DOUGLAS v. HARPER et al

Filing 4

ORDER that Plaintiff is to file an Amended Complaint no later than October 20, 2014 that cures the defects under Twombly and Iqbal as noted in the accompanying Order. Signed by Magistrate Judge Maureen P. Kelly on 9/23/2014. A copy of this Order together with this Notice of Electronic Filing are being sent to Plaintiff at his address of record via first class mail.(tmr)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA

RICKY DOUGLAS,
Plaintiff,
vs.
ORLANDO L. HARPER Warden;
DEPUTY WARDEN ENRICK; C/O
BOZACK; C/O YOUNG; C/O ZOLLER,
Defendants.

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Civil Action No. 14-1266
Magistrate Judge Maureen P. Kelly

ORDER
Ricky Douglas (“Plaintiff”) has filed a civil rights action, complaining of his conditions
in the Allegheny County Jail (“ACJ”).
The poposed Complaint, ECF No. 1-1, fails to comply with the pleading requirements of
Fed.R.Civ.P. 8 as explained in Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (2007) and
Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662 (2009). As explained by the United States Supreme Court, a
complaint is subject to dismissal under the standards of Fed. R. Civ. P. 12 (b)(6) if it does not
allege “enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Id. at 570
The proposed Complaint is simply insufficient under Twombly and Iqbal. As the United
States Supreme Court explained in Twombly: “a plaintiff's obligation to provide the ‘grounds’ of
his ‘entitle[ment] to relief’ requires more than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation
of the elements of a cause of action will not do[.]” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555. Rather, Plaintiff
must allege a modicum of facts showing that the Defendants violated his rights. Instead of
alleging sufficient facts to show that the Defendants violated Plaintiff’s rights, the proposed
Complaint is replete with conclusory allegations that lack any factual specificity and fail to

connect individual Defendants with specific actions that show Plaintiff’s rights were violated.
In order to rectify the deficiencies in the proposed Complaint, Plaintiff is ORDERED to file an
Amended Complaint that includes all of his claims against all of the defendants and allege
therein facts, as opposed to conclusory allegations. Essentially, Plaintiff should allege who did
or failed to do what to him and when these actions or inactions occurred.

Plaintiff is ORDERED to file the Amended Complaint no later than October 20, 2014.
Failure to file the Amended Complaint may result in the dismissal of this case for failure to
prosecute. We note that in a past case, Plaintiff’s lawsuit against ACJ officials was dismissed for
failure to prosecute and/or for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Douglas
v. Barrone, No. 12-cv-1706 (W.D. Pa., ECF No. 27, order dismissing case filed on 8/8/2013).

BY THE COURT:
Date: September 23, 2014

cc:

Ricky Douglas
164550
Allegheny County Jail
950 Second Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15219

/s/ Maureen P. Kelly
MAUREEN P. KELLY
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE