Youngblood v. Illinois Department of Corrections et al
Filing
142
ORDER OVERRULING IN PART 125 and 136 Objections filed by Plaintiff Timothy Lorne Youngblood to 120 MOTION for Bill of Costs filed by Defendants John Trost and Wexford Health Sources, Inc. and 133 Bill of Costs filed by Defendants Al ex Jones and John R. Baldwin. The Court ORDERS an award of costs in the amount of $162.89 for Defendants Trost and Wexford and an award of costs in the amount of $63.85 for Defendants Baldwin and Jones. The Clerk of Court shall tax costs in these amounts against Plaintiff. Signed by Magistrate Judge Mark A. Beatty on 7/13/2022. (klh2)
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
TIMOTHY LORNE YOUNGBLOOD,
)
)
Plaintiff,
)
)
vs.
)
)
DR. JOHN TROST,
)
WEXFORD HEALTH SOURCES, INC., )
JOHN R. BALRWIN, and ALEX JONES, )
)
Defendants.
)
Case No. 3:17-CV-807-MAB
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
BEATTY, Magistrate Judge:
This matter is currently before the Court on the Bills of Costs filed by Defendants
(Doc. 120, 133) and Plaintiff’s objections thereto (Doc. 125, 136). For the reasons explained
below, Plaintiff’s objections are overruled in part and Defendants are awarded a portion
of their costs.
Plaintiff Timothy Youngblood, an inmate in the Illinois Department of
Corrections, filed his lawsuit pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging his constitutional
rights were violated when he was denied adequate medical care for two inguinal hernias
over the course of four years at various correctional facilities. Defendants Dr. John Trost,
Wexford Health Sources, Inc., John Baldwin, and Alex Jones moved for summary
judgment and their motions were granted (Doc. 111). The case was dismissed and
judgment was entered in Defendants’ favor on September 30, 2020 (Doc. 112). The Court’s
summary judgment order was affirmed on appeal (Doc. 141-1).
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Defendants Trost and Wexford filed their Bill of Costs on October 14, 2020, seeking
$814.45 in costs (Doc. 120). Defendants Baldwin and Jones filed their Bill of Costs on
December 10, 2020, seeking $319.25 in costs (Doc. 133). Plaintiff asserts that he should not
be required to pay the costs because he is indigent and although his suit was ultimately
unsuccessful, it was filed in good faith and was not frivolous, malicious, or vexatious
(Docs. 125, 136). Plaintiff also baldly asserts that the costs claims were not legitimate or
necessary (Docs. 125, 136).
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(d)(1) provides that “costs—other than
attorney's fees—should be allowed to the prevailing party” unless a federal statute, the
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, or a court order provides otherwise. There is a “strong
presumption that the prevailing party will recover costs . . . .” Weeks v. Samsung Heavy
Indus. Co., 126 F.3d 926, 945 (7th Cir. 1997); accord Lange v. City of Oconto, 28 F.4th 825, 845
(7th Cir. 2022); Rivera v. City of Chicago, 469 F.3d 631, 634 (7th Cir. 2006). The burden is on
the non-prevailing party to overcome this presumption by making “an affirmative
showing that taxed costs are not appropriate.” Lange, 28 F.4th at 845 (citation omitted);
Rivera, 469 F.3d at 636. “This presumption in favor of awarding costs ‘is difficult to
overcome’; therefore, ‘the court must award costs unless it states good reasons for
denying them.’” Lange, 28 F.4th at 845 (quoting Weeks, 126 F.3d at 645). The decision of
whether and to what extent the prevailing party may be awarded costs is committed to
the district court’s discretion. Lange, 28 F.4th at 846; Weeks 126 F.3d at 945.
The Court begins with Plaintiff’s argument that the claimed costs were not
legitimate or necessary. The Court disagrees. Defendants are seeking costs associated
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with the depositions of Plaintiff, Dr. John Trost, and Wexford’s corporate representative,
such as transcripts and court reporter fees (see Doc. 120, Doc. 133). Depositions are one of
the primary methods of conducting discovery, and the parties in a lawsuit are permitted
to depose one another. See FED. R. CIV. P. 30. Making a record of the deposition in a written
transcript and/or by video is essential. Deposition costs are recoverable under 28 U.S.C.
§ 1920. See also Weeks, 126 F.3d at 945. The Court has no reason to doubt that it was
necessary to depose Plaintiff, Dr. Trost, and Wexford’s corporate representative in order
for Defendants to properly defend themselves against Plaintiff’s claims. Plaintiff has not
demonstrated otherwise.
The Court next considers Plaintiff’s argument that he should not be required to
pay the costs because he is indigent. The presumption that costs are to be awarded to the
prevailing party can be overcome by a showing of indigency. Rivera, 469 F.3d at 634
(citing Badillo v. Cent. Steel & Wire Co., 717 F.2d 1160, 1165 (7th Cir. 1983)); Weeks 126 F.3d
at 945. Indigence, however, “does not automatically excuse the losing party from paying
the prevailing party's costs.” Rivera, 469 F.3d at 635. In determining whether to hold an
indigent party liable for costs, “the district court must make a threshold factual finding
that the losing party is ‘incapable of paying the court-imposed costs at this time or in the
future.’” Id. (quoting McGill v. Faulkner, 18 F.3d 456, 459 (7th Cir. 1994)). The burden is on
the indigent party “to provide the district court with sufficient documentation to support
such a finding,” in the form of “an affidavit or other documentary evidence of both
income and assets, as well as a schedule of expenses.” Rivera, 469 F.3d at 635 (internal
quotation marks and citation omitted). Next, the district court “should consider the
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amount of costs, the good faith of the losing party, and the closeness and difficulty of the
issues raised by a case when using its discretion to deny costs.” Id. “No one factor is
determinative.” Id. See also Lange, 28 F.4th at 846 (“A showing of good faith alone,
however, is insufficient to shield a losing litigant from paying costs.”) (citation omitted).
Here, Plaintiff was granted pauper status when this action commenced (Doc. 5),
and he has been continuously incarcerated throughout the course of this litigation. While
Plaintiff did not include any documentation regarding his income or expenses with his
Objections (see Docs. 125, 136), he submitted a motion for leave to proceed in forma
pauperis on appeal (“IFP motion”) along with a copy of his trust fund statement on the
day that he submitted his Objection to the first Bill of Costs (Docs. 126, 127). The trust
fund statement shows that Plaintiff’s only source of income was the $10 he received each
month from the state and highest his balance got was between $10 and $13 (Doc. 127).
And as of October 9, 2020, Plaintiff had a balance of zero dollars (Doc. 127). The Court
therefore finds that Plaintiff was not capable of paying Defendants’ costs at the time the
Bills of Cost were filed.
As for his future ability to pay Defendants’ costs, Plaintiff did not provide any
information (see Docs. 125, 136), but the Court notes that according to the Department of
Corrections’ website, Plaintiff remains incarcerated and is expected to be paroled in 2025.
The Court is extremely skeptical that Plaintiff will be capable of paying Defendants’ costs
at any point during his remaining incarceration. The Court is equally skeptical that
following his release, Plaintiff will be immediately gainfully employed, but it is possible.
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As for the other factors the Court must consider, Defendants seek a collective total
of $1,133.70. That sum, while not astronomical, is substantial to a prisoner proceeding in
forma pauperis. Furthermore, the Court finds that this action was not frivolous and
believes Plaintiff's pursuit of this action was in good faith. That being said, the issues
presented Plaintiff’s case were not close or difficult in light of all the evidence, and
Plaintiff did not prevail on any of his claims. For that reason, the Court concludes that
Plaintiff should not be completely relieved of the obligation to pay Defendants’ costs.
See Luckey v. Baxter Healthcare Corp., 183 F.3d 730, 734 (7th Cir. 1999) (“Someone has to
bear the costs of litigation, and the winner has much the better claim to be spared them .
. . . Straitened circumstances do not justify filing weak suits and then demanding that
someone else pay the bill.”). As previously indicated, Plaintiff is not presently capable of
paying all of Defendants’ claimed costs and it is highly unlikely that he will be able to at
any point in the future while he remains incarcerated or even shortly after his release.
Therefore, the Court will reduce the amount he owes to 20% of the requested costs, which
the Court finds reasonable under the circumstances. That amount allows Defendants to
recover a portion of the costs they were forced to incur and imposes a measure of
accountability on Plaintiff.
CONCLUSION
The Court OVERRULES in part Plaintiff's objection to costs and reduces the
amount he owes to 20% of the requested costs. The Court ORDERS an award of costs in
the amount of $162.89 for Defendants Trost and Wexford and an award of costs in the
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amount of $63.85 for Defendants Baldwin and Jones. The Clerk of Court shall tax costs in
these amounts against Plaintiff.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATED: July 13, 2022
s/ Mark A. Beatty
MARK A. BEATTY
United States Magistrate Judge
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