Thompson v. Tourville

Full title: DENNIS THOMPSON, Plaintiff, v. JOHN TOURVILLE and KIMBERLEY CRISS…

Court: UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS

Date published: Aug 5, 2015

Case No. 3:13-cv-333-NJR-DGW (S.D. Ill. Aug. 5, 2015)

Opinion

Case No. 3:13-cv-333-NJR-DGW

08-05-2015

DENNIS THOMPSON, Plaintiff, v. JOHN TOURVILLE and KIMBERLEY CRISS, Defendants.

WILKERSON, Magistrate Judge

ORDER

WILKERSON, Magistrate Judge :

This Section 1983 civil rights case, in which judgment was entered against Plaintiff and he has appealed to the Seventh Circuit, comes before the Court on four motions (Docs. 164, 165, 166, and 167), all of which were filed after Plaintiff docketed his Notice of Appeal (Doc. 159).

The filing of an appeal is an event of jurisdictional significance that divests a district court of its control of the aspects of the case involved in the appeal. U.S. v. Brown, 732 F.3d 781, 787 (7^th Cir. 2013) (citing Griggs v. Provident Consumer Disc. Co., 459 U.S. 56, 58 (1982) (per curiam)). There are some exceptions to the rule (for example attorney's fees or the correction of clerical mistakes, see Brown, 732 F.3d at 787), but recruiting counsel for an appeal is not one of them, see id. at 787 (citing Kusay v. United States, 62 F.3d 192, 194 (7 Cir. 1995) (an action taken by a district court without jurisdiction is a "nullity."). Accordingly, Plaintiff's motion for recruitment of counsel (Doc. 164) is MOOT. Plaintiff is free to file a motion to recruit counsel with the Court of Appeals. For the same reasons, Plaintiff's motion to defer the Court costs for appeal (Doc. 166) is MOOT, as such relief is not within this Court's jurisdiction to provide.

th

Also before the Court is Plaintiff's motion in support of appeal and motion to proceed in forma pauperis ("IFP") (Doc. 165). Insofar as Plaintiff seeks to set forth arguments to support his appeal, his request is MOOT. Such request is not within the jurisdiction of this court. See Brown, 732 F.3d 781. Plaintiff's request to proceed IFP is also MOOT. Plaintiff was granted leave to appeal IFP by District Judge Nancy J. Rosenstengel on July 6, 2015 (Doc. 171).

Finally, Plaintiff's motion for docket entries to be transferred to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals (Doc. 167) is MOOT. The pleadings in this matter were transmitted to the Court of Appeals on July 17, 2015 (Doc. 174).

IT IS SO ORDERED.

DATED: August 5, 2015

/s/

DONALD G. WILKERSON

United States Magistrate Judge