FORM TO BE USED BY A PRISONER IN FILING A COMPLAINT UNDER THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT, 42 U.S.C. § 1983 Instructions for Filing a Complaint by a Prisoner Under the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1983 The clerk of the court will not file your complaint unless it conforms to the following instructions. IF YOU ARE IN THE CUSTODY OF THE MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS: To start an action, you must file an original complaint and one copy for the court. All copies of the complaint must be identical to the original. If you are providing exhibits, you must file two copies with your complaint. You also should keep a copy of the complaint and exhibits for your own records. If the court determines that the complaint should be served on one or more defendant, the court will specifically order you to provide further copies for this purpose. Until ordered to do so, do not submit to the court copies of the complaint or exhibits for purposes of service on the defendants. IF YOU ARE NOT IN THE CUSTODY OF THE MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS: To start an action, you must file an original complaint, one copy for the court and an additional copy for each defendant. All copies of the complaint must be identical to the original. If you are providing exhibits, you must file a copy for each of the defendants. You also should keep a copy of the complaint and exhibits for your own records. INSTRUCTIONS FOR ALL FILERS: In order for this complaint to be filed, it must be accompanied by the filing fee of $350.00. In addition, the United States Marshal will require you to pay the cost of serving the complaint on each of the defendants. If you are unable to prepay the filing fee and service costs for this action, you must petition the court to proceed in forma pauperis by completing and signing the attached affidavit in support of application. You must also have an authorized officer at the penal institution complete the certificate as to the amount of money and securities on deposit to your credit in any account in the institution. If the court grants you leave to proceed in forma pauperis, you will still be required to pay the $350.00 filing fee through an initial partial filing fee and through monthly installments. Your complaint must be legibly handwritten or typewritten. You, the plaintiff(s), must sign and date the complaint on the last page. If you need additional space to completely answer a question, you must attach additional pages. Your complaint can be brought in this court only if one or more of the named defendants is located within this district. Further, you must file a separate complaint for each claim that you have unless they are all related to the same incident or issue. You are required to furnish, so that the United States Marshal can complete service, the correct name and address of each person you have named as defendant. A PLAINTIFF IS REQUIRED TO GIVE INFORMATION TO THE UNITED STATES MARSHAL TO ENABLE THE MARSHAL TO COMPLETE SERVICE OF THE COMPLAINT UPON ALL PERSONS NAMED AS DEFENDANTS. You will note that you are required to give facts. THIS COMPLAINT SHOULD NOT CONTAIN LEGAL ARGUMENTS OR CITATIONS. When these forms are completed, mail the original and copies to the Clerk of the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan at any of the addresses below: U.S. District Court 399 Federal Building 110 Michigan St., NW Grand Rapids, MI 49503 U.S. District Court 229 Federal Building P.O. Box 698 Marquette, MI 49855 U.S. District Court B-35 Federal Building 410 W. Michigan Ave. Kalamazoo, MI 49007 U.S. District Court 113 Federal Building 315 W. Allegan Lansing, MI 48933 (Last Revised: January 2007) American LegalNet, Inc. www.FormsWorkflow.com In the United States District Court For the Western District of Michigan (Enter above the full names of all plaintiffs, including prisoner number, in this action.) v. (Enter above the full name of the defendant or defendants in this action.) COMPLAINT I. Previous Lawsuits CAUTION: The Prison Litigation Reform Act has resulted in substantial changes in the ability of incarcerated individuals to initiate lawsuits in this and other federal courts without prepayment of the required $350 filing fee. Accurate and complete responses are required concerning your litigation history. Generally, a plaintiff’s failure to accurately and completely answer the questions set forth below will result in denial of the privilege of proceeding in forma pauperis and require you to pay the entire $350 filing fee regardless whether your complaint is dismissed. Yes G No G A. Have you ever filed a lawsuit while incarcerated or detained in any prison or jail facility? B. If your answer to question A was yes, for each lawsuit you have filed you must answer questions 1 through 5 below. Attach additional sheets as necessary to answer questions 1 through 5 below with regard to each lawsuit. 1. Identify the court in which the lawsuit was filed. If it was a state court, identify the county in which the suit was filed. If the lawsuit was filed in federal court, identify the district within which the lawsuit was filed. 2. Is the action still pending? a. 3. If your answer was no, state precisely how the action was resolved: Did you appeal the decision? 4 . Is the appeal still pending? a. Yes G No G Yes Q No Q Yes Q No Q If not pending, what was the decision on appeal? 5. Was the previous lawsuit based upon the same or similar facts asserted in this lawsuit? Yes Q No Q If so, explain: (Last Revised: January 2007) American LegalNet, Inc. www.FormsWorkflow.com II. Place of Present Confinement If the place of present confinement is not the place you were confined when occurrence that is subject of instant lawsuit arose, also list the place you were confined: III. Parties In Item A below, place your name in the first blank and place your present address in the second blank. Do the same for additional plaintiffs, if any. A. Name of Plaintiff Address In Item B below, place the full name of the defendant in the first blank, his or her official position in the second blank and his or her place of employment in the third blank. Use Item C for the names, positions and place of employment of all additional defendants. Attach extra sheets as necessary. State whether you are suing each defendant in an official or personal capacity. B. Defendant is employed as at C. IV. Additional Defendants Statement of Claim State here, as briefly as possible, the facts of your case. Describe how each defendant is personally involved. Include also, the names of other persons involved, dates and places. Do not give any legal arguments or cite any cases or statutes. If you intend to allege a number of related claims, number and set forth each claim in a separate paragraph. Use as much space as you need. Attach extra sheets if necessary. -2- American LegalNet, Inc. www.FormsWorkflow.com -3- American LegalNet, Inc. www.FormsWorkflow.com V. Relief State briefly and precisely what you want the court to do for you. Date Signature of Plaintiff NOTICE TO PLAINTIFF(S) The failure of a pro se litigant to keep the court apprised of an address change may be considered cause for dismissal. -4- (Last Revised: January 2007) American LegalNet, Inc. www.FormsWorkflow.com UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN AUTHORIZATION FOR WITHDRAWAL OF FUNDS TO PAY THE CIVIL ACTION FILING FEE and AFFIDAVIT OF INDIGENCE IN SUPPORT OF REQUEST TO PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS Plaintiff v. Defendant(s) I, _________________________________________, am the plaintiff in the above entitled case, and I believe I am entitled to redress. In support of my motion to proceed without being required to prepay fees or costs or give security, I state that because of my poverty I am unable to pay the costs of said proceeding or to give security therefore. I acknowledge that I am liable for payment of the $350.00 civil action filing fee, and I authorize the correctional facility in which I am currently housed to (1) provide information about my trust fund account to the federal court; and (2) withdraw from my trust fund account and forward to the federal court (a) an initial partial filing fee for this action (20% of the greater of my average monthly deposits or average monthly balance for the past 6 months), which I will request be disbursed, and (b) subsequent monthly payments (20% of my previous month’s deposits), as ordered by the federal court, until I have paid the full filing fee of $350.00 for this action. Further, I declare that the responses which I have made below are true. 1. Are you presently employed? Yes G No G a. b. 2. If the answer is yes, state the amount of your salary per month and give the name and address of your employer. If the answer is no, state the date of last employment and the amount of the salary per month which you received. Have you received, within the past twelve months, any money from any of the following sources? a. b. c. d. e. Business, profession, or form of self-employment? Rent payments, interest, or dividends? Pensions, annuities, or life insurance payments? Gifts or inheritances? Any other sources? Yes G No G Yes G No G Yes G No G Yes G No G Yes G No G If the answer to any of the above is yes, describe each source of money and state the amount received from each during the past twelve months. 3. Do you own any cash or do you have money in a checking or savings account? (Include any funds in prison accounts) Yes G No G If your answer is yes, state the total value owned. (Last Revised: January 2007) American LegalNet, Inc. www.FormsWorkflow.com 4. Do you own any real estate, stocks, bonds, notes, automobiles, or other valuable property (excluding ordinary household furnishings and clothing)? Yes G No G If the answer is yes, describe the property and state its approximate value. 5. List the persons who are dependent upon you for support; state your relationship to those persons; and indicate how much you contribute toward their support: I understand that a false statement or answer to any question in this declaration will subject me to penalties for perjury. I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. Date Signature of Plaintiff CERTIFICATE I certify that the plaintiff herein has had deposits of _______________ and withdrawals of _______________ from his prison account over the last six-month period. The present balance in the plaintiff's prison account is __________________ . I further certify that plaintiff has the following securities to his credit according to the records of this institution: ______________________________________________________________________________________________. _________________________________ Authorized Financial Officer __________________________ Name of Institution ___________________ Date NOTE: Instead of completing the above certificate, you may attach the certificate establishing prisoner account activity and the printout issued by the institution. -2- American LegalNet, Inc. www.FormsWorkflow.com