Opinion
1:22-CV-437-HAB-SLC
01-06-2023
CHANNING LAMONTE SCOTT, Plaintiff, v. DAVID GLADIEUX, ABERNATHY, MORGAN, MALCOME, and BADE, Defendants.
OPINION AND ORDER
HOLLY A. BRADY, JUDGE
Channing Lamonte Scott, a prisoner without a lawyer, began this case by filing a vague complaint with unrelated claims. ECF 1. He was told “unrelated claims against different defendants belong in different suits,” George v. Smith, 507 F.3d 605, 607 (7th Cir. 2007). The unrelated claims were outlined for him and he was granted leave to file an amended complaint. ECF 4. In response, he filed an amended complaint with unrelated claims. ECF 6. Though it is possible to sue more than one defendant in a case, that is not possible here because none of the claims against any of these defendants are related to the others. Merely because all of the alleged events happened to Scott at the Allen County Jail is not enough to make them legally related for the purposes of a lawsuit. Merely because Scott alleges different defendants mistreated him in a similar way on different days does not permit him to sue both defendants in the same case.
Scott needs to decide which one of these defendants he wants to sue in this case. 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.”). When he decides which one defendant he is suing in this case, he must put that defendant's name and this cause number on a Pro Se 14 (INND Rev. 2/20) Prisoner Complaint which is available from his law library. He must follow the instructions on the form and include every fact necessary to explain when, where, why, and how that one defendant violated his rights. He must not name any other defendant or make allegations unrelated to the claims raised against the named defendant name in the amended complaint filed in this case. If he wants to sue any of the other defendants, he must bring a separate case against each of them by using a separate complaint form for each one.
For these reasons, the court:
(1) GRANTS Channing Lamonte Scott until February 9, 2023, to file an amended complaint in this case; and
(2) CAUTIONS Channing Lamonte Scott if he does not respond by the deadline (or if he files another complaint with unrelated claims), the court will select a claim and dismiss any other unrelated claims.
SO ORDERED.