Opinion
2:24-cv-214-DPM
12-19-2024
ASTON JAVON WARDLOW #2032872 PLAINTIFF v. MIKE ALLEN, Sheriff, Crittenden County; SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, Governor, State of Arkansas; CHRIS WELLS, Sheriff, Osage County; LAURA KELLY, Governor, State of Kansas DEFENDANTS
ORDER
D.P. Marshall Jr. United States District Judge
1. Wardlow's motion to proceed in forma pauperis, Doc. 1, is granted. The Court assesses an initial partial filing fee of $16.67. Wardlow's custodian must collect monthly payments from his prison trust account each time the amount in the account exceeds $10. These payments will be equal to twenty percent of the preceding month's income credited to the account; and they will be collected and forwarded to the Clerk of the Court until the $350 filing fee is paid in full. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2). The payments forwarded on Wardlow's behalf must be clearly identified by case name and case number.
2. The Court must screen Wardlow's § 1983 complaint and addenda. Doc. 2-4; 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e). He is awaiting trial for capital murder and committing a terroristic act in Crittenden County, Arkansas. State v. Wardlow, No. 18CR-24-464. Wardlow, a resident of Kansas, says he was illegally arrested without a warrant, not read his Miranda rights, unlawfully imprisoned, and wrongly extradited to Arkansas. Once at the Crittenden County Jail, he says he was denied medical care following an "episode of SVT" and was denied the right to file a grievance. Doc. 3. He seeks release and damages.
The Court must abstain from proceeding with Wardlow's claims surrounding his arrest and imprisonment because the criminal case is ongoing, Arkansas has an important interest in enforcing its criminal laws, and Wardlow may raise his constitutional claims during his state criminal proceedings. Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37, 43-45 (1971); Mounkes v. Conklin, 922 F.Supp. 1501, 1510-13 (D. Kansas 1996). Further, Wardlow hasn't alleged bad faith, harassment, or any other extraordinary circumstances that would make abstention inappropriate. Tony Alamo Christian Ministries v. Selig, 664 F.3d 1245, 1254 (8th Cir. 2012). These claims are therefore stayed until there's a final disposition of his pending state charges. Yamaha Motor Corp., U.S.A, v. Stroud, 179 F.3d 598, 603-04 (8th Cir. 1999).
Wardlow's claims based on his medical care while in the custody of the Crittenden County Jail and his alleged inability to grieve that matter are dismissed without prejudice as improperly joined. Fed.R.Civ.P. 21. The Court directs the Clerk to send Wardlow a blank § 1983 complaint and motion to proceed in forma pauperis should he wish to bring those claims in a separate lawsuit.
The Court directs the Clerk to stay and administratively terminate this case. Wardlow can move to reopen this case after final disposition of his state cases, including any appeal. Any motion to reopen must be filed within sixty days of that final disposition. If Wardlow doesn't file a timely motion to reopen or a status report by 17 December 2025, then the Court will reopen the case and dismiss it without prejudice.
So Ordered.