Powers v. Godinez et al
Filing
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OPINION (See Written Opinion): IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED:1. Plaintiff's petition to proceed in forma pauperis is denied (d/e 2 ) because he fails to state a federal claim for relief. The hearing scheduled for January 22, 2013 , is cancelled as unnecessary. The clerk is directed to notify Plaintiff's detention facility of the cancellation. All pending motions are denied as moot, and this case is closed. The clerk is directed to enter judgment in favor of Defendants and against Plaintiff. 2. If Plaintiff wishes to appeal this dismissal, he must file a notice of appeal with this court within 30 days of the entry of judgment. Fed. R. App. P. 4(a). A motion for leave to appeal in forma pauperis should set forth the issues Plaintiff plans to present on appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 24(a)(1)(C). Entered by Judge Sue E. Myerscough on 01/09/2013. (VM, ilcd)
E-FILED
Wednesday, 09 January, 2013 08:24:18 AM
Clerk, U.S. District Court, ILCD
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE CENTRAL DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
SPRINGFIELD DIVISION
THOMAS POWERS,
Plaintiff,
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v.
IDOC DIRECTORS et al.,
Defendants.
12-CV-3304
OPINION
SUE E. MYERSCOUGH, U.S. District Judge:
Plaintiff, proceeding pro se and detained in the Rushville Treatment and
Detention Center, seeks leave to proceed in forma pauperis. The Court grants
leave to proceed in forma pauperis only if the complaint states a federal claim. 28
U.S.C. § 1915(d)(2)(requiring dismissal of a case proceeding in forma pauperis if
no claim is stated). To state a claim, the Complaint’s factual “allegations must
plausibly suggest that the plaintiff has a right to relief, raising that possibility
above a ‘speculative level.’” Id. (quoting Bell Atlantic, 550 U.S. at 555).
“Threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere
conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 1949
(2009)(citing Bell Atlantic, 550 U.S. at 555-56).
Plaintiff alleges that current and former IDOC Directors, Medical Directors,
Clinical Directors, psychologists, and psychiatrists were deliberately indifferent to
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his mental illness of “paraphilia, not otherwise specified nonconsent and
personality disorder, not otherwise specified with antisocial features.”
(Complaint, para. 17.) Defendants allegedly failed to establish treatment for
Plaintiff’s disorder during Plaintiff’s three prior incarcerations, which date back to
1989. According to Plaintiff, this alleged deliberate indifference caused Plaintiff
to, over the course of over 25 years, commit crimes, lose his wife, daughter, home,
and job, and ultimately be detained pursuant to the Illinois Sexually Violent
Persons Act. In re Thomas Powers, 2012 MR 0000419 (Winnebago County).
According to the public docket sheet in Plaintiff’s civil commitment proceedings,
he has not yet been adjudicated a sexually violent person.
An official’s deliberate indifference to a prisoner’s serious mental illness
violates the Eighth Amendment. Miller v. Harbaugh, 698 F.3d 956 (7th Cir.
2012)(example of claim alleging deliberate indifference to incarcerated juvenile’s
serious mental illness where juvenile committed suicide)(summary judgment
granted to defendants). Deliberate indifference means a reckless or intentional
disregard of a personally known substantial risk of harm. McGowan v. Hulick,
612 F.3d 636, 640 (7th Cir. 2010).
The two-year statute of limitations bars Plaintiff’s claims arising from any
alleged failure to treat his mental disorder before the Fall of 2010, since he filed
this case in November 2012. Ray v. Maher, 662 F.3d 770, 773 (7th Cir.
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2011)(statute of limitations in Section 1983 case is two years)(applying Illinois
law). Plaintiff can reach back only to his incarceration in Dixon from November
2010 through his incarceration in Danville Correctional Center until June 2012,
after which he was committed to the Rushville Treatment and Detention Center
pursuant to the Illinois Sexually Violent Persons Act.
However, the bigger problem with Plaintiff’s claim is that the facts he
alleges do not plausibly suggest that any of the Defendants were deliberately
indifferent to Plaintiff’s serious mental illness. Plaintiff’s factual allegations do
not allow an inference that any of the Defendants knew that Plaintiff had been
diagnosed with a paraphilia disorder or knew that such a disorder amounted to a
serious mental illness for which treatment was required. Plaintiff’s imprisonment
alone did not imply that he had a serious mental illness needing treatment. He was
not imprisoned because of a mental disorder. He was imprisoned to serve a
sentence for attempted aggravated criminal sexual assault. People v. Powers, 961
N.E.2d 906, 908 (2d Dist. 2011). No plausible inference arises that Plaintiff
informed any of the Defendants during his imprisonment that he suffered from a
serious mental illness, needed mental health treatment, or requested to participate
in the mental health treatment programs available in prison, such as the sex
offender treatment program.
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The fact that an expert in Plaintiff’s civil commitment proceedings has
opined that Plaintiff meets the statutory definition of a sexually violent person does
not create a plausible inference that Defendants were deliberately indifferent to
Plaintiff’s serious mental illness during his imprisonment. In short, no plausible
inference arises that any of the Defendants were aware that Plaintiff had a serious
mental illness during his imprisonment, much less that any Defendants disregarded
that need.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED:
1.
Plaintiff’s petition to proceed in forma pauperis is denied (d/e 2)
because he fails to state a federal claim for relief. The hearing scheduled for
January 22, 2013, is cancelled as unnecessary. The clerk is directed to notify
Plaintiff’s detention facility of the cancellation. All pending motions are denied as
moot, and this case is closed. The clerk is directed to enter judgment in favor of
Defendants and against Plaintiff.
2.
If Plaintiff wishes to appeal this dismissal, he must file a notice of
appeal with this court within 30 days of the entry of judgment. Fed. R. App. P.
4(a). A motion for leave to appeal in forma pauperis should set forth the issues
Plaintiff plans to present on appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 24(a)(1)(C).
ENTERED: January 9, 2013
FOR THE COURT:
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s/Sue E. Myerscough
SUE E. MYERSCOUGH
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
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