FREEZE
v.
SAWYER
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The court held that the plaintiffs' motion was an improper commencement of a civil action and was subject to dismissal for failure to pay the filing fee or file a motion to proceed in forma pauperis.
Plaintiffs, civilly committed individuals, filed a motion to file federal charges against defendants based on an FCCC policy prohibiting mail communic…
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KANNER, JEREMY BARR and CHAD POPPELL,
Defendants. /
OPINION AND ORDER1
Plaintiffs initiated this action by filing a Motion to File Federal Charges Against Defendants (Doc. 1) on August 22, 2019. Plaintiffs are civilly committed to the Florida Civilly Commitment Center (FCCC) and request the Court to “file federal charges” against the defendants on the basis that an FCCC policy prohibits them from communicating by mail with a former FCCC resident. (Id at 3, ¶ 7). Plaintiffs do not identify upon which federal statute “federal charges” should be brought. (See generally Id.).
Thus, the fact that a hyperlink ceases to work or directs the user to some other site does not affect the opinion of the Court. At the outset, Plaintiffs have improperly commenced this action. A civil action “is commenced by filing a complaint with the court.” Fed. R. Civ. P.
3. To the extent that
Plaintiffs wishe to initiate a civil rights complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the Court has approved the use of a civil rights complaint form for cases filed by FCCC residents pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Should Plaintiffs wish to properly initiate an action by filing
a complaint stemming from the alleged “federal” violations committed by the defendants, they should file a complaint using the enclosed form.
Additionally, Plaintiffs are required to initiate their own complaint. They cannot file a joint complaint if they wish to proceed in forma pauperis. Even of the Court construes the Motion as a complaint it is nonetheless subject to dismissal. Plaintiffs did not accompany the filing of the complaint with the $400.00 filing fee or a request to proceed in forma pauperis. The Court in its August 26, 2019 Standing Order cautioned Plaintiffs that, pursuant to his M.D. Fla. R. 1.03(e), this case would be dismissed if either the filing fee or a motion to proceed in forma pauperis was not filed within thirty (30) days from the date the action was commenced. (See Doc. 4, ¶ 2).2 M.D.
Fla. R. 1.02(b)(1). Accordingly, it is hereby ORDERED:
1. This case is DISMISSED without prejudice.
Nonetheless, the Court as a courtesy extends the thirty 30-day period to residents at the FCCC.
2. If Plaintiffs wish to prosecute an action in connection with the allegations set forth in the Motion, they are required to individually initiate a new action by filing a new complaint on the enclosed civil rights complaint form. They should not use this case number on the complaint form. Plaintiffs each shall accompany the complaint form with the requisite $400.00 filing fee or a motion to proceed in forma pauperis with a copy of their resident account statement.
3. The Clerk shall provide the above forms to Plaintiffs with this Order, enter judgment dismissing this case without prejudice, and close the file.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
DONE and ORDERED in Fort Myers, Florida this 2nd day of October, 2019.
SA: FTMP-1 Copies: All Parties of Record