Johnson Sr. v. Frain et al

Filing 18

MEMORANDUM Order. Signed by the Honorable Milton I. Shadur on 5/25/2017:Mailed notice(clw, )

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

ALLEN JOHNSON SR.,
Plaintiff,
v.
KEVIN FRAIN, LTS Supervisor, et al.,
Defendants.

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Case No. 17 C 2000

MEMORANDUM ORDER
This action was brought pro se by prisoner plaintiff Allen Johnson Sr. ("Johnson") in a
way highly unusual for lawsuits of that genre -- Johnson paid the $400 filing fee up front. But it
then took the issuance of three sua sponte memorandum orders by this Court (respectively dated
March 24, March 29 and May 10 of this year) to get Johnson to take the additional steps
necessary for his action to go forward. Finally this week brought some added filings that have
done the job in that respect:
1.

Most of Dkt. No. 15 comprises a properly-filled-out Motion for
Appointment of Counsel ("Motion") and related exhibits that identify
efforts undertaken by Johnson to obtain counsel on his own (a requirement
imposed by our Court of Appeals as a precondition to the consideration of
such a motion at the District Court level).

2.

Stapled together with those pages as part of Dkt. No. 15 is a photocopy of
a letter to Johnson from the Administrative Review Board of the Illinois
Department of Corrections that confirms his compliance with 42 U.S.C.

§ 1997e(a), which calls for the exhaustion of administrative remedies that
Congress has established as a precondition to the bringing of an action
such as Johnson's.
3.

Dkt. No. 16 is Johnson's hand-printed May 18, 2017 letter apologizing for
his delay in complying with the requirements identified in this Court's
memorandum orders.

With that done, this Court is pleased to have obtained the name of this member of this
District Court's trial bar who is designated to represent Johnson in proceeding with this action:
Dennis Michael Zitzer, Esq.
274 Lionel Road
Riverside, Illinois 60546
Telephone: [phone]
E-Mail: [e-mail].
This Court also sets a status hearing date for 9 a.m. July 21, 2017, 1 with the above-designated
counsel being expected in the interim (1) to confer with Johnson, (2) to make arrangements for
the service of process on defendants by the United States Marshals Service and to consider
whether (3) to leave Johnson's Complaint in place or, perhaps, (4) to consider whether a
lawyer-prepared replacement pleading will better serve Johnson's interests. 2

Date: May 25, 2017
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__________________________________________
Milton I. Shadur
Senior United States District Judge

This Court vacates the previously set May 26, 2017 status hearing date.

If the latter alternative applies, attorney Zitzer should take steps to ascertain the identity
of the counsel who will be representing defendants and advise him or her that no pleading
responsive to Johnson's self-prepared version of the Complaint should be currently prepared and
filed.
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