 10,
2002) (directing amended complaint shall not exceed six handwritten pages). If Plaintiff
wishes to amend his complaint, he MUST file an amended complaint in accordance with the
following instructions.
The amended complaint must be printed legibly so that the Court may discern
Plaintiff’s claims, and, as the Court previously informed Plaintiff, it will supersede and
replace in its entirety the previous pleadings filed by Plaintiff. See Hoefling v. City of Miami,
811 F.3d 1271, 1277 (11th Cir. 2016); Lowery v. Ala. Power Co., 483 F.3d 1184, 1219 (11th
Cir. 2007) (“an amended complaint supersedes the initial complaint and becomes the operative
pleading in the case”).

It must contain a caption that clearly identifies, by name, each

individual that Plaintiff is suing in the present lawsuit. Furthermore, the body of Plaintiff’s
amended complaint must contain sequentially numbered paragraphs containing only one act
of misconduct per paragraph. The numbered paragraphs in his amended complaint should
include information such as: (i) the alleged act of misconduct; (ii) the date on which such
misconduct occurred; (iii) the names of each and every individual who participated in such
misconduct; and (iv) where appropriate, the location where the alleged misconduct occurred.

1

The Court DIRECTS the CLERK to attach a standard form complaint used by pro se litigants in the
Southern District of Georgia to Plaintiff’s copy of this Order, stamped with this case number.

2

While Plaintiff may attach exhibits to his amended complaint, he shall not incorporate them
by reference as a means of providing the factual basis for his complaint. Thus, Plaintiff must
name the individuals whom he seeks to include as defendants herein in both the caption and
the body of his amended complaint; he may not rely on the fact that individuals are named in
the exhibits attached to his amended complaint as a means of including such persons as
defendants to this lawsuit. The Court will not independently examine exhibits Plaintiff does
not specifically reference (by the exhibit’s page number) in his amended complaint.
Plaintiff is further cautioned no portion of any prior complaint shall be incorporated
into his amended complaint by reference.

Moreover, Plaintiff shall submit only one

amended complaint in accordance with the terms of this Order. Therefore, Plaintiff shall
state in the single amended complaint filed in accordance with the terms of this Order all
claims he wishes the Court to consider as a basis for awarding the relief sought. Once
Plaintiff has complied with the conditions of this Order, the Court will review the amended
complaint to determine which, if any, claims are viable and which, if any, defendants should
be served with a copy of the amended complaint.
If no response is timely received from Plaintiff, the Court will presume he no longer
wishes to amend his complaint and the case will move forward on the basis of the current
complaint (doc. no. 1).
SO ORDERED this 12th day of June, 2018, at Augusta, Georgia.

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