Staats v. Cobb, No. 11-6172 (10th Cir. 2011)
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Pro se former-prisoner Petitioner-Appellant Shawn Staats appealed a district court's sua sponte dismissal of his 42 U.S.C. 1983 complaint against various employees of the James Crabtree Correctional Center (JCCC). Petitioner argued that the JCCC improperly calculated his release date, thereby imprisoning him for approximately ten months beyond his proper release date. He contended this error violated his Fourth, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. The district court dismissed Petitioner's first complaint without prejudice for failing to meet the pleading requirements of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The court did not issue a separate judgment. Petitioner then filed a second complaint containing factual allegations along with seven supplemental documents. The district court ordered the second complaint and materials stricken because of the court's earlier decision on Petitioner's first complaint. The court noted that the second complaint was erroneously docketed as an amended complaint, and that it did not authorize the filing of an amended complaint. Upon review, the Tenth Circuit concluded that Petitioner could correct the defect in his complaint, and that the district court abused its discretion for failing to dismiss the original with leave to amend. Accordingly, the Court remanded the case to the district court to allow Petitioner to amend his complaint.
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