TUCKER v. CHRISTIE et al
Filing
18
MEMORANDUM OPINION and ORDER that in Civil Action Nos. 13-66, 13-885, 13-2437, 13-2787, 13-4134, 13-4117, 13-4829, 13-4973, and 13-4975 IFP is GRANTED and Clerk shall file the Complaint. ORDERED all cases listed and case 13-4963 shall be administrat ively terminated. ORDERED Plaintiff may file one amended complaint in each case within 60 days of the date of this Order. ORDERED Clerk shall mark each case CLOSED and shall be reopened as of the date of Plaintiff's filing of an amended complaint. ORDERED that in civil case 13-4963 the Plaintiff must submit a completed IFP application. Signed by Judge Claire C. Cecchi on 4/11/2014. (nz, )
NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY
Civil Action Nos.: 13-66; 13-885; 132437; 13-2787; 13-4134; 13-4417; 134829; 13-4963; 13-4973; 13-4975
(CCC)
IN RE: MATTHEW TUCKER
MEMORANDUM
ORDER
OPINION
&
CECCHI, District Judge.
This matter has been opened by the Court sua sponte upon Plaintiff Matthew Tucker’s
(“Plaintiff’) submission of numerous complaints and filings in this Court. Plaintiff is a patient at
Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital in Morris Plains, New Jersey.
Plaintiff has an extensive history of litigation in this district. On November 15, 2002,
District Judge Bissell (ret.) entered an order in Tucker v. Walsh, Civil Action No. 02-cv-4667,
holding that “[un view of Tucker’s history of frivolous litigation, the Court will order that Tucker
either pay the required docketing fee or obtain leave of Court before filing or attempting to file
any civil action in this Court in the future.” (ECF No. 1). Since the entry of Judge Bissell’s order,
Plaintiff has filed some twenty actions in this district since 2002, most of which were dismissed as
frivolous or because Plaintiff failed to state a claim for relief.
Plaintiff currently has ten open cases before this Court. In nearly every case, Plaintiff has
submitted multiple letters as well as “supplemental” notices and complaints. At the extreme end,
Plaintiff has filed well above forty additional notices and supplemental complaints in one case
(Civil Action No. 13-4417), on occasion submitting multiple filings in one day. As a result of this
multitude of submissions, many of which are repetitive and difficult to discern, the Court is unable
to properly determine the claims or allegations Plaintiff seeks to assert.
In order for the Court to comprehend and adjudicate Plaintiff’s claims, this Court will
administratively terminate each of Plaintiff’s cases and afford him the opportunity to file one new
amended complaint in each case, stating all of the claims and facts Plaintiff wishes to allege. It
should be noted that while the Court possesses the inherent authority to sua sponte dismiss a
complaint that fails to comply with Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a), which requires a “short and plain statement
of the claim” alleged, çç Tillio v. Northland Group Inc., 456 F. App’x 78 (3d Cir. 2012), it is not
doing so here. An administrative termination is not a “dismissal” for purposes of the statute of
limitations. If Plaintiff submits an amended complaint in compliance with this Opinion and its
accompanying order, as well as with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, it will not be subject to
the statute of limitations bar, provided the original complaint was timely filed. See Gourdine v.
Silva, 508 F. Supp. 2d. 414, 415-16 (D.N.J. 2007).
In addition to affording the Plaintiff one additional chance in each of his open cases to file
a new, comprehensive complaint, the Court will grant Plaintiff’s requests to proceed in forma
pauperis where his application was properly filed. Therefore, a new informa pauperis application
is not necessary in those cases.
For the reasons set forth above,
It is, on this
11
day of April, 2014,
ORDERED that in Civil Action Nos. 13-66, 13-885, 13-2437, 13-2787. 13-4134. 13-44 17,
13-4829, 13-4973, and 13-4975, Plaintiff’s application to proceed in forma pauperis is hereby
granted pursuant to 28 U.S.C.
§ 19 15(a) and (b); and it is further
2
ORDERED that in Civil Action Nos. 13-66. 13-885, 13-243 7, 13-2787, 13-4134, 13-4417.
13-4829. 13-4973. and 13-4975, the Clerk of the Court shall file the Complaint without
prepayment of fees or security; and it is further
ORDERED that cases 13-66, 13-885, 13-2437, 13-2787, 13-4134, 13-4417, 13-4829, 134963, 13-4973, and 13-4975 shall be administratively terminated; and it is further
ORDERED that Plaintiff, within 60 days of the date of this Order, may file one Amended
Complaint in each of the above listed cases, stating all facts and claims alleged; and it is further
ORDERED that the Clerk of the Court shall mark each of the above listed cases CLOSED,
and each case shall be reopened as of the date of Plaintiffs filing of an Amended Complaint; and
it is further
ORDERED that in Civil Action No. 13-4963, Plaintiff must either submit a completed
application to proceed informa pauperis or pay the required filing fee.
CLAIRE C. CECCHI, U.S.D.J.
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