Finley v. Cermak Hospital et al

Filing 6

MEMORANDUM ORDER: Signed by the Honorable Milton I. Shadur on 10/19/2016. MAILED notice(ks, )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
EASTERN DIVISION

LUTHER THOMAS FINLEY,
Plaintiff,
v.
CERMAK HOSPITAL and COOK
COUNTY JAIL,
Defendants.

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Case No. 16 C 9460

MEMORANDUM ORDER
Luther Thomas Finley ("Finley") has employed the Clerk's-Office-supplied form of
"Complaint Under the Civil Rights Act, Title 42 Section 1983" to file an action against Cermak
Hospital and Cook County Jail. That Complaint has been accompanied by two other Clerk'sOffice-supplied forms: an In Forma Pauperis Application ("Application") and a Motion for
Attorney Representation ("Motion").
Jurisprudence from our Court of Appeals calls for this Court to address at the outset of a
case the requirements set by 28 U.S.C. § 1915 ("Section 1915") for pro se prisoners such as
Finley. In this instance Finley's Application included a certificate filled out by the appropriate
officer at the Cook County Department of Corrections ("Cook County Jail"), where Finley is in
custody, but it failed to include a copy of his trust fund account statement there as required by
Section 1915(a)(2). This Court therefore had its law clerk request that information, and the trust
fund officer there quickly provided the information.
That printout revealed that Finley had been in custody at Cook County Jail for only a
month before October 1, which was the "mailbox rule" date that constitutes the date of "filing"

under Houston v. Lack, 487 U.S. 266 (1988). Hence that month alone accounted for the average
monthly deposit to the account (see Section 1915(b)(1)(A)) as $20, 20% of which (id.) amounts
to $4.
Accordingly (1) the Application [Dkt. No. 3] is granted in Section 1915(b) terms,
(2) Finley is assessed an initial filing fee of $4 and (3) the Cook County Jail trust fund officer is
ordered to collect that amount from Finley's account and to pay it directly to the Clerk of Court
("Clerk"):
Office of the Clerk
United States District Court
219 South Dearborn Street
Chicago IL 60604
Attention: Fiscal Department.
After such payment the trust fund officer at Cook County Jail (or at any other
correctional facility where Finley may hereafter be confined) is authorized to collect monthly
payments from his trust fund account in an amount equal to 20% of the preceding month's
income credited to the account. Monthly payments collected from the trust fund account shall be
forwarded to the Clerk each time the amount in the account exceeds $10 until the full $350 filing
fee is paid. Both the initial payment and all future payments shall clearly identify Finley's name
and the 16 C 9460 case number assigned to this action. To implement these requirements, the
Clerk shall send a copy of this order to the Cook County Jail trust fund officer.
With that having been established this memorandum order turns to consideration of
Finley's grievance. Here in its totality is his Complaint ¶ IV Statement of Claim (copied
verbatim):

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According to the constitution I was place in incarceration from loyla hospital.
Cermack Din 8 #3 west and orth are nt giving me proper treatment. I was deny
and refuse medication at times. No baths.
Even apart from Finley's obvious failure to comply with the 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a) provision that
precludes the filing of a prisoner's Section 1983 lawsuit until "such administrative remedies as
are available are exhausted," that sketchy assertion by Finley does not meet the Estelle v.
Gamble, 429 U.S. 97 (1976) test, for Section 1983 purposes, of deliberate indifference to a
serious medical need. It may perhaps amount to a medical malpractice claim under state law, but
not one under Section 1983.
Accordingly both the Complaint and this action are dismissed, but without prejudice. If
Finley can fashion an arguably viable Section 1983 claim that meets the test set out in this
memorandum order, he is free to do so. In the meantime the Motion (which was inadequate on
other grounds in all events) is denied as moot, and the Application is granted on the limited terms
spelled out at the outset of this memorandum order.

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Milton I. Shadur
Senior United States District Judge
Date: October 19, 2016

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