court must 19 construe the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff
How later courts described this case
- court must 19 construe the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff
- court 18 must accept the allegations as true
- “[n]ormally, an amended complaint 25 supersedes the original complaint”
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
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8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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11 JEAN MARC VAN DEN HEUVEL, No. 2:19-cv-01520 TLN AC (PS)
12 Plaintiff,
13 v. ORDER
14 GARY MALMQUIST, et al.,
15 Defendants.
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17 Plaintiff is proceeding in this action pro se. This matter was accordingly referred to the
18 undersigned by E.D. Cal. 302(c)(21). Plaintiff has filed a request for leave to proceed in forma
19 pauperis (“IFP”), and has submitted the affidavit required by that statute. See 28 U.S.C.
20 § 1915(a)(1). The motion to proceed IFP will therefore be granted.
21 I. SCREENING
22 The federal IFP statute requires federal courts to dismiss a case if the action is legally
23 “frivolous or malicious,” fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or seeks
24 monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2).
25 Plaintiff must assist the court in determining whether or not the complaint is frivolous, by drafting
26 the complaint so that it complies with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (“Fed. R. Civ. P.”).
27 The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are available online at www.uscourts.gov/rules-
28 policies/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure.
1 Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the complaint must contain (1) a “short and
2 plain statement” of the basis for federal jurisdiction (that is, the reason the case is filed in this
3 court, rather than in a state court), (2) a short and plain statement showing that plaintiff is entitled
4 to relief (that is, who harmed the plaintiff, and in what way), and (3) a demand for the relief
5 sought. Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a). Plaintiff’s claims must be set forth simply, concisely and directly.
6 Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(d)(1). Forms are available to help pro se plaintiffs organize their complaint in
7 the proper way. They are available at the Clerk’s Office, 501 I Street, 4th Floor (Rm. 4-200),
8 Sacramento, CA 95814, or online at www.uscourts.gov/forms/pro-se-forms.
9 A claim is legally frivolous when it lacks an arguable basis either in law or in fact.
10 Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 325 (1989). In reviewing a complaint under this standard, the
11 court will (1) accept as true all of the factual allegations contained in the complaint, unless they
12 are clearly baseless or fanciful, (2) construe those allegations in the light most favorable to the
13 plaintiff, and (3) resolve all doubts in the plaintiff’s favor. See Neitzke, 490 U.S. at 327; Von
14 Saher v. Norton Simon Museum of Art at Pasadena, 592 F.3d 954, 960 (9th Cir. 2010), cert.
15 denied, 564 U.S. 1037 (2011).
16 The court applies the same rules of construction in determining whether the complaint
17 states a claim on which relief can be granted. Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 94 (2007) (court
18 must accept the allegations as true); Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236 (1974) (court must
19 construe the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff). Pro se pleadings are held to a
20 less stringent standard than those drafted by lawyers. Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 520
21 (1972). However, the court need not accept as true conclusory allegations, unreasonable
22 inferences, or unwarranted deductions of fact. Western Mining Council v. Watt, 643 F.2d 618,
23 624 (9th Cir. 1981). A formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action does not suffice
24 to state a claim. Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555-57 (2007); Ashcroft v. Iqbal,
25 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009).
26 To state a claim on which relief may be granted, the plaintiff must allege enough facts “to
27 state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570. “A claim has
28 facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the
1 reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at
2 678. A pro se litigant is entitled to notice of the deficiencies in the complaint and an opportunity
3 to amend, unless the complaint’s deficiencies could not be cured by amendment. See Noll v.
4 Carlson, 809 F.2d 1446, 1448 (9th Cir. 1987), superseded on other grounds by statute as stated in
5 Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122 (9th Cir.2000)) (en banc).
6 A. The Complaint
7 Plaintiff filed a 221-page complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, but the complaint is
8 entirely incomprehensible. The language used in the compliant and the vast multitude of
9 muddled facts makes it impossible for the court to summarize the contents. ECF No. 1. The
10 complaint contains many attachments, including documents from various prior court proceedings
11 and written notes from the plaintiff. Id.
12 B. Analysis
13 The complaint does not contain a “short and plain” statement setting forth the basis for
14 federal jurisdiction, plaintiff’s entitlement to relief, or the relief that is sought, even though those
15 things are required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(1)-(3). The exact nature of what happened to plaintiff
16 is obscured by the complaint, which contains apparently disconnected events and circumstances.
17 The court cannot tell from examining the complaint what legal wrong was done to plaintiff, by
18 whom and when, or how any alleged harm is connected to the relief plaintiff seeks.
19 Accordingly, the complaint cannot be served. Rather than immediately recommending
20 dismissal of the action, the undersigned will provide plaintiff an opportunity to amend his
21 complaint to allege a proper basis for jurisdiction and facts supporting a cognizable cause of
22 action.
23 II. AMENDING THE COMPLAINT
24 If plaintiff chooses to amend the complaint, the amended complaint must allege facts
25 establishing the existence of federal jurisdiction. In addition, it must contain a short and plain
26 statement of plaintiff’s claims. The allegations of the complaint must be set forth in sequentially
27 numbered paragraphs, with each paragraph number being one greater than the one before, each
28 paragraph having its own number, and no paragraph number being repeated anywhere in the
1 complaint. Each paragraph should be limited “to a single set of circumstances” where
2 possible. Rule 10(b). As noted above, forms are available to help plaintiffs organize their
3 complaint in the proper way. They are available at the Clerk’s Office, 501 I Street, 4th Floor
4 (Rm. 4-200), Sacramento, CA 95814, or online at www.uscourts.gov/forms/pro-se-forms.
5 Because plaintiff’s original complaint is so excessively long, the amended complaint shall be
6 limited to 25 pages.
7 Plaintiff must avoid excessive repetition of the same allegations. Plaintiff must avoid
8 narrative and storytelling. That is, the complaint should not include every detail of what
9 happened, nor recount the details of conversations (unless necessary to establish the claim), nor
10 give a running account of plaintiff’s hopes and thoughts. Rather, the amended complaint should
11 contain only those facts needed to show how the defendant legally wronged the plaintiff.
12 The amended complaint must not force the court and the defendants to guess at what is
13 being alleged against whom. See McHenry v. Renne, 84 F.3d 1172, 1177 (9th Cir. 1996)
14 (affirming dismissal of a complaint where the district court was “literally guessing as to what
15 facts support the legal claims being asserted against certain defendants”). The amended
16 complaint must not require the court to spend its time “preparing the ‘short and plain statement’
17 which Rule 8 obligated plaintiffs to submit.” Id. at 1180. The amended complaint must not
18 require the court and defendants to prepare lengthy outlines “to determine who is being sued for
19 what.” Id. at 1179.
20 Also, the amended complaint must not refer to a prior pleading in order to make plaintiff’s
21 amended complaint complete. An amended complaint must be complete in itself without
22 reference to any prior pleading. Local Rule 220. This is because, as a general rule, an amended
23 complaint supersedes the original complaint. See Pacific Bell Tel. Co. v. Linkline
24 Communications, Inc., 555 U.S. 438, 456 n.4 (2009) (“[n]ormally, an amended complaint
25 supersedes the original complaint”) (citing 6 C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice &
26 Procedure § 1476, pp. 556-57 (2d ed. 1990)). Therefore, in an amended complaint, as in an
27 original complaint, each claim and the involvement of each defendant must be sufficiently
28 alleged.
1 IH. PRO SE PLAINTIFF’S SUMMARY
2 It is not clear that this case can proceed in federal court. The court cannot tell from your
3 || complaint what legal harm was done to you. Because the complaint as written does not complaint
4 | ashort and plain statement of facts supporting legal causes of action, it will not be served on
5 | defendants. Your amended complaint can be no longer than 25 pages long. Your lawsuit
6 || cannot proceed unless you fix the problems with your complaint.
7 You are being given 30 days to submit an amended complaint that provides a proper basis
8 | for federal jurisdiction. If you submit an amended complaint, it needs to explain in simple terms
9 | what laws or legal rights of yours were violated, by whom and how, and how those violations
10 || impacted you. Without this information, the court cannot tell what legal claims you are trying to
11 | bring against the defendants. If you do not submit an amended complaint by the deadline, the
12 || undersigned will recommend that the case be dismissed.
13 IV. CONCLUSION
14 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:
15 1. Plaintiff’s request to proceed in forma pauperis (ECF No. 2) is GRANTED;
16 2. Plaintiff shall have 30 days from the date of this order to file an amended complaint which
17 complies with the instructions given above, including the 25-page length limit. If plaintiff
18 fails to timely comply with this order, the undersigned may recommend that this action be
19 dismissed.
20 || DATED: September 3, 2019 ~
21 HMtan—Chone
ALLISON CLAIRE
22 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
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