Green v. Garrott

71 F.R.D. 680, 1976 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13717
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Missouri
DecidedAugust 9, 1976
DocketNo. 76 CV 135 C
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 71 F.R.D. 680 (Green v. Garrott) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Green v. Garrott, 71 F.R.D. 680, 1976 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13717 (W.D. Mo. 1976).

Opinion

ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF LEAVE TO PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPER-IS AND ORDER DISMISSING CAUSE WITHOUT PREJUDICE

ELMO B. HUNTER, District Judge.

On July 2, 1976, plaintiff submitted his pro se pleading which was obviously intended to serve as a complaint in an action for damages under the federal Civil Rights Statutes. As plaintiff did not accompany his pleading with the $15.00 filing fee required by 28 U.S.C. § 1914 and Local Rule 4 of this Court, it was assumed that plaintiff desired to proceed with his civil action in forma pauperis under the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 1915. Accordingly, the plaintiff’s pleading was filed provisionally, assigned a civil action number, and submitted to the undersigned judge pursuant to the general Order of the Court en banc of December 3, 1968.

Under the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 1915, the Court is authorized to allow the commencement of a civil action without prepayment of fees and costs or the giving of security therefor where the potential plaintiff is an indigent who has filed an affidavit that he is unable to pay such costs or give security therefor. However, the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 1915(d) also permit a Court to dismiss a case if the allegation of poverty is untrue or if the action is frivolous or malicious. Therefore, it is this Court’s practice to make preliminary determinations that a plaintiff is indeed unable to pay a filing fee and that the prospective claims to be litigated are substantial and not merely colorable and frivolous. See Carey v. Settle, 351 F.2d 483 (8th Cir. 1965); Rhodes v. Houston, 258 F.Supp. 546 (D.C.Neb.1966), aff’d, 418 F.2d 1309 (8th Cir. 1969).

To aid the Court with these determinations under 28 U.S.C. § 1915 an Order was entered July 19,1976, directing the plaintiff 1) to submit his complaints on forms adopted by the Court en banc on October 28, 1975, for use in prisoner civil rights actions and 2) to complete an affidavit and questionnaire relating to his financial status. Pursuant to the Order of July 19th, plaintiff was provided with blank copies of the complaint forms, blank copies of the affidavit and questionnaire forms, and a set of detailed instructions on how to complete and return all forms. Those instructions state in pertinent part:

To commence an action you must submit the original and two copies of the completed complaint form to the Clerk of the United States District Court. You should also make a fourth copy of the complaint and keep it for your own records. .
In order for your complaint to receive consideration by the Court, it must conform to these instructions and to these forms.
THE COMPLAINT AND AFFIDAVITS SHOULD NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, CONTAIN LEGAL ARGUMENTS OR CITATIONS TO AUTHORITY. Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the function of a complaint, whether it is drawn by the plaintiff himself or by an attorney, is to set forth the facts on which the plaintiff relies for recovery, (emphasis in the original).

The Court’s Order of July 19, 1976, directing plaintiff to submit his complaints on forms stated in part:

In order for plaintiff’s provisionally filed action to receive further consideration by the Court, the enclosed forms [682]*682must be completed fully in writing (legibly handwritten or typewritten), signed by the plaintiff and verified (notarized), and shall set forth in concise manner the answers to each applicable question. Plaintiff will note that the answers requested from him are facts. Plaintiff is directed to read the instructions accompanying this Order carefully, paying close attention to the impropriety of making legal arguments or citations to legal authority in the complaint itself.

On July 26, 1976, plaintiff responded to the Court’s Order of July 19th by filing one copy of a complaint form and one copy of an affidavit and questionnaire form. Plaintiff did not submit two additional completed copies of the complaint form as required by the instructions. In response to Part IV of the complaint form, which asks that a plaintiff state the facts of his claim,1 plaintiff attached extra sheets of paper consisting of a verbatim copy of his original pro se pleading, and in the blank space provided in Part IV for plaintiff to set forth the facts surrounding his claims plaintiff stated:

THE PLAINTIFF IS FILLING OUT ONE COPY TO SEND TO THE COURT, WITH THE SAME ALLEGATIONS AS THE ORIGINAL PLEADINGS. THERE WILL NOT BE CARBON COPIES MADE FOR TWO REASONS: FIRST, IT WOULD COST THE PLAINTIFF ABOUT 20$ FOR COST OF THE PAPER, AND IT IS A TOTAL WASTE OF MONEY, AND SECONDLY THE PLAINTIFF WOULD HAVE TO SPEND AN ADDITIONAL 52$ FOR POSTAGE. SINCE THE COURT HQS (sic) THE ORIGINAL PLEADINGS IT IS STUPID TO SEND MORE THAN ONE COPY BACK WITH THE SAME IDENTICAL FACTS. IT IS AGAINST THE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS OF THE PLAINTIFF TO WASTE MONEY ON STUPID AND RIDICULOUS THINGS THAT HAVE NO SENSE OR REASON. THIS COURT FORM IS THUS RIDICULOUS AND STUPID, WHOSE ONLY PURPOSE IS TO FRUSTRATE PRISONERS WHO FILE COURT ACTIONS. (Emphasis by plaintiff.)

Additionally in response to Part II of the complaint form, which asks that a plaintiff set forth the style, number, citation if known, date of filing, disposition, etc. of any previous civil action in state or federal courts “dealing with the same facts involved in this action or otherwise relating to your confinement”, plaintiff stated:

This question is immaterial and irrevelant (sic) to this case, as all cases must be given individual attention.

Because plaintiff has refused to fully and properly answer the questions set forth in the complaint forms and because plaintiff has refused to supply the Court with three copies of the completed complaint forms, plaintiff’s form complaint will be stricken from the files in this cause as totally nonresponsive to the Court’s Order of July 19, 1976. Contrary to plaintiff’s expressed belief that the Court forms prescribed for use in prisoner civil rights actions are “ridiculous and stupid, whose only purpose is to frustrate prisoners who file court actions”, the forms are designed and intended to benefit both potential plaintiffs and the Court by achieving prompt and efficient disposition and resolution of civil actions filed by prisoners who challenge the conditions of their confinement.

This Court, with jurisdiction over matters raised by inmates of the Missouri State Penitentiary and almost all other facilities of the Missouri Department of Corrections, has experienced a vastly increasing volume of prisoner civil rights actions in recent [683]*683years.

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Bluebook (online)
71 F.R.D. 680, 1976 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13717, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/green-v-garrott-mowd-1976.