Smith v. Schwartz et al

Filing 40

ORDER granting 39 Motion to Compel. Defendants shall respond to Plaintiff's discovery requests by 1/6/2012. Signed by Magistrate Judge Donald G. Wilkerson on 12/8/2011. (hbs) THIS TEXT ENTRY IS AN ORDER OF THE COURT. NO FURTHER DOCUMENTATION WILL BE MAILED.

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
WILLIAM SMITH,
Plaintiff,
v.
OFFICER GALE and OFFICER HULL,
Defendants.

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Case No. 3:10-cv-721-GPM-DGW

ORDER
Now pending before the Court is a Motion to Compel Discovery filed by pro se Plaintiff
William Smith (Doc. 39). For the reasons set forth below, the motion is GRANTED.
Upon the filing of answers by Defendants Gale and Hull raising the affirmative defense
that Plaintiff failed to exhaust his administrative remedies prior to filing suit, the Court entered a
scheduling order setting a hearing on the issue of exhaustion for February 2, 2012 (Doc. 32). The
scheduling order instructed the defendants to serve upon plaintiff copies of all documents relevant
to the issue of exhaustion. The scheduling order further instructed the parties not to conduct
discovery on the merits of the case until the question of exhaustion had been resolved. On
November 21, 2011, Defendants filed a motion asking the Court to enter an order staying
discovery unrelated to exhaustion.

Defendants indicated that they had received discovery

requests from Plaintiff regarding the merits of the underlying claims. The Court granted the
motion for stay and reiterated its prohibition of discovery unrelated to exhaustion (Doc. 37).
Plaintiff now asks the Court to order Defendants to respond to his interrogatories regarding
exhaustion. The Court has reviewed the requests and determines that the interrogatories are

related to the exhaustion process, thus they are exempt from the stay, which applies only to
discovery on the merits of the underlying claims. Accordingly, Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel is
GRANTED. Defendants Gale and Hull shall provide answers to Plaintiff’s interrogatories by
January 6, 2012.
DATED: December 8, 2011

DONALD G. WILKERSON
United States Magistrate Judge

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