imported post
Before I get to the Summons Form (AO440), I just want to say that I absolutely agree with Cato regarding the way these cases would be handled. The fourth amendment is incorporated and most case law we rely upon is based on it (Terry, Hicks, Hiibel, JL, Ubiles, etc.). The fact that we open carry has little to do with any lawsuit which may arise, I know that sounds silly, but legally I believe that is the truth.
The summons form is where we individually list out everybody we are suing. If you're suing one person, then you need one summon's form, ten people, ten forms. The summons will need to be served to the individuals you're suing. You can get a friend to do this, or you can hire a company/person that does it (a process server), but you can't do it. AO440 is pretty straight forward, the only tricky bit is the defendant's name and address. I'm not exactly sure how one is supposed to find out this information. I'll try contacting the court and see what they say about this. You leave the case number blank, the court clerk will fill this out when you file your papers.
It turns out I was wrong about the §1983 complaint form being only for prisoners. Everybody needs to write a complaint form, otherwise the people you're suing have no idea why you're suing them. There is no form which you write your complaint on, but there is a standard way of doing it. If you've read any court opinions or briefs, you've surely seen various examples of this. The pro se handbook has an entire chapter on how to write your complaint, it even has an example too. If your case is very similar to another case you've read about, you might want to contact the lawyer who handled that case and ask them if they'd be willing to share their complaint or any other documents. For example, the lawyer for the New Mexico OC case shared his complaint and his and the defendant's briefs for summary judgment. Now I'm significantly less stupid thanks to his help.
Your complaint will start with the "caption page," where the lines are drawn in the sand. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) rule 10(a) details what must be included here, my district court also has a local rule which applies to this as well. My caption page would look something like this:
Big Toe
416 Market st.
San Francisco, CA 94111
(415) 555-1234
(415) 555-1234 (FAX)
Plaintiff
[align=center]UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION
[align=left]BIG TOE )
)
Plaintiff, ) Case No. ________________
)
vs. ) COMPLAINT
)
BADDY MCGEE ) DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL
)
Defendant. )
________________________________)
Those parentheses are supposed to be lined up. I'm sure that's much easier to do in a legitimate word processing program. That's the caption page, it doesn't actually have to take up the entire page, but it should have all those extra lines and such. Check out the pro se handbook for more info.
Next comes your actual complaint where you have to prove to the court that you are legit. First you have to show that you're filing your case in the right court (jurisdiction). When you're writing your complaint you have to number your paragraphs and each paragraph must discuss only a single set of ideas. Because of this, paragraphs usually end up being a single sentence. So my jurisdiction section might look like this:
1. Jurisdiction. This court has jurisdiction over this complaint because it arises under the laws of the United States.
2. Venue. Venue is appropriate in this court because the plaintiff resides in this district, the defendant works in this district, and the acts complained of occurred in this district.
4. Intradistrict Assignment. This lawsuit should be assigned to the San Francisco Division of this Court because the events which give rise to this lawsuit occurred in the city and county of San Francisco.
After that your complaint should contain "a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief." (FRCP rule 8(a)). You don't have to be super detailed, but you should mention key points of your lawsuit. The New Mexico case's complaint was 38 sentences.
5. On September 14th, 2009, Defendant was dispatched to respond to imaginary restaurant The Burrito Shop in regards to a male patron in possession of a firearm.
6. When Defendant McGee arrived at the restaurant, he was greeted by John Smith who was the manager of the restaurant.
7. Mr. Smith reported that the Plaintiff was eating dinner with a visible holstered firearm on his belt.
8. Defendant approached Plaintiff and asked if he was wearing a firearm.
9. The Defendant's actions violated Article I, Section 8 of the California Constitution.
10. As a direct result of Defendant's actions, Plaintiff suffered compensable damages in an amount to be determined at trial.
You're basically setting the stage with all the crucial bits broken down into nice bite-sized sentences. You're trying to convince the court that your case has merit and shouldn't be dismissed altogether. For example, if my complaint ended at paragraph 8 above, the case would be dismissed because there's no complaint. Taken as a whole my complaint would be valid as long as Article I, Section 8 of the California Constitution said something about how a person eating a burrito shall not be interrupted by a police officer.
Finish your complaint off with what you're asking the court to do for you.
WHEREFORE, Plaintiff prays that the Court will award him:
A. Compensatory damages in an amount to be determined at trial
B. Any other relief the Court deems fair and just.
[align=right]Respectfully submitted,
Big Toe
416 Market st.
San Francisco, CA 94111
(415) 555-1234
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