Felder v. GEO Group

Background

Marcus Dieter Felder, an inmate at Santa Rita Jail, filed this case without a lawyer. On September 21, 2023, the court dismissed the case and entered judgment because Felder had not paid the filing fee or filed a complete application to proceed without paying the fee. Felder later filed a request to reopen the case, a first amended complaint, and a complete fee-waiver application.

Reopening the Case

The court had previously stated that the dismissal did not prevent Felder from asking to reopen the case if he corrected the filing-fee or fee-waiver problem. Because Felder filed a complete application, the court granted his request to reopen the case. It directed the clerk to cancel the earlier dismissal order and related judgment and to reopen the action. The court separately granted Felder permission to proceed without paying the filing fee.

Screening the Amended Complaint

Because Felder is a prisoner seeking relief from a governmental entity or its personnel, the court was required to conduct an initial review under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A. That review requires dismissal of claims that are frivolous, malicious, inadequately pleaded, or seek money from a defendant who is legally immune. The court also explained that complaints filed without a lawyer are read liberally, but they still must give defendants fair notice of the claims.

The court said the first amended complaint did not specify whom Felder intended to sue. It referred to GEO staff members Iniabasi Ituen, Faluse Odunayo, and Leroy Mayo, but did not say whether Felder intended to sue all three, only some of them, or GEO Group. The complaint also contained numbers throughout, and the court could not tell whether they identified separate paragraphs, incidents, or legal claims. Because the complaint did not clearly identify the defendants and legal causes of action, the court dismissed the first amended complaint with leave to amend.

Instructions for Further Amendment

The court directed Felder to use the court's complaint form when preparing a second amended complaint. For each claim, he must identify the constitutional provision or federal law allegedly violated, the individual who allegedly violated it, and what that individual allegedly did or failed to do. The second amended complaint must include all claims and defendants Felder wishes to pursue and may not incorporate material from earlier complaints by reference.

The court gave Felder 28 days from the date of the order to file the second amended complaint. The filing had to use the case caption and number specified in the order and include the words “SECOND AMENDED COMPLAINT” on its first page. The court warned that failure to file a compliant second amended complaint within the deadline would result in dismissal of the action without further notice. The order granted the request to reopen, vacated the earlier dismissal and judgment, and dismissed the first amended complaint with leave to amend.