Burris v. Justus et al

Filing 42

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER, The Court hereby ADOPTS the Report in its entirety (Doc. 38 ); ORDERS that Counts 1 and Counts 2 as described in the Report shall be allowed to proceed against defendants Officer Levi Bridges and Officer Cameron Reid, and tha t those defendants shall respond to Counts 1 and 2 of the Amended Complaint within 30 days; DISMISSES all claims against defendants Rick Watson, Officer Jack Dinges and Officer Nichols without prejudice; SEVERS Count 6 into a new case, which shall be captioned: Ceasar M. Burris Jr. v. Steven J. Frierdich, Eric L. Walter, and Timothy Fisk. The Court directs the Clerk of Court to file certain documents in the newly opened case and DIRECTS the Clerk of Court to enter judgment accordingly at the close of the case; and ORDERS Burris to SHOW CAUSE on or before November 13, 2015. Signed by Judge J. Phil Gilbert on 10/22/2015. (jdh)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
CEASAR M. BURRIS, JR.,
Plaintiff,
v.

Case No. 14-cv-990-JPG-PMF

MEARL JUSTUS, RICK WATSON, OFFICER
JACK DINGES, OFFICER NICHOLS, LEVI
BRIDGES and CAMERON REID,
Defendants.
MEMORANDUM AND
ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE
This matter comes before the Court on the Report and Recommendation (“Report”) (Doc.
38) of Magistrate Judge Philip M. Frazier recommending that the Court permit Counts 1 and 2 of
plaintiff Ceasar M. Burris, Jr.’s Amended Complaint (Doc. 36) to proceed in this action and sever
Count 6 into a new action.
The Court may accept, reject or modify, in whole or in part, the findings or
recommendations of the magistrate judge in a report and recommendation. Fed. R. Civ. P.
72(b)(3). The Court must review de novo the portions of the report to which objections are made.
Id. “If no objection or only partial objection is made, the district court judge reviews those
unobjected portions for clear error.” Johnson v. Zema Sys. Corp., 170 F.3d 734, 739 (7th Cir.
1999).
The Court has received no objection to the Report. The Court has reviewed the entire file
and finds that the Report is not clearly erroneous. Accordingly, the Court hereby:


ADOPTS the Report in its entirety (Doc. 38);



ORDERS that Counts 1 and Counts 2 as described in the Report shall be allowed to
proceed against defendants Officer Levi Bridges and Officer Cameron Reid, and that those

defendants shall respond to Counts 1 and 2 of the Amended Complaint within 30 days;


DISMISSES all claims against defendants Rick Watson, Officer Jack Dinges and Officer
Nichols without prejudice;



SEVERS Count 6 into a new case, which shall be captioned: Ceasar M. Burris Jr. v.
Steven J. Frierdich, Eric L. Walter, and Timothy Fisk;



DIRECTS the Clerk of Court to file the following documents in the newly opened case:
o This Order;
o Burris’s motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis (Doc. 5);
o Burris’s trust fund account statements (Doc. 15 & 17);
o The Amended Complaint (Doc. 36)
Burris shall be given 35 days to voluntarily dismiss the severed case if he does not wish to incur
an additional filing fee; accordingly service will not be ordered on Frierdich, Walter, or Fisk at
this time;



DIRECTS the Clerk of Court to enter judgment accordingly at the close of the case; and



ORDERS Burris to SHOW CAUSE on or before November 13, 2015, why the Court
should not dismiss the remainder of this case for failure to prosecute pursuant to Federal
Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) and the Court’s inherent authority to manage its docket, see
In re Bluestein & Co., 68 F.3d 1022, 1025 (7th Cir. 1995), in light of the fact that Burris has
failed to keep the Court apprized of his current mailing address as required by Local Rule
3.1(b) and the Court’s October 17, 2014, order (Doc. 8). The Court will construe a failure
to timely respond to this order to show cause as an admission Burris no longer wishes to
proceed with this case and will dismiss the remaining claims in this case.

IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATED: October 22, 2015
s/ J. Phil Gilbert
J. PHIL GILBERT
DISTRICT JUDGE

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