Hayden v. City Of Chicago et al

Filing 7

MEMORANDUM Opinion and Order signed by the Honorable Milton I. Shadur on 5/16/2017. Mailed notice (jh, )

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

KENDRICK HAYDEN,
Plaintiff,
v.
CITY OF CHICAGO, et al.,
Defendants.

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Case No. 17 C 3583

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
Pro se prisoner plaintiff Kendrick Hayden ("Hayden") has used a Clerk's-Office-supplied
form "Amended Complaint" 1 to sue the City of Chicago and two of its police officers for alleged
violations of his federal constitutional rights, actionable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 ("Section
1983"), coupled with state law claims within this Court's supplemental jurisdiction. Hayden has
accompanied his Complaint with two other Clerk's-Office-supplied forms: an In Forma Pauperis
Application ("Application") and a Motion for Attorney Representation ("Motion").
As always with prisoner-instituted litigation, this Court turns first to its responsibilities
under 28 U.S.C. § 1915 ("Section 1915"). 2 During the six-month period made relevant by that
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1
Hayden's choice of that form is puzzling because the filed document bears a "Dkt.
No. 1" printout -- it plainly amends nothing. That mistake will simply be ignored here.
2

In that respect the Houston v. Lack, 487 U.S. 266 (1988) establishment of the "mailbox
rule" as the date of "filing" of a prisoner complaint makes it literally impossible for the printout
of transactions in the prisoner's trust fund account to cover the entire "6-month period
immediately preceding the filing," because the time lag between (1) the prisoner's request for the
printout and (2) the institution's delivery to him, plus any added delays in the prisoner's
completion of his papers for filing, means that the end of the designated six-month period is
invariably lacking from the printout. As always, one of this Court's law clerks has obtained the
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section the average monthly deposits to his trust fund account (Section 1915(b)(1)(A)) amounted
to $206.17, 20% of which (id.) is $41.23. Accordingly Hayden is assessed an initial partial filing
fee of $41.23, and the County Jail trust fund officer is ordered to collect that amount from
Hayden's trust fund account there 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 County Jail (or at any other correctional
facility where Hayden 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 Hayden's name and the
17 C 3583 case number assigned to this action. To implement these requirements, the Clerk
shall send a copy of this order to the County Jail trust fund officer.
In addition to Hayden's compliance with the requirements for the special type of in forma
pauperis status applicable to prisoner plaintiffs, his Motion satisfies our Court of Appeals'
requirement calling for a prisoner plaintiff to show efforts to obtain legal representation on his
own. And that being the case, both the Motion and the Application are granted.

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(footnote continued)
supplemental trust fund account information from the Cook County Department of Corrections
("County Jail," where Hayden is in custody).
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This Court has accordingly requested that a member of the District Court's trial bar be
designated to serve as Hayden's counsel in this case, and it has been advised that such
representation is to be provided by:

Michael Anthony Pedicone, Esq.
Law Office of Michael A. Pedicone, Ltd.
340 East North Water Street
Suite 3200
Chicago, Illinois 60611-0815
Telephone: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail].
Finally, an initial status hearing date is set for 9 a.m. July 11, 2017, with the above-designated
counsel being expected in the interim (1) to confer with Hayden, (2) to make arrangements for
the service of process on defendants by the United States Marshals Service and to consider
whether (3) to leave Hayden's "Amended Complaint" in place or, perhaps, (4) to consider
whether a lawyer-prepared replacement pleading will better serve Hayden's interests. 3

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Milton I. Shadur
Senior United States District Judge
Date: May 16, 2017

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3
If the latter alternative applies, attorney Pedicone 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 Hayden's self-prepared version of the "Amended Complaint" should be
currently prepared and filed.
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