Means v. Haper

Filing 10

ORDER DISMISSING CASE. Signed by Judge David R. Herndon on 5/4/2018. (tkm)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
JOEL MEANS,
#N23056,
Plaintiff,
vs.
JOE HAPER,
Defendant.

Case No. 18-cv-00590-DRH
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

HERNDON, District Judge:
Plaintiff Joel Means filed the instant civil rights action pursuant to
42 U.S.C. § 1983 against an administrator at Chester Mental Health Center
named Joe Haper.
incoherent.
ailment.

Id.

Id.

(Doc. 1).

The allegations in the Complaint were largely

Plaintiff alluded to the denial of medical care for a stomach

However, he did not indicate what relief he was seeking in this

action. Id. At the time of filing the Complaint, Plaintiff also failed to file a Motion
for Leave to Proceed in forma pauperis (“IFP”) or pay the $400.00 filing fee for
this action.
Given the potentially urgent nature of his claims, the Court screened the
Complaint but concluded that it failed to state a claim for relief. (Doc. 8). The
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Court granted Plaintiff leave to file a First Amended Complaint, if he wished to
proceed with his claims. Id. However, Plaintiff was warned that his case would
be dismissed if he failed to pay the $400.00 filing fee for this action or seek leave
to proceed IFP. Id. The deadline for filing his First Amended Complaint and his
IFP motion or fee was April 24, 2018. Id.
The deadline has now expired. Plaintiff has not paid the filing fee for this
action or filed an IFP Motion. He has not requested an extension of the deadline
for doing so.

The documents that he filed as his First Amended Complaint

(Doc. 9) consist of three letters sent to the Court in separate envelopes.

Id.

The letters lack coherent allegations or claims against a named defendant or any
intelligible request for relief. Id. Under the circumstances, the Court finds that
Plaintiff is in violation of the Order (Doc. 8) dated March 29, 2018.
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that this action is DISMISSED with prejudice
based on Plaintiff’s failure to comply with the Order of this Court requiring him to
prepay the full filing fee for the action or file a properly completed IFP Motion and
First Amended Complaint no later than April 24, 2018. (Doc. 8) (citing FED. R.
CIV. P. 41(b); Ladien v. Astrachan, 128 F.3d 1051 (7th Cir. 1997); Johnson v.
Kamminga, 34 F.3d 466 (7th Cir. 1994)). This dismissal shall NOT count as a
“strike” under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g) because it is unclear whether this plaintiff was
subject to the Prison Litigation Reform Act at the time of filing this action.
Plaintiff’s obligation to pay the filing fee for this action was incurred at the
time the case was filed, so the fee of $400.00 remains due and payable.

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See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1); Lucien v. Jockisch, 133 F.3d 464, 467 (7th Cir.
1998). A separate order will issue regarding the collection of this fee.
The Clerk’s Office is DIRECTED to close this case and enter a judgment
accordingly.
IT IS SO ORDERED.

Judge Herndon
2018.05.04
14:55:04 -05'00'
United States District Judge

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