Merritte v. Arbuckle et al

Filing 189

ORDER: Merritte's Motion to Show Cause and/or Motion for Relief from Judgement (Doc. 166 ) and Supplemental Motion for Order to Show Cause and Relief from Judgement (Doc. 177 ) are DENIED. Merritte's Motion for Court Order (Doc. [1 73]), Motion for Free Court Records (Doc. 175 ), Motion for Discovery (Doc. 176 ), and Motion for Preliminary Injunction (Doc. 184 ) are also DENIED. Defendants' motions to strike (Docs. 179 , 186 ) are DENIED as moot. Signed by Chief Judge Nancy J. Rosenstengel on 3/18/2020. (kdpo)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
CALVIN L. MERRITTE,
Plaintiff,
v.

Case No. 3:16-cv-959-NJR

STACI DEWEESE, ELAINE BURCHAM,
KELLY KAISER, PATRICIA POTTS,
TAMMY KIMMEL, CHRIS BROOKS,
RHONDA WAGGONER, NOREEN
BAKER, STEVEN DUNCAN,
BETHANY TREDWAY, MARK STORM,
RICHARD MOORE, S. A. GODINEZ,
CHRISTOPHER WALTZ, VICKY
WALKER, RANDALL BROOKS, GARY
WALKER, DEREK HUNDLEY,
MICHAEL DEAN, TRAVIS OCHS,
MATTHEW WINKA, DARRELL SELBY,
CHAD RAY, WEXFORD HEALTH
SOURCES, INC., HCU
ADMINISTRATOR, DIRECTOR OF
NURSING, MARC HODGE, and
BENJAMIN BRAKE,
Defendants.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
ROSENSTENGEL, Chief Judge:
Pending before the Court are several motions filed by Plaintiff Calvin Merritte and
Defendants. Specifically, Merritte has filed a Motion to Show Cause and/or Motion for
Relief from Judgment (Doc. 166), Motion for Court Order (Doc. 173), Motion for Free
Court Records (Doc. 175), Motion for Discovery (Doc. 176), Supplemental Motion for
Order to Show Cause and Relief from Judgment (Doc. 177), and a Motion for Preliminary
Injunction (Doc. 184). Defendants have moved to strike these motions (Docs. 179, 186).

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For the reasons set forth below, Merritte’s motions are denied and Defendants’ motions
are denied as moot.
On November 7, 2018, Magistrate Judge Donald G. Wilkerson issued a Show
Cause Order, ordering Merritte to show cause in writing by December 28, 2018, why this
matter should not be dismissed due to his failure to prosecute this action and cooperate
with appointed counsel (Doc. 145). Merritte failed to reply in a timely fashion, resulting
in the Court dismissing the action with prejudice pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil
Procedure 41(b) (Doc. 157).
Merritte now invokes Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b) in his Motions to Show
Cause and for Relief from Judgment (Docs. 166, 177), stating that he did not receive any
of his appointed counsel’s communications and did not have adequate library access or
access to mailing materials. Rule 60(b) permits a court to relieve a party from an order or
judgment based on such grounds as mistake, inadvertence, surprise, excusable neglect
by the movant, or newly discovered evidence that could not have been discovered within
the deadline for filing a Rule 59 motion. This rule is considered an extraordinary remedy
and is granted only in exceptional circumstances. Eskridge v. Cook Cnty., 577 F.3d 806, 809
(7th Cir. 2009).
Here, Merritte has filed to demonstrate exceptional circumstances warranting the
reopening of his dismissed case under Rule 60. Merritte repeatedly failed to comply with
the Court’s order and failed to communicate, even despite a reminder from the Court.
For this reason, Merritte’s Motion to Show Cause and/or Motion for Relief from
Judgement (Doc. 166) and Supplemental Motion for Order to Show Cause and Relief from

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Judgement (Doc. 177) are DENIED.
Furthermore, Merritte’s case was dismissed with prejudice and judgment was
entered January 28, 2019. Accordingly, his attempts to continue to engage in discovery
and otherwise seek relief in this closed case are without merit. For these reasons,
Merritte’s Motion for Court Order (Doc. 173), Motion for Free Court Records (Doc. 175),
Motion for Discovery (Doc. 176), and Motion for Preliminary Injunction (Doc. 184) are
also DENIED.
Because Merritte’s motions are denied, Defendants motions to strike (Doc. 179,
186) are DENIED as moot.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATED: March 18, 2020
____________________________
NANCY J. ROSENSTENGEL
Chief U.S. District Judge

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