Duett v. Cook County Health Service

Filing 4

WRITTEN Opinion entered by the Honorable Thomas M. Durkin on 6/27/2013: Plaintiff's motion to proceed in forma pauperis # 3 is granted. The Court authorizes and orders the trust fund officer at plaintiff's place of incarceration to ded uct $4.20 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 Trus t Accounts Office at the Cook County Jail. Plaintiff's complaint is dismissed without prejudice to him submitting an amended complaint. Plaintiff is granted 30 days to submit an amended complaint (plus a judge's copy and service copies). Failure to comply with this order will resultin summary dismissal of this case. The Clerk shall provide plaintiff with an amended complaint form. (For further details see written opinion.) Mailed notice.(ym, )

Order Form (01/2005)

United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois
Name of Assigned Judge
or Magistrate Judge

Thomas M. Durkin

CASE NUMBER

13 C 4501

CASE TITLE

Sitting Judge if Other
than Assigned Judge

DATE

6/27/13

Darnell Duett (#2012-0427221) vs. Cook County Health Services

DOCKET ENTRY TEXT

Plaintiff’s motion 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 $4.20 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 Accounts Office at the Cook County Jail. Plaintiff’s
complaint is dismissed without prejudice to him submitting an amended complaint. Plaintiff is granted 30 days to
submit an amended complaint (plus a judge’s copy and service copies). Failure to comply with this order will result
in summary dismissal of this case. The Clerk shall provide plaintiff with an amended complaint form.
O [For further details see text below.]

Docketing to mail notices.

STATEMENT
Plaintiff Darnel Duett, presently a pre-trial detainee at the Cook County Jail, submitted this pro se 42 U.S.C.
§ 1983 civil rights action naming Cook County Health Services as defendant. Plaintiff alleges that, in December
2012, he was transferred from Cook County Jail to Moultrie County Jail for a period of time. At the Moultrie
County Jail, plaintiff was unable to receive his psychiatric medication for six days, allegedly because incorrect
information was sent from Cook County Jail.
Plaintiff’s motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis is granted. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1),
plaintiff is assessed an initial partial filing fee of $4.16. The trust fund officer at plaintiff’s place of confinement
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. Plaintiff shall remain responsible for the filing fee, and Cook County Jail trust
account office shall notify transferee authorities of any outstanding balance in the event plaintiff is transferred.
Although Plaintiff may proceed in forma pauperis, he cannot proceed with his current complaint. The
complaint does not name a suable party as defendant. See Castillo v. Cook County Mail Room Dept., 990 F.2d 304,
307 (7th Cir. 1993) (neither the Cook County Jail nor divisions therein are distinct separate entities from Cook
County and are not suable parties). Plaintiff must name a suable party, such as the person at Cook County Jail
responsible for not providing Moultrie County Jail with his prescription records or Moultrie County Jail officials
who refused to obtain plaintiff’s prescription records from Cook County Jail. If plaintiff does not know the names
of the individual(s), he may refer to him or her as John or Jane Doe and name a supervisory official, such as the
county sheriff or the director of the jail’s health services, who may be able to identify the individual.
13C 4501 Darnell Duett (#2012-0427221) vs. Cook County Health Services

Page 1 of 2

STATEMENT
In addition to naming a suable party as defendant, plaintiff must state a valid claim. To state a constitutional
claim of deliberate indifference to his medical needs, he must allege facts that indicate that (1) he had an objectively
serious medical condition, and (2) the defendant was actually aware of the condition but failed to take reasonable
steps to address it. Arnett v. Webster, 658 F.3d 742, 750 (7th Cir. 2011). Neither negligence nor gross negligence
constitute deliberate indifference, which requires a sufficiently culpable state of mind. Norfleet v. Webster, 439
F.3d 392, 396 (7th Cir. 2006). Plaintiff’s complaint alleges negligence (a state-law claim) with proper records not
being sent to Moultrie County Jail, but not deliberate indifference. To proceed with this case, he must allege facts
which indicate deliberate indifference.
Accordingly, for the reasons stated above, the complaint is dismissed without prejudice. Plaintiff is granted
30 days from the date of this order to submit an amended complaint in accordance with this order. Plaintiff must
write both the case number and the judge’s name on the amended complaint, sign it, and return it to the Prisoner
Correspondent. As with every document filed with the court, plaintiff must provide an extra copy for the judge and
also a service copy for each named defendant.
An amended pleading supersedes an original complaint and must stand complete on its own. The court will
refer only to the amended complaint, and not previously filed complaint, to determine the claims and parties of this
suit. Plaintiff thus must be set forth all his claims and all the defendants of this case in the amended complaint,
without reference to the original complaint. Any exhibits that plaintiff wants the court to consider in its threshold
review of the amended complaint must be attached, and each copy of the amended complaint must include complete
copies of any and all exhibits. The clerk will provide plaintiff with an amended civil rights complaint form and
instructions along with a copy of this order. If plaintiff fails to comply within 30 days, the case will be summarily
dismissed in its entirety.

13C 4501 Darnell Duett (#2012-0427221) vs. Cook County Health Services

Page 2 of 2