Westbrook v. Patel

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI EASTERN DIVISION

FREDERICK WESTBROOK, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) No. 4:24-cv-01324-MTS ) BHUMI PATEL, et al., ) ) Defendants. )

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER This matter is before the Court upon a handwritten complaint from self-represented Plaintiff Frederick Westbrook, received by the Court on October 3, 2024. Doc. [1]. The complaint is defective because it has not been drafted on a Court-provided form. See E.D. Mo. L.R. 2.06(A) (“All actions brought by self-represented plaintiffs or petitioners should be filed on Court-provided forms”). Additionally, Plaintiff has neither paid the $405 filing fee nor filed an application to proceed in the district court without prepaying fees or costs. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a); see also Ashley v. Dilworth, 147 F.3d 715, 716 (8th Cir. 1998) (per curiam) (explaining federal law “require[s] all prisoner-litigants to pay filing fees in full, with the only issue being whether the inmate pays the entire filing fee at the initiation of the proceeding or in installments over a period of time”). If Plaintiff fails to comply with this Order, the Court will dismiss this action without prejudice and without further notice. Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Clerk is directed to mail to Plaintiff (1) a copy of the Court’s prisoner civil rights complaint form and (2) a copy of the application to proceed in district court without prepaying fees or costs. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff must either pay the $405 filing fee in full or submit the application to proceed in district court without prepaying fees or costs no later than Wednesday, December 11, 2024. IT IS FINALLY ORDERED that Plaintiff must file an amended complaint on the Court-provided form no later than Wednesday, December 11, 2024. Dated this 20th day of November 2024. □□ od HEW T. SCHELP UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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