Houck v. USA et al

Filing 20

ORDER DENYING 17 Motion to Stay. Signed by Magistrate Judge Donald G. Wilkerson on 5/24/17. (sgp)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
)
)
)
Plaintiff,
)
)
v.
)
C/O LANG, DR. COOK, J. WEBER, LT.)
DELOIA,
MR.
MEADE,
MS.)
CASTELLANO, JOHN DOE 1, and JOHN)
)
DOE 2,
)
)
Defendants.
KENNETH HOUCK,

Case No. 3:16-cv-1396-JPG-DGW

ORDER
WILKERSON, Magistrate Judge:
Now pending before the Court is the Motion to Stay filed by Plaintiff, Kenneth Houck, on
May 16, 2017 (Doc. 17). The Motion is DENIED.
Plaintiff is proceeding on two counts, that his Fifth Amendment and First Amendment
rights were violated by Defendants (Doc. 14). This matter is at the early stages, prior to any
Defendant entering an appearance. Plaintiff nonetheless seeks to stay this matter. He claims that
a non-party, his cases manager, K. Sanders, is retaliating against him for filing this suit by denying
him placement in a Residential Reentry Center. He claims that she told him that if he has to
appear in Court on this matter, that he cannot be placed in the center (and that this “threat” is meant
to punish him for filing this lawsuit). Thus, he seeks to stay all pretrial matters in this lawsuit until
he is placed in the Residential Reentry Center and released from the center 11 months later.
Plaintiff’s retaliation claims are unrelated to the claims in this lawsuit and a stay in this
matter is not warranted. Plaintiff elected to file this lawsuit and it will proceed as scheduled
absent extraordinary circumstances, none of which are present in this matter. Plaintiff has

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presented no argument or evidence that he has been actively prevented from litigating this matter,
only that his preferred housing may not be possible if this matter is set for a hearing.

It is

unlikely that Plaintiff will be required to appear in Court on this matter until after Defendants have
filed a responsive pleading and a scheduling order has been entered – several months down the
road and certainly after his July 19, 2017 anticipated placement in the center. If Plaintiff believes
that he is being retaliated against, he should grieve the matter through the prison grievance process,
as it is not an issue in this lawsuit.
DATED: May 24, 2017

DONALD G. WILKERSON
United States Magistrate Judge

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