In Re Tyrone Noel Nunn

2 DISTRICT OF NEVADA [3] 3 IN RE TYRONE NOEL NUNN Case No.: 2:24-cv-01374-CDS-BNW [4] 5 ORDER [6] 7 On July 26, 2024, pro se plaintiff Tyrone Noel Nunn, an inmate in the custody of the [7] 8 Nevada Department of Corrections, submitted documents titled “Civil Paliminairy Examination,” [8] 9 Small Claims Demand Letter,” a second “Small Claims Demand Letter,” and “Prevailing [9] 10 Scriptous.” ECF Nos. 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 1-4. Neither document constitutes a complaint. And Nunn has [10] 11 neither paid the full $405 filing fee for a civil action nor applied to proceed in forma pauperis. See [11] 12 ECF No. 1. Nunn is a frequent litigator in this District and the Court has repeatedly reminded him [12] 13 that to initiate a civil action, he must file a single, complete and signed complaint with all the [13] 14 information called for by the Court’s approved form and either pay the required filing fee or file a [14] 15 complete application to proceed in forma pauperis. The Court will grant Nunn an extension of [15] 16 time to correct the several defects with his initiating documents. [16] 17 I. DISCUSSION [17] 18 A. Nunn must file a single, complete and signed complaint. [18] 19 “A civil action is commenced by filing a complaint with the court.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 3. [19] 20 Generally, a complaint must contain “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the [20] 21 [plaintiff] is entitled to relief” and “a demand for the relief sought, which may include relief in the [21] 22 alternative or different types of relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8. “A civil-rights complaint filed by a person [22] 23 who is not represented by an attorney must be submitted on the form provided by this court or [23] 24 must be legible and contain substantially all the information called for by the court’s form.” Nev. [24] 25 LSR 2-1. And the complaint must be signed personally by the unrepresented party. Fed. R. Civ. P. [25] 26 11(a). Furthermore, a party must state its claims or defenses in numbered paragraphs, each limited [26] 27 as far as practicable to a single set of circumstances.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 10(b). And “each claim [27] 28 founded on a separate transaction or occurrence . . . must be stated in a separate count.” Id. [28] 2 involving the same subject matter at the same time in the same court and against the same [2] 3 defendant.’” Adams v. Cal. Dept. of Health Servs., 487 F.3d 684 , 688 (9th Cir. 2007), overruled [3] 4 on other grounds by Taylor v. Sturgell, 553 U.S. 880 (2008), (quoting Walton v. Eaton Corp., 563 [4] 5 F.2d 66, 70 (3d Cir. 1977)). And duplicative litigation by a litigant who is proceeding under in [5] 6 forma pauperis status can be dismissed as malicious and thus constitute a strike under the Prison [6] 7 Litigation Reform Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1915 . See Cato v. United States, 70 F.3d 1103 , 1105 n.2 (9th [7] 8 Cir. 1995). [8] 9 It is not clear whether any of the documents that Nunn filed are intended to constitute a [9] 10 complaint. None of the documents have all the necessary elements to constitute a complaint. So [10] 11 the Court does not accept any of the filed documents as an operative complaint in this case. The [11] 12 Court gives Nunn an extension of time to file a single complaint that complies with these rules and [12] 13 indicates the claims and defendants that he is pursuing in this case. The Court reiterates for Nunn’s [13] 14 benefit that he may not bring multiple different complaints in a single case. Nor may he bring the [14] 15 same complaint in multiple different cases. Rather, Nunn must bring a single, unique complaint in [15] 16 each of his cases. [16] 17 B. Nunn must either pay the $405 filing fee or apply for in forma pauperis status. [17] 18 This Court must collect filing fees from parties initiating civil actions. 28 U.S.C. § 1914 (a). [18] 19 As of December 1, 2023, the fee for filing a civil-rights action is $405, which includes the $350 [19] 20 filing fee and the $55 administrative fee. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914 (b). “Any person who is unable to [20] 21 prepay the fees in a civil case may apply to the court for leave to proceed in forma pauperis.” Nev. [21] 22 LSR 1-1. For an inmate to apply for in forma pauperis status, the inmate must submit all three of [22] 23 the following documents to the Court: (1) a completed Application to Proceed in Forma [23] 24 Pauperis for Inmate, which is pages 1–3 of the Court’s approved form, that is properly signed by [24] 25 the inmate twice on page 3; (2) a completed Financial Certificate, which is page 4 of the Court’s [25] 26 approved form, that is properly signed by both the inmate and a prison or jail official; and (3) a [26] 27 copy of the inmate’s prison or jail trust fund account statement for the previous six-month [27] 28 period. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915 (a)(1)–(2); Nev. LSR 1-2. In forma pauperis status does not relieve [28] 1| an inmate of his or her obligation to pay the filing fee, it just means that the inmate can pay the fee 9| in installments. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915 (b). 3} IL CONCLUSION 4 It is therefore ordered that Nunn has until September 2, 2024, to file a single, complete 5| and signed complaint stating the claims and defendants that he is pursuing in this action. 6 It is further ordered that Nunn has until September 2, 2024, to either pay the full $405 7| 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, □□□ □ 9| completed financial certificate that is signed both by the inmate and the prison or jail official, and 10| (3) acopy of the inmate’s trust fund account statement for the previous six-month period. 11 Nunn is cautioned that this action will be subject to dismissal if he fails to timely comply 12| with this order. 13 The Clerk of the Court is directed to send plaintiff Tyrone Nunn the approved form for 14| filing a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 complaint and instructions for the same and the approved form 15| application to proceed in forma pauperis for an inmate and instructions for the same. '6 DATED: August 2, 2024 [18] ° on renlenechst pase