Darden v. St. Louis Sheriffs Dept.

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI EASTERN DIVISION DOMINIQUE DEANGELO DARDEN, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) No. 4:22-cv-00956-AGF ) ST. LOUIS SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT, ) et al., ) ) Defendants. ) MEMORANDUM AND ORDER This prisoner civil rights matter is before the Court on its own motion. On nearly a daily basis, plaintiff Dominique Deangelo Darden has been mailing substances to the Clerk’s office wrapped in small pieces of paper or plastic. These items include food and other unidentifiable substances. For security reasons, each package must be searched and evaluated by the United States Marshals Service. This causes a disruption of the ordinary operation of the Court. Additionally, the Court has determined that these substances are irrelevant to any of plaintiff’s allegations in this pending civil case brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §1983.

For these reasons, the Court will order plaintiff to stop mailing substances to the Court, including food and other materials, and to stop wrapping his filings in plastic. If plaintiff continues to send substances to the Court in violation of this order, the Court may use its inherent power to sanction plaintiff. See Chambers v. NASCO, Inc., 501 U.S. 32, 44 (1991) (“[I]t 1s firmly established that the power to punish for contempts is inherent in all courts.) (internal quotation omitted).

Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiff shall not mail to the Court any food or other substances with his filings and shall not wrap any filings in plastic. The Court will only accept paper filings from plaintiff.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that if plaintiff fails to comply with this order, the Court may enter sanctions against him for failure to comply with a court order.

Dated this 27" day of October, 2022.

AUDREY G. te ( UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE _2-