Boyle v. Missouri Department of Corrections

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Missouri
DecidedMay 7, 2025
Docket1:25-cv-00013
StatusUnknown

This text of Boyle v. Missouri Department of Corrections (Boyle v. Missouri Department of Corrections) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Boyle v. Missouri Department of Corrections, (E.D. Mo. 2025).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI SOUTHEASTERN DIVISION

ANTOINE LEE BOYLE, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) Case No. 1:25-cv-00013-JSD ) MISSOURI DEPARTMENT OF ) CORRECTIONS, et al., ) ) Defendants. )

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

Self-represented Plaintiff Antoine Lee Boyle brings this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for alleged violations of his civil rights. The matter is now before the Court upon multiple motions filed by Plaintiff. First, Plaintiff seeks leave to proceed in forma pauperis, or without prepayment of the required filing fees and costs. ECF No. 2. Based on the financial information before the Court, the motion will be granted, and Plaintiff will be assessed an initial partial filing fee of $1.00. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1). Second, Plaintiff filed a motion to amend his complaint, and he attached an amended pleading. ECF No. 5. As leave to amend should be freely given, the Court will grant Plaintiff’s motion to amend and direct the Clerk of Court to docket separately the Amended Complaint in this matter. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 15. Because Plaintiff is now proceeding in forma pauperis, the Court must review his Amended Complaint under 28 U.S.C. § 1915. Based on such review, the Court will partially dismiss the Amended Complaint but will order the Clerk to issue process or cause process to be issued on Plaintiff’s Eighth Amendment deliberate indifference claim brought against Melinda Sorbello, Roxanne Rauscher, and Beth Harmon, in their individual capacities. Initial Partial Filing Fee Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1), a prisoner bringing a civil action in forma pauperis is required to pay the full amount of the filing fee. If the prisoner has insufficient funds in his or her prison account to pay the entire fee, the Court must assess and, when funds exist, collect an initial

partial filing fee of 20 percent of the greater of (1) the average monthly deposits in the prisoner’s account, or (2) the average monthly balance in the prisoner’s account for the prior six-month period. After payment of the initial partial filing fee, the prisoner is required to make monthly payments of 20 percent of the preceding month’s income credited to the prisoner’s account. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2). The agency having custody of the prisoner will forward these monthly payments to the Clerk of Court each time the amount in the prisoner’s account exceeds $10, until the filing fee is fully paid. Id. Plaintiff is a state prisoner being held at the Southeast Correctional Center (SECC) in Charleston, Missouri. ECF No. 2 at 1. Plaintiff has not submitted an inmate account statement in support of his motion to proceed without prepayment, as required by 28 U.S.C. §1915(a)(2).

However, his motion states that he has no job and no money in his prison account, but that family members occasionally send him money. Id. at 1-2. The Court notes that Plaintiff has another pending civil action in this Court in which he made a partial filing fee payment of $154.50 on September 9, 2024.1 Boyle v. Mo. Dep’t of Corrs., No. 1:24-cv-00006-CDP, ECF No. 20 (E.D. Mo. filed Jan. 17, 2024). Therefore, based on the financial information before the Court, the Court will require Plaintiff to pay an initial partial filing fee of $1.00 in this matter. See Henderson v. Norris, 129 F.3d 481, 484 (8th Cir. 1997) (explaining that when a prisoner is unable to provide the

1 The Court takes judicial notice of its records regarding these related civil proceedings. See Lockett v. United States, 333 F. App’x 143, 144 (8th Cir. 2009) (citing Chandler v. United States, 378 F.2d 906, 909-10 (9th Cir. 1967) (district court can take judicial notice of its own records, even if court records are not actually brought before judge who is asked to take such judicial notice)). court with a certified copy of his inmate account statement, the court should assess an amount “that is reasonable, based on whatever information the court has about the prisoner’s finances”). If Plaintiff is unable to pay the initial partial filing fee, he must submit a copy of his inmate account statement in support of his claim.

Legal Standard on Initial Review Under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2), the Court may dismiss a complaint filed in forma pauperis if the action is frivolous or malicious, fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, or seeks monetary relief against a defendant who is immune from such relief. When reviewing a complaint filed by a self-represented person under 28 U.S.C. § 1915, the Court accepts the well- pleaded facts as true, White v. Clark, 750 F.2d 721, 722 (8th Cir. 1984), and it liberally construes the complaint. Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 94 (2007); Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 520 (1972). A “liberal construction” means that if the essence of an allegation is discernible, the district court should construe the plaintiff’s complaint in a way that permits the claim to be considered within the proper legal framework. Solomon v. Petray, 795 F.3d 777, 787 (8th Cir. 2015).

However, even self-represented plaintiffs are required to allege facts which, if true, state a claim for relief as a matter of law. Martin v. Aubuchon, 623 F.2d 1282, 1286 (8th Cir. 1980); see also Stone v. Harry, 364 F.3d 912, 914-15 (8th Cir. 2004) (refusing to supply additional facts or to construct a legal theory for the self-represented plaintiff). To state a claim for relief, a complaint must plead more than “legal conclusions” and “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action [that are] supported by mere conclusory statements.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009). A plaintiff must demonstrate a plausible claim for relief, which is more than a “mere possibility of misconduct.” Id. at 679. “A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Id. at 678. Determining whether a complaint states a plausible claim for relief is a context-specific task that requires the reviewing court to draw on its judicial experience and common sense. Id. at 679. Plaintiff’s Pleadings

Plaintiff filed this 42 U.S.C. §

Related

Haines v. Kerner
404 U.S. 519 (Supreme Court, 1972)
Estelle v. Gamble
429 U.S. 97 (Supreme Court, 1976)
Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Servs.
436 U.S. 658 (Supreme Court, 1978)
Erickson v. Pardus
551 U.S. 89 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Ashcroft v. Iqbal
556 U.S. 662 (Supreme Court, 2009)
Martin v. Aubuchon
623 F.2d 1282 (Eighth Circuit, 1980)
Holden v. Hirner
663 F.3d 336 (Eighth Circuit, 2011)
Dulany v. Carnahan
132 F.3d 1234 (Eighth Circuit, 1997)
Johnson v. Outboard Marine Corp.
172 F.3d 531 (Eighth Circuit, 1999)
Laughlin v. Schriro
430 F.3d 927 (Eighth Circuit, 2005)
Johnson v. Hamilton
452 F.3d 967 (Eighth Circuit, 2006)
Elder-Keep v. Aksamit
460 F.3d 979 (Eighth Circuit, 2006)
Sherry Luckert v. Dodge County
684 F.3d 808 (Eighth Circuit, 2012)

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