Scott v. LaPorte County Jail et al

Filing 8

OPINION AND ORDER: The Court GRANTS Charles Scott until 11/7/19 to file an amended complaint and CAUTIONS Charles Scott if he does not respond by the deadline, this case will be dismissed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1915A without further notice. Signed by Judge Jon E DeGuilio on 10/8/19. (Copy mailed to pro se party). (nal)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA
SOUTH BEND DIVISION
CHARLES SCOTT,
Plaintiff,
v.

CAUSE NO. 3:19-CV-798-JD-MGG

LaPORTE COUNTY JAIL, QUALITY
CORRECTIONAL CARE, LLC, and DR.
TCHETTCHAT,
Defendants.
OPINION AND ORDER
Charles Scott is a prisoner at the LaPorte County Jail. Without a lawyer he filed
an amended complaint against three defendants. “A document filed pro se is to be
liberally construed, and a pro se complaint, however inartfully pleaded, must be held to
less stringent standards than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers.” Erickson v. Pardus,
551 U.S. 89, 94 (2007) (quotation marks and citations omitted). Nevertheless, pursuant to
28 U.S.C. § 1915A, the court must review the merits of a prisoner complaint and dismiss
it if the action is frivolous or malicious, fails to state a claim upon which relief may be
granted, or seeks monetary relief against a defendant who is immune from such relief.
Of the three defendants listed by Scott, the only one named in the body of the
complaint is the LaPorte County Jail. However, the jail is a building. It is not a suable
entity. Smith v. Knox County Jail, 666 F.3d 1037, 1040 (7th Cir. 2012). Therefore, he cannot
state a claim against the Jail. The other two defendants are not named in the body of the
complaint, therefore he has not stated a claim against them either.

This complaint does not state a claim. Nevertheless, Scott may file an amended
complaint. See Luevano v. Wal-Mart, 722 F.3d 1014 (7th Cir. 2013). To do so he must place
this cause number on a blank Prisoner Complaint (INND Rev. 8/16) form which is
available from the law library. In the complaint, he must explain what each defendant
did which violated his constitutional rights.
For these reasons, the court:
(1) GRANTS Charles Scott until November 7, 2019, to file an amended
complaint; and
(2) CAUTIONS Charles Scott if he does not respond by the deadline, this case
will be dismissed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A without further notice.
SO ORDERED on October 8, 2019

/s/ JON E. DEGUILIO
JUDGE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

2