Sarnoski v. Lackawanna County Prison et al
Filing
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MEMORANDUM AND ORDER 1. Plaintiffs claims against the Lackawanna County Prison in her Amended Complaint (Doc. 9) are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE. 2. Plaintiffs remaining claims in her Amended Complaint (Doc. 9) are DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE under 28 U .S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(8)(ii) for failure to state aclaim upon which relief may be granted. 3. Within twenty-one (21) days from the date of this Order, Plaintiff may file a second amended complaint in accordance with the foregoing Memorandum. 4. The Clerk of Court shall mail to Plaintiff two (2) copies of this Court's civil rights complaint form which she shall use in preparing any amended complaint she may file. 5. Failure to file an amended complaint as directed within the required time will result in the dismissal of this action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(8)(ii).Signed by Honorable Robert D. Mariani on 5/15/12. (jfg)
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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA
KRISTEN SARNOSKI,
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CIVIL NO. 3:CV·12·0499
Plaintiff,
(Judge Mariani)
v.
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LACKAWANNA COUNTY
PRISON, et aI.,
Defendants
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MEMORANDUM and ORDER
Plaintiff Kristen Sarnoski ("Plaintiff' or "Sarnoski"), an inmate presently confined at the
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State Correctional Institution Muncy ("SCI Muncy") in Muncy, Pennsylvania, initiated the above
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action QIQ se by filing a civil rights Complaint under the provisions of 42 U.S.C. § 1983. (Doc.
1.) After screening the Complaint under the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 1915, by Memorandum
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and Order dated April 2, 2012, we dismissed the Complaint for failure to state a claim upon
which relief may be granted under the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(8)(ii). (Doc. 7.)
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However, based on our determination that it was possible that the deficiencies in the Complaint
could be remedied by amendment, we granted Sarnoski leave to file an amended pleading
within twenty-one (21) days.
(kU
Presently before the Court for screening is Sarnoski's Amended Complaint (Doc. 9),
which was filed on April 13, 2012. For the reasons set forth below, the Amended Complaint will
be dismissed without prejudice to Sarnoski's opportunity to file a second amended complaint.
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I.
Allegations of the Amended Complaint
Named as Defendants in Sarnoski's Amended Complaint are the Lackawanna County
Prison; Mr. Maloney; and Ms. Neveroski. (Doc. 9 at 1,2; Doc. 8.) Sarnoski states the same
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allegation three times in three separate paragraphs. Although the wording differs slightly in
each statement, Sarnoski's allegation, as stated the first time, is as follows:
On 7-13-10 the Defendant denied the plaintiff to her right of 'equal protection'
under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution by not allowing her to file
charges related to a PFA violation and violated her due process rights in court by
loosing [sic] two letters her alleged victim [UN.M."]1 sent, therefore violating her
fundamental rights. The defendants were also discriminating against her by not
filing an incident report the date of the incident, but waited over 8 months post
incident and post her sentencing date so the report could not be filed in her
discovery. All other inmates & C.O.'s receive an incident report the day of, but by
waiting 8 months the Defendant showed extreme prejudice against the plaintiff.
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(Doc. 9 § IV,-r 1.) Sarnoski makes three separate requests for compensatory damages in the
amounts of 'five million dollars, one point five million dollars, and one point 'five million dollars.
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(kL § V.)
an alert relating to Inmate Sarnoski stating that as of July 13, 2010, visits with N.M were to be
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suspended. (kL at 5.) The suspension reason is listed as uPFA." (kL) Also attached to the
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Attached to Sarnoski's Amended Complaint is a copy of a computer printout containing
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Amended Complaint is a copy of an Incident Report dated March 21,2011 stating as follows:
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On July 2010 [sic] 1M Kristen Sarnoski received two letters. I gave the letters to
lWhere Plaintiff alleges that this individual was the victim of a crime, the Court uses the
individual's initials.
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1M Sarnoski. She refused to take the letters saying they were from him. On the
same day, she had a visit from this male. She refused her visit.
(kL. at 6.)
II.
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Standard of Review
Under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii), a federal court must dismiss a case
filed in forma pauperis if the court determines that the cornplaint "fails to state a claim on which
relief may be granted." In reviewing the legal sufficiency of a complaint, the Court must accept
the truth of the plaintiffs factual allegations. Morrison v. Madison Dearborn Capital Partners III
L.P., 463 F.3d 312, 314 (3d Cir. 2006). The controlling question is whether the complaint
lIalieges enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face." Bell Atlantic Corp. v.
Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007) (rejecting the "no set of facts" language from Conley v.
Gibson, 355 U.S. 41,45-46 (1957)); see also Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, - - -, 129 S.Ct.
1937, 1949 (2009).
"While a complaint attacked by a Rule 12(b){6) motion to dismiss does not need detailed
factual allegations, a plaintiffs obligation to provide the 'grounds' of his 'entitle[ment] to relief
requires more than labels and conclusions, and aformulaic recitation of a cause of action's
elements will not do." Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555 (citation omitted). To survive a motion to
dismiss, the factual allegations in the complaint "must be enough to raise a right to relief above
the speculative level." kL.
Pro se pleadings are to be construed liberally, Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 520
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(1972), and pro se litigants are to be granted leave to file a curative amended complaint "even
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when a plaintiff does not seek leave to amend ... unless such an amendment would be
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inequitable or futile." Alston v. Parker, 363 F.3d 229, 235 (3d Cir. 2004). However, acomplaint
that sets forth facts which affirmatively demonstrate that the plaintiff has no right to recover is
properly dismissed without leave to amend. Grayson v. Mayview State Hospital, 293 F.3d 103,
108 (3d Cir. 2002).
III.
Analysis
The Amended Complaint, like the original Complaint, names the Lackawanna County
Prison as a Defendant. The Court's April 2, 2012 Memorandum explained that the Lackawanna
County Prison is not a proper Defendant in a § 1983 civil rights action, and our April 2 Order
therefore dismissed the claims against that Defendant with prejudice. (See Doc. 7 at 4, 9 ~ 2.)
Accordingly, the claims against the Lackawanna County Prison asserted in the Amended
Complaint will be dismissed with prejudice for the same reasons set forth in our April 2
Memorandum.
Sarnoski's original complaint named "Karen Gilman" as a Defendant. (See Doc. 1at 1,
at 2 § III.) Because no identifying information other than Gilman's name was provided in the
Complaint, we directed Sarnoski to provide further identifying information for Gilman in any
amended complaint she chose to file. (See Doc. 7 at 4.) However, in the Amended Complaint,
Sarnoski no longer names Gilman as a Defendant. Instead, she names "Ms. Neveroski" as a
Defendant, and does not provide any additional identifying information for Neveroski in the
Amended Complaint. (See Doc. 9 at 1, at 2 § 111.) In a letter filed on April 12, 2012, Sarnoski
explains that she forgot to include identifying information for Defendants Maloney and
Neveroski in her Amended Complaint, and identifies them as an Internal Affairs Officer and
Corrections Officer, respectively. (See Doc. 8.) Our April 2 Memorandum stated that the
"amended complaint must be complete in all respects. It must be a new pleading which stands
by itself as an adequate complaint without reference to the complaint already filed." (See Doc. 7
at 7 (citing Young v. Keohane, 809 F. Supp. 1185, 1198 (M.D. Pa. 1992).) Thus, a Defendant
must be fully identified in the Amended Complaint; providing the relevant information in a
supplementary letter is not sufficient. Therefore, we shall direct Sarnoski to fully identify the
Defendants to this action in her second amended complaint.
In our April 2 Memorandum, we directed Sarnoski in stating her factual allegations to
specify what each individual Defendant did that led to a deprivation of her constitutional or other
federal rights. (See Doc. 7 at 8 (citing Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, - - -, 129 S.Ct. 1937,
1948-49 (2009).) This direction was based upon the principle that, to establish liability for the
deprivation of a constitutional right, a plaintiff must demonstrate personal involvement by a
defendant. Rode v. Delarciprete, 845 F.2d 1195, 1207 (3d Cir. 1988). Such involvement may
be established through: 1) personal direction or actual participation by the defendant in the
misconduct; or 2) knowledge of and acquiescence in the misconduct. kL. The Amended
Complaint does not contain allegations specific to each Defendant. Rather, in stating her
allegations, Sarnoski refers either to "the Defendant" or "Defendants." As a result, it is not
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possible to determine whether Sarnoski states either a plausible equal protection or due
process claim against any of the Defendants. However, because it is possible that allowing
Sarnoski one final opportunity to amend her pleading may allow her to state a claim upon which
relief may be granted, we shall dismiss the Amended Complaint without prejudice to her ability
to file asecond amended complaint within twenty-one (21) days from the date of the attached
Order.
As we did in directing Sarnoski to file an amended complaint, we again advise her that
any amended complaint she files should contain the same docket number as the instant action
and should be labeled "Second Amended Complaint."
In addition, the "amended complaint must be complete in all respects. It must be a new
pleading which stands by itself as an adequate complaint without reference to the complaint
already filed." Young v. Keohane, 809 F. Supp.1185, 1198 (M.D. Pa.1992). In particular,
Sarnoski is advised that any amended complaint she may file supercedes the original complaint
and must be "retyped or reprinted so that it will be complete in itself including exhibits." M.D.
Pa. Local Rule 15.1. As a result, all causes of action alleged in an Original complaint which are
not alleged in an amended complaint are waived.
Finally, Sarnoski is directed to provide factual allegations in support of her claims in
short, concise, and plain statements, and in numbered paragraphs. These allegations should
be specific as to time and place, and Sarnoski should specify what each individual Defendant
did that led to a deprivation of her constitutional or other federal rights. Iqbal, supra, 129 S. Ct.
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at 1948-49. She also shall specify the relief she seeks with regard to each claim. Sarnoski's
failure to 'file an appropriate amended complaint within the required time will result in the
dismissal of this action.
AND NOW, to wit
1.
thiS/S-i, day of MAY 2012, it is hereby ORDERED as follows:
Plaintiffs claims against the Lackawanna County Prison in her Amended
Complaint (Doc. 9) are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.
2.
Plaintiffs remaining claims in her Amended Complaint (Doc. 9) are DISMISSED
WITHOUT PREJUDICE under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(8)(ii) for failure to state a claim upon
which relief may be granted.
3.
Within twenty-one (21) days from the date of this Order, Plaintiff may file a
second amended complaint in accordance with the foregoing Memorandum.
4.
The Clerk of Court shall mail to Plaintiff two (2) copies of this Court's civil rights
complaint form which she shall use in preparing any amended complaint she may file.
5.
Failure to file an amended complaint as directed within the required time will
result in the dismissal of this action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(8)(ii).
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Robert . ariani
United States District Judge
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