Ford v. Davis et al

Filing 26

ORDER granting 23 Motion to Stay Discovery. Signed by Magistrate Judge Donald G. Wilkerson on 10/11/2011. (hbs)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
BOBBY FORD,
Plaintiff,
v.
RANDY J. DAVIS, et al.,
Defendants.

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Case No. 3:10-cv-829-GPM-DGW

ORDER
Now pending before the Court is a Motion to Stay Discovery filed by Defendants Randy J.
Davis and Kimberly Butler on October 7, 2011 (Doc. 23). For the reasons set forth below, this
motion is GRANTED.
Plaintiff Bobby Ford, a former inmate in the Illinois Department of Corrections, filed this
action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, claiming that certain Department of Corrections officials
violated his constitutional rights. In answering the complaint, Defendants Davis and Butler raised
the affirmative defense that that Plaintiff did not properly exhaust administrative remedies prior to
filing suit, in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a). The Seventh Circuit holds that discovery on the
merits should not begin until the question whether a plaintiff has exhausted his administrative
remedies within the meaning of the Prison Litigation Reform Act has been resolved. Pavey v.
Conley, 544 F.3d 739 (7th Cir. 2008).

Accordingly, the Motion to Stay Discovery is

GRANTED. A Pavey hearing is set for December 8, 2011.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATED: October 11, 2011
DONALD G. WILKERSON
United States Magistrate Judge