Tedrick v. Fayette County Jail et al

Filing 8

IT IS ORDERED that the motion to amend complaint (Doc. 6) is DENIED without prejudice. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, if Plaintiff wishes to include his proposed supplemental material into his operative complaint, Plaintiff shal l do so by preparing a First Amended Complaint that includes all factual allegations and statements of his claims in a single document. The First Amended Complaint, if Plaintiff chooses to file one, SHALL BE FILED within 28 days of the entry of this order (on or before November 6, 2017). (Amended Pleadings due by 11/6/2017). Signed by Judge J. Phil Gilbert on 10/6/2017. (tjk)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
JACOB D. TEDRICK, # S-05770,
Plaintiff,
vs.
FAYETTE COUNTY JAIL,
TYLER BUTTS,
JON TORBECK,
and BRYAN GLIDDEN,
Defendants.

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Case No. 17-cv-1031-JPG

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
GILBERT, District Judge:
Plaintiff, currently incarcerated at the Fayette County Jail (“the Jail”), has brought this
pro se civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. His Complaint was received and filed by
the Clerk on September 25, 2017. (Doc. 1). On October 2, 2017, the Clerk received a 5-page
document from Plaintiff, on which he wrote “To construd [sic] as an Amended Complaint.” This
proposed amendment has not been filed as part of the record pending the Court’s review.
Instead, the Clerk recorded the submission by docketing a motion to amend complaint. (Doc. 6).
For the reasons to follow, the motion to amend shall be denied.
The 5-page proposed amended complaint contains factual allegations regarding events at
the Jail on August 24 and 28, 2017. It appears that with this document, Plaintiff intended to
present further details and descriptions to supplement the claims he made in the original
Complaint. The 5-page proposed amendment is signed by Plaintiff, but does not contain a case
caption listing the case number and parties, and is not dated.
Although Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(a)(1)(A) permits a party to amend its
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pleading once as a matter of course within 21 days after serving1 it, Plaintiff has not filed a
proper amended complaint. A litigant may not amend a complaint in a piecemeal fashion (often
referred to as amendment by interlineation), as Plaintiff has attempted to do here. Consistent
with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a), amendment by interlineation is not permitted.
Instead, all claims against all defendants must be set forth in a single document. Furthermore, an
amended complaint supersedes and replaces the original complaint, rendering it void. See
Flannery v. Recording Indus. Ass’n of Am., 354 F.3d 632, 638 n.1 (7th Cir. 2004). It does not
appear that Plaintiff intended for his proposed amendment to completely replace his original
pleading.
Additionally, the proposed amendment is insufficient to stand on its own as an amended
complaint. Rule 10(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure directs that every pleading must
have a caption containing the court’s name, a title naming the parties, the file number, and a
designation (for example, “Complaint” or “First Amended Complaint”). Plaintiff’s proposed
amendment lacks this information, and thus would be subject to dismissal if it were filed as an
amended complaint.
For these reasons, the proposed amended complaint, construed as a motion for leave to
amend (Doc. 6), shall be denied. The denial of leave to amend shall be without prejudice,
however, and Plaintiff shall be allowed an opportunity to submit a proper and complete amended
complaint in accordance with the instructions below.
Disposition
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the motion to amend complaint (Doc. 6) is
DENIED without prejudice.

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In this instance, Plaintiff’s Complaint has not yet been served on any Defendant, because it is still
awaiting the required preliminary merits review by the Court under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A.

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IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, if Plaintiff wishes to include his proposed
supplemental material into his operative complaint, Plaintiff shall do so by preparing a First
Amended Complaint that includes all factual allegations and statements of his claims in a single
document. The proposed amended pleading must include a case caption, must be signed by
Plaintiff, and must comply with Rule 8’s requirement to present “a short and plain statement of
the claim” with allegations that are “simple, concise, and direct.”
The First Amended Complaint, if Plaintiff chooses to file one, SHALL BE FILED
within 28 days of the entry of this order (on or before November 6, 2017). It is strongly
recommended that Plaintiff use the form designed for use in this District for civil rights actions.
He should label the pleading “First Amended Complaint” and include Case Number 17-cv-1031JPG. The amended complaint shall present each claim in a separate count. In each count,
Plaintiff shall specify, by name,2 each Defendant alleged to be liable under the count, as well as
the actions alleged to have been taken by that Defendant. New individual Defendants may be
added if they were personally involved in the constitutional violations. Plaintiff should attempt
to include the facts of his case in chronological order, inserting Defendants’ names where
necessary to identify the actors and the dates of any material acts or omissions.
An amended complaint supersedes and replaces the original Complaint, rendering the
original Complaint void. See Flannery v. Recording Indus. Ass’n of Am., 354 F.3d 632, 638 n.1
(7th Cir. 2004). The Court will not accept piecemeal amendments to the original Complaint.
Thus, the First Amended Complaint must contain all the relevant allegations in support of
Plaintiff’s claims and must stand on its own, without reference to any other pleading. Should the
First Amended Complaint not conform to these requirements, it shall be stricken. Plaintiff must

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Plaintiff may designate an unknown Defendant as John or Jane Doe, but should include descriptive
information (such as job title, shift worked, or location) to assist in the person’s eventual identification.

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also re-file any exhibits he wishes the Court to consider along with the First Amended
Complaint.
If Plaintiff does not file a First Amended Complaint within the allotted time or consistent
with the instructions set forth in this Order, the Court shall proceed to review the original
Complaint (Doc. 1), without the proposed supplementary material. Plaintiff is warned that he
may incur a “strike” within the meaning of § 1915(g) if his complaint is frivolous, malicious, or
fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. No service shall be ordered on any
Defendant until after the Court completes its § 1915A review of the operative Complaint.
In order to assist Plaintiff in preparing his amended complaint, the Clerk is DIRECTED
to mail Plaintiff a blank civil rights complaint form.
Plaintiff is further ADVISED that his obligation to pay the filing fee for this action was
incurred at the time the action was filed, thus the filing fee of $350.00 remains due and payable,
regardless of whether Plaintiff elects to file a First Amended Complaint.

See 28 U.S.C.

§ 1915(b)(1); Lucien v. Jockisch, 133 F.3d 464, 467 (7th Cir. 1998).
Finally, Plaintiff is ADVISED that he is under a continuing obligation to keep the Clerk
of Court and each opposing party informed of any change in his address; the Court will not
independently investigate his whereabouts. This shall be done in writing and not later than 7
days after a transfer or other change in address occurs. Failure to comply with this order will
cause a delay in the transmission of court documents and may result in dismissal of this action
for want of prosecution. See FED. R. CIV. P. 41(b).
IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATED: October 6, 2017
s/J. Phil Gilbert
United States District Judge
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