Wilson v. Dzurenda

1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 2 DISTRICT OF NEVADA Matthew Travis Houston and Jerry Wilson, Case No.: 2:25-cv-01737-APG 4 Plaintiffs Order Dismissing Plaintiff Houston from this Action and Instructing Remaining v. Plaintiff How to Proceed James Dzurenda, et al., [ECF No. 1] 7 Defendants

9 I. DISCUSSION 10 Plaintiffs Matthew Travis Houston and Jerry Wilson, who are in the custody of the Nevada Department of Corrections (NDOC), have attempted to initiate a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action together. Wilson and Houston have filed a joint application to proceed in forma pauperis that contains an application completed by Wilson and Houston and a financial certificate and inmate accounting statement from Wilson. ECF No. 1. The civil rights complaint includes documents recycled from several of Houston’s other cases with some blue line additions attempting to alter the allegations. See, e.g., ECF No. 1-1 at 4, 8–11, 14, 20. Wilson and Houston both signed the complaint. Id. at 21. I dismiss Houston because he has not satisfied his restricted-filer, vexatious litigant requirements; deny the application to proceed in forma pauperis as incomplete; dismiss the complaint without prejudice; and give Wilson leave to amend.

20 A. Houston is a vexatious litigant.

21 As he is aware, Houston is subject to a vexatious litigant pre-filing order issued by Judge Dorsey. See Houston v. Encore Event Technologies, et al., 2:22-cv-01740-JAD-EJY, ECF No. 30. Under that order, before Houston can file a new action in this court “using any pages he has already filed in another case,” he must satisfy three conditions: 3 • Apply to the Chief Judge of this district for leave to file the document by submitting to the clerk’s office an application bearing the title “Application to 4 Chief District Judge Seeking Leave to File.” • Support that application with a declaration from Houston, made 5 under penalty of perjury, stating that: (1) the matters asserted in the new complaint or petition are different from those asserted in the actions he has 6 previously filed in this district; (2) the new claim or claims are not frivolous or made in bad faith; (3) he has conducted a reasonable investigation of the facts and 7 such investigation supports the claim or claims. • Attach a copy of Judge Dorsey’s order.

9 Id. at 8. “[T]he Clerk of Court is authorized to reject, refuse to file, and discard any new case- commencement document submitted without prior compliance with [that] order.” Id. at 9.

11 Houston has not satisfied any of these conditions in this case. Instead, he attempts to bypass those requirements by filing a lawsuit with another inmate who has not been deemed a vexatious litigant. This is at least the third time Houston has engaged in such tactics. Because Houston has not complied with the pre-filing order, I dismiss or deny all documents filed by Houston and those filed on his behalf, without prejudice. Additionally, I dismiss Houston from this action without prejudice for failing to comply with the pre-filing order requirements.

17 B. Wilson may continue with this lawsuit.

18 Because Wilson is not subject to a vexatious litigant pre-filing order, he may proceed with this lawsuit if he so chooses. But before this action can proceed, Wilson must satisfy the matter of the filing fee and file an amended complaint.

21 1. Filing fee issue 22 The United States District Court for the District of Nevada must collect filing fees from parties initiating civil actions. 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a). 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. Loc. R. Prac. 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: 6 1. A completed Application to Proceed in Forma Pauperis for Inmate, which is 7 pages 1–3 of the court’s approved form, that is properly signed by the inmate 8 twice on page 3; 9 2. A completed Financial Certificate, which is page 4 of the court’s approved form, 10 that is properly signed by both the inmate and a prison or jail official; and 11 3. A copy of the inmate’s prison or jail trust fund account statement for the 12 previous six-month period.

13 See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1), (2); Nev. Loc. R. Prac. LSR 1-2. In forma pauperis status does not relieve an inmate of their 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).

16 I deny the application to proceed in forma pauperis without prejudice as incomplete. ECF No. 1. If Wilson wants to pursue this lawsuit, he may either pay the $405 filing fee in full or file his own individual application to proceed in forma pauperis.

19 2. Amended complaint 20 I dismiss the complaint (ECF No. 1-1) without prejudice but grant Wilson leave to file an amended complaint. If Wilson chooses to file an amended complaint, he may not attempt to litigate any issues on behalf of Houston and may only include allegations pertaining to himself.

23 And he will have to personally sign the amended complaint. Although pro se litigants have the right to plead and conduct their own cases personally, they have no authority to represent anyone other than themselves. See 28 U.S.C. § 1654; Cato v. United States, 70 F.3d 1103, 1105 n.1 (9th Cir. 1995); C.E. Pope Equity Trust v. United States, 818 F.2d 696, 697 (9th Cir. 1987).

4 If Wilson chooses to file an amended complaint, he is advised that an amended complaint replaces the complaint filed before it, so an amended complaint must be complete in itself. See Hal Roach Studios, Inc. v. Richard Feiner & Co., Inc., 896 F.2d 1542, 1546 (9th Cir. 1989). The amended complaint must contain all claims, defendants, and factual allegations that Wilson wishes to pursue in this lawsuit. He should file the amended complaint on this court’s approved prisoner civil rights form and mark the box “First Amended Complaint.” Alternatively, Wilson may file a notice under Rule 41(a)(1)(A)(i) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure voluntarily dismissing this action. If he does neither of these things, this case will be dismissed and closed.

12 II. CONCLUSION 13 I THEREFORE ORDER that Plaintiff Matthew Travis Houston is dismissed without prejudice from this case for failing to comply with this court’s vexatious litigant pre-filing order.

15 I FURTHER ORDER that the application to proceed in forma pauperis (ECF No. 1) is denied without prejudice as incomplete.

17 I FURTHER ORDER that the complaint (ECF No. 1-1) is dismissed without prejudice and with leave to amend for only Jerry Wilson.

19 I FURTHER ORDER that Jerry Wilson has until November 3, 2025 to either pay the full $405 filing fee or file a fully complete individual 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.

3 I FURTHER ORDER that Jerry Wilson has until November 3, 2025 to file an amended complaint that contains allegations pertaining to only himself. If he chooses to file an amended complaint, he should use the approved form and mark “First Amended Complaint” in the 6] caption. If he does not file an amended complaint by then, this case will be dismissed without 7\| preyudice and closed. A dismissal without prejudice allows him to refile the case under a new 8|| case number when he can file a complete application to proceed in forma pauperis or pay the 9] required filing fee and submit a proper complaint.

10 The Clerk of the Court will (1) add Jerry D. Wilson, 1225067, High Desert State Prison, Box 650, Indian Springs, NV 89070-0650, to the docket as a plaintiff; and (2) send plaintiff Jerry Wilson the approved form for filing a § 1983 complaint with instructions, a copy of the original complaint (ECF No. 1-1), and the approved form application to proceed in forma pauperis for an inmate with instructions.

15 Dated: September 18, 2025 16 GA Andrew P. Gordon 17 Chief United States District Judge