Opinion
CASE NUMBER 12 C 4558
06-15-2012
Hundley Ford (#B-16831) v. Nancy Pounovich, et al.
Name of Assigned Judge
or Magistrate Judge
Sitting Judge if Other
than Assigned Judge
DOCKET ENTRY TEXT:
Plaintiff's motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis [#3] is granted. The Court authorizes and orders the trust fund officer at Plaintiff's place of incarceration to deduct $5.55 from Plaintiff's account for payment to the Clerk of Court as an initial filing fee, and to continue making monthly deductions in accordance with this order. The Clerk is directed to forward a copy of this order to the Inmate Trust Office at Stateville Correctional Center. However, summonses shall not issue at this time. The Court grants Plaintiff's motion for appointment of counsel and appoints Terrence Joseph Truax, Jenner & Block LLP, 353 North Clark Street, Chicago, IL 60654, to represent Plaintiff in accordance with counsel's trial bar obligations under the District Court's Local Rule 83.37 (N.D. Ill.). After investigation, appointed counsel should notify the Court within sixty days if he wishes to proceed with the complaint on file or he intends to file an amended complaint. If counsel is unable to file an amended complaint, he should so inform the Court.
[x] [For further details see text below.]
Docketing to mail notices.
STATEMENT
Plaintiff, an inmate in state custody at Stateville Correctional Center, has brought this pro se civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff claims that for a period of four years he has been suffering from an injury to his back that has caused him pain and suffering. Additionally, Plaintiff alleges that almost three years after first complaining of pain, he was diagnosed as having four bulging discs in his spine. Plaintiff alleges that he contacted the Defendants: Nancy Pounovich, Warden Marcus Hardy, Dr. Parma Ghosh, Dr. Imot Carter, Physicians Assistant Latonya Williams, Correctional Medical Technician Joseph Sheehy, Nurse Delores Trevino, and Anna McBee, and informed them of his medical condition and the inability to procure adequate treatment, but continues to suffer ongoing inadequate treatment.
Plaintiff's motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis is granted. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1), the plaintiff is assessed an initial partial filing fee of $5.55. The office of inmate accounts at Stateville Correctional Center is authorized and ordered to collect, when funds exist, the partial filing fee from Plaintiff's trust fund account and pay it directly to the Clerk of Court. After payment of the initial partial filing fee, the trust fund officer at Plaintiff's place of confinement is directed to collect monthly payments from Plaintiff's trust fund account in an amount equal to 20% of the preceding month's income credited to the account. Monthly payments collected from Plaintiff's trust fund account shall be forwarded to the Clerk of Court each time the amount in the account exceeds $10 until the full $350 filing fee is paid. All payments shall be sent to the Clerk, United States District Court, 219 S. Dearborn St., Chicago, Illinois 60604, attn: Cashier's Desk, 20th Floor, and shall clearly identify Plaintiff's name and the case number assigned to this action. The Cook County inmate trust account office shall notify transferee authorities of any outstanding balance in the event Plaintiff is transferred from the jail to another correctional facility.
Under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A, the Court is required to conduct a prompt threshold review of the complaint. Here, accepting Plaintiff's allegations as true, the Court finds that Plaintiff has articulated a colorable federal cause of action with respect to deliberate indifference to a serious medical condition. Hayes v. Snyder, 546 F.3d 516, 522 (7th Cir. 2008), citing Gutierrez v. Peters, 111 F.3d 1364, 1373 (7th Cir. 1997).
Due to the nature of Plaintiff's allegations, the Court hereby appoints Terrence Joseph Truax, Jenner & Block LLP, 353 North Clark Street, Chicago, IL 60654 to represent the plaintiff in accordance with counsel's trial bar obligations under the District Court's Local Rule 83.37 (N.D. Ill.).
After investigation, appointed counsel should notify the Court within sixty days if he wishes to proceed with the complaint on file or he intends to file an amended complaint. If counsel is unable to file an amended complaint, he should so inform the Court.