Brown v. Department of Health and Human Services et al

Filing 85

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER - that an Amended Judgment shall be entered, after which Plaintiff has 30 days to file a notice of appeal. Ordered by Senior Judge Richard G. Kopf. (Copy mailed to pro se party) (LKO)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA
MEE MEE BROWN,
Plaintiff,
v.
COURTNEY PHILIPS, Director,
SHANNON BLACK, Program Director,
KYLE MALONE, SOS Team Leader,
WILLIAM BECKER, Program Therapist,
CINDY DYKEMAN, Program Manager,
and LISA LAURELL, Program Social
Worker, et. al.,
Defendants.

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8:16CV377

MEMORANDUM
AND ORDER

Plaintiff, a civilly committed non-prisoner, was found financially eligible to proceed in
forma pauperis in this case (Filing No. 6), and the court subsequently analyzed Plaintiff’s
complaints under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2).1 However, the Judgment dismissing this case
erroneously contained language applicable only to prisoners under the Prison Litigation Reform
Act. Therefore, and pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(a) (court may correct mistake in judgment on
its own without notice), an Amended Judgment shall be entered, after which Plaintiff will have
30 days to file a notice of appeal. Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED that an Amended Judgment shall be entered, after which Plaintiff has
30 days to file a notice of appeal.
DATED this 8th day of May, 2018.
BY THE COURT:
s/ Richard G. Kopf
Senior United States District Judge
1

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that civilly committed individuals are not
prisoners and are not subject to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)-(b). Kolocotronis v. Morgan, 247 F.3d 726,
728 (8th Cir. 2001); see also Perkins v. Hedricks, 340 F.3d 582, 583 (8th Cir. 2003) (per curiam)
(“Perkins appears to be civilly committed and is thus not a prisoner within the meaning of the
PLRA.”); Pendleton v. Sanders, 565 F. App’x 584 (8th Cir. 2014) (a civilly committed plaintiff
is not a “prisoner” under the PLRA) (unpublished).