WASHINGTON v. ESSEX COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT et al

Filing 4

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER - In forma pauperis status is granted; The document designated "amended complaint" (Dkt. No. 3 ) is not accepted for filing; The Court grants plaintiff leave to submit an all-inclusive amended complaint, containing all the claims and requests for relief that he wishes to assert, within forty-five (45) days of the date of this Order; Plaintiff's failure to comply with this Order within forty-five (45) days will result in this court screening only plaintiff's original complaint (Dkt. No. 1 ); The Clerk shall serve this Order and a blank for prisoner civil rights complaint on plaintiff by regular U.S. mail.. Signed by Judge Kevin McNulty on 9/29/2015. (anr)

UNITED STATES DISTRiCT COURT
DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY

ROBERT WASHINGTON,
Plaintiff,

:

Civ. No. 14-7453 (KM) (JBC)

V.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

ESSEX COUNFY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT,
etal.,
Defendants.

The plaintiff, Robert Washington, is a pretrial detainee at the Essex County Correctional
Facility in Newark, New Jersey. He is proceeding pro se with a civil rights complaint filed
pursuant to 42 U.S.C.

§

1983. Mr. Washington’s application to proceed informapauperis will be

granted and the Clerk will be ordered to file the complaint. (Dkt. No. 1.)
Typically, at this time, the complaint would be screened pursuant to 28 U.S.C.

§

1915(e)(2)(B) to detenriine whether the complaint (1) is frivolous or malicious; (2) fails to state
a claim upon which relief may be granted; or (3) seeks monetary relief from a defendant who is
immune from such relief. However, after Mr. Washington submitted his original complaint, he
submitted an “amended complaint” (Dkt. No. 3). It appears that Mr. Washington may intend Ibr
his “amended complaint” to supplement, rather than replace, his original complaint. I will not,
however, treat multiple documents collectively as constituting the operative complaint.
Instead, I will grant leave to amend the complaint, and I will order Mr. Washington to file
one amended complaint containing all of the claims he wishes to raise along with all of his
requests for relief. I believe this course is necessary in order for the proceedings to be orderly
and clear. As one leading treatise has stated:

[T]o ensure that the pleadings give notice of all the issues that are
in the controversy so they can be handled and comprehended
expeditiously, the safer practice is to introduce an amended
pleading that is complete in itseli rather than one that refers to the
prior pleading or seeks to incorporate a portion of it.
Even if
the pleading is lengthy and involved, a self-contained amended
pleading will assist the parties and the court in dealing with the
issues better than one that is replete with references to another
pleading.
.

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.

.

CHARLEs ALAN WRIGHT ET AL., FEDERAL PRACTICE AND PRocEDuRE

§ 1476 (3d ed.).

If Mr. Washington should fail to file an all-inclusive amended complaint within the time
allotted by the Court, then I will treat the (Dkt. No. 1) as the operative pleading and submit it to
the screening process.
In addition, Mr. Washington has filed an application for pro hono counsel. (See Dkt. No.
2.) At a minimum, the Court must find that the plaintifrs claims have legal and factual merit
before appointing pro bono counsel. See Tabron v. Grace, 6 F.3d 147, 155 (3d Cir. 1993).
Because the substance of Mr. Washington’s claims is not settled (see above), I will not rule on
pro bono counsel at the present time. I will do

SO

when his complaint is screened.

Accordingly, IT IS this 29th day of September, 2015,
ORDEREI) that informapauperis status is granted; and it is further
ORDERED that the document designated “amended complaint” (Dkt. No. 3) is not
accepted for filing; and it is further
ORI)ERED that the Court grants plaintiff leave to submit an all-inclusive amended
complaint, containing all of the claims and requests fbr relief that he wishes to assert, within
forty-five (45) days of the date of this Order; and ii is further
ORDERED that plaintiff’s failure to comply with this Order within forty-five (45) days
will result in this Court screening only plaintiff’s original complaint (Dkt. No. 1); and it is further

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ORDEREI) that the Clerk shall serve this Order and a blank form prisoner civil rights
complaint on plaintiff by regular US. mail.

EWN MCNULTY
United States District Judge

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