Williams #327008 v. Stoddard et al

Filing 7

ORDER directing the filing party to submit an amended pleading in proper form within 28 days or the action may be dismissed; granting 4 ; signed by Magistrate Judge Ray Kent (Magistrate Judge Ray Kent, fhw)

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN
SOUTHERN DIVISION

KENNETH WILLIAMS,
Plaintiff,

Case No. 1:15–cv-407

v.

Honorable Gordon J. Quist

CATHLEEN STODDARD et al.,
Defendants.
____________________________________/
ORDER
This is a civil rights action brought by a state prisoner pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
The Court has granted Plaintiff leave to proceed in forma pauperis. Presently before the Court is
Plaintiff’s motion to amend the complaint (docket #4) to add information to the complaint that was
inadvertently omitted and to withdraw a request for injunctive relief.
Under Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a), a party may amend the party’s pleading once as a matter
of course at any time before a responsive pleading is served. The complaint has not been served and
therefore, defendants have not filed an answer to plaintiff’s complaint. Because defendants have not
filed a responsive pleading, leave of court is not required to amend the complaint. See 6 CHARLES
A. WRIGHT, ARTHUR R. MILLER & MARY K. KANE, FEDERAL PRACTICE & PROCEDURE, §1483, at
584-86 (1990). Plaintiff’s motion for leave to amend his complaint to add inadvertently omitted
information and to withdraw his request for injunctive relief (docket #4) will be granted. Plaintiff
has not filed an amended complaint and must do so as instructed below.1

1

There is an additional reason that Plaintiff must file an amended complaint. Under the Prison Litigation
Reform Act, PUB. L. NO. 104-134, 110 STAT. 1321 (1996), the Court is required review Plaintiff’s complaint and to
dismiss any claim deemed frivolous or malicious, or that fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, or seeks
monetary relief from a defendant immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(e)(2), 1915A; 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(c). The
Court cannot properly screen Plaintiff’s complaint, because the complaint he filed is incomplete; page 3f is missing.

Therefore, if Plaintiff wishes to proceed with his action, he must file an amended
complaint on the requisite complaint form, see W.D. Mich. LCivR 5.6(a), ensuring that all necessary
information is included in the amended complaint and that no pages are missing from the amended
complaint. The Court directs the Clerk to send to Plaintiff a copy of the form complaint under 42
U.S.C. § 1983 for a civil action by a person in state custody. Plaintiff shall file his amended
complaint on the requisite form within thirty (28) days from the date of entry of this order. The
amended complaint will take the place of the original complaint, so it must include all of the
Defendants that Plaintiff intends to sue and all of the claims that Plaintiff intends to raise. Plaintiff
need not re-submit supporting exhibits filed with the original complaint. The case number shown
above must appear on the front page of the amended complaint. If Plaintiff fails to submit an
amended complaint in proper form within the time allowed, the complaint may be dismissed without
prejudice by the district judge.
Accordingly,
IT IS SO ORDERED that Plaintiff’s motion to amend the complaint (docket #4)
is GRANTED. Plaintiff shall file his amended complaint within 28 days as directed above.

Dated: August 18, 2015

/s/ Ray Kent
Ray Kent
United States Magistrate Judge