Nathan W. Rickards v. Sawyer County Jail

Summary

The court grants Nathan W. Rickards leave to proceed without prepaying the filing fee and screens his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 complaint under the Prison Litigation Reform Act. Although the Sawyer County Jail lacks capacity to be sued, the court substitutes Sawyer County as the defendant and permits a First Amendment claim concerning an alleged policy barring incarcerated persons from receiving non-legal incoming mail.

Holdings

1. The plaintiff may proceed without prepaying the filing fee, subject to payment of the remaining filing fee through deductions from his prisoner trust account.
2. The Sawyer County Jail is not a suable legal entity under § 1983 because it lacks the legal capacity to be sued; Sawyer County is the proper governmental defendant for the alleged policy.
3. The plaintiff may proceed against Sawyer County on a First Amendment claim alleging that a policy prevented incarcerated persons from receiving any incoming nonlegal mail.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the plaintiff could proceed without prepaying the filing fee under the Prison Litigation Reform Act.
2. Whether the Sawyer County Jail has the legal capacity to be sued under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
3. Whether the complaint plausibly stated a First Amendment claim based on an alleged blanket restriction on incarcerated persons' incoming nonlegal mail.

Disposition

other