Uribe v. Dreesen

2 DISTRICT OF NEVADA ANGELO URIBE, Case No.: 2:24-cv-01314-JAD-BNW 4 Plaintiff, 5 ORDER 5 v. FRANK DREESEN, et al., 7 Defendants.

9 On July 19, 2024, pro se plaintiff Angelo Uribe, an inmate in the custody of the Nevada Department of Corrections, submitted a pro se civil-rights complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. ECF No. 1-1. But the complaint is not signed personally by Plaintiff. And Plaintiff neither paid the full $405 filing fee nor filed an application to proceed in forma pauperis in this action. See ECF No. 1.

13 The Court will grant Plaintiff an extension of time to submit a signed amended complaint to the Court and either pay the full $405 filing fee or file a fully complete application to proceed in forma pauperis.

16 I. DISCUSSION 17 A. Plaintiff must submit a signed amended complaint to the Court.

18 “A civil action is commenced by filing a complaint with the court.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 3. “A civil-rights complaint filed by a person who is not represented by an attorney must be submitted on the form provided by this court or must be legible and contain substantially all the information called for by the court’s form.” Nev. LSR 2-1. And the complaint must be signed personally by the unrepresented party. Fed. R. Civ. P. 11(a).

23 The Court cannot consider the original complaint because Plaintiff did not personally sign it. See ECF No. 1-1. If Plaintiff wants to proceed with this action, he must file an amended complaint that is signed personally by him. Plaintiff is advised that an amended complaint replaces the original complaint, so the amended complaint must be complete in itself. See Hal Roach Studios, Inc. v. Richard Feiner & Co., 896 F.2d 1542, 1546 (9th Cir. 1989). This means the amended complaint must contain all claims, defendants, and factual allegations that Plaintiff Moreover, Plaintiff should file the amended complaint on this Court’s approved civil-rights form, and it must be titled “First Amended Complaint.”

4 B. Plaintiff must either pay the filing fee or apply for pauper status.

5 This Court must collect filing fees from parties initiating civil actions. 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a).

6 As of December 1, 2023, the fee for filing a civil-rights action is $405, which includes the $350 filing fee and the $55 administrative fee. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(b). “Any person who is unable to prepay the fees in a civil case may apply to the court for leave to proceed in forma pauperis.” Nev. LSR 1-1. For an inmate to apply for in forma pauperis status, the inmate must submit all three of the following documents to the Court: (1) a completed Application to Proceed in Forma Pauperis for Inmate, which is pages 1–3 of the Court’s approved form, that is properly signed by the inmate twice on page 3; (2) a completed Financial Certificate, which is page 4 of the Court’s approved form, that is properly signed by both the inmate and a prison or jail official; and (3) a copy of the inmate’s prison or jail trust fund account statement for the previous six-month period. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1)–(2); Nev. LSR 1-2. In forma pauperis status does not relieve an inmate of his or her obligation to pay the filing fee, it just means that the inmate can pay the fee in installments. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b).

18 II. CONCLUSION 19 It is therefore ordered that Plaintiff has until 60 days from today, to submit a signed amended complaint to this Court.

21 It is further ordered that Plaintiff has until 60 days from today, to either pay the full $405 filing fee or file a fully complete application to proceed in forma pauperis with all three required documents: (1) a completed application with the inmate’s two signatures on page 3, (2) a completed financial certificate that is signed both by the inmate and the prison or jail official, and (3) a copy of the inmate’s trust fund account statement for the previous six-month period.

26 Plaintiff is cautioned that this action will be subject to dismissal without prejudice if he fails to timely comply with this order. A dismissal without prejudice allows Plaintiff to refile the a complete application to proceed in forma pauperis or pay the required filing fee.

3 The Clerk of the Court is directed to send Plaintiff Angelo Uribe (1) the approved form for filing a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 complaint and instructions for the same and (2) an application to proceed in forma pauperis for an inmate and instructions for the same.

6 DATED THIS 22 day of July 2024.

9 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE