Opinion
3:23CV650-PPS/MGG
11-17-2023
TORRENCE BELCHER, Plaintiff, v. LINDSEY MILLIGAN, LYDIA BLOOM, K. READ, Defendants.
OPINION AND ORDER
PHILIP P. SIMON JUDGE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
Torrence Belcher, a prisoner without a lawyer, filed a complaint with three unrelated claims. ECF 1. The complaint alleges Correctional Officer Lindsey Milligan wrote a conduct report on July 14, 2022, “for sexual conduct [which] is pretty much true ....” Id. at 2. It alleges Correctional Officer Lydia Bloom fabricated a conduct report on August 31, 2016, alleging “he was fondling his penis [and] either ejaculated or urinated on [her] right leg.” ECF 1-1 at 1. It alleges Correctional Officer K. Read “made an absurd statement that she consider[ed] to be sexual conduct” on February 14, 2019. ECF 1 at 3.
“[U]nrelated claims against different defendants belong in different suits,” George v. Smith, 507 F.3d 605, 607 (7th Cir. 2007). When a plaintiff files a complaint with unrelated or mis-joined claims, the court may allow the plaintiff to decide which properly joined and related claims to pursue in the current case and when (or if) to bring the other claims in separate suits. See Wheeler v. Wexford Health Sources, Inc., 689 F.3d 680, 683 (7th Cir. 2012) (District courts may direct a plaintiff “to file separate complaints, each confined to one group of injuries and defendants.”). Belcher needs to decide which claim to bring in this case. To do so, he must file an amended complaint with only related claims. If he wants to pursue any other claims, he must file a separate complaint with a new case number for each unrelated group of claims. In addition, he must explain what discipline was imposed for any relevant conduct report for which he was found guilty and whether the finding of guilt was later overturned.
ACCORDINGLY, the court:
(1) GRANTS Torrence Belcher until January 3, 2024, to file an amended complaint; and
(2) CAUTIONS Torrence Belcher if he does not respond by the deadline, the court will select a claim and dismiss the others.
SO ORDERED