Sillas v. Lorea et al

Filing 31

ORDER ADOPTING 30 Report and Recommendation and GRANTING 18 Motion for Summary Judgment on Exhaustion of Adminitstrative Remedies filed by Defendants Mark Burton and Robert Mueller. This case shall now proceed solely on Sillas's claim against Defendant Joe Lorera. The Clerk of Court is DIRECTED to correct Defendant Lorera's name as indicated in footnote 1. Signed by Chief Judge Nancy J. Rosenstengel on 6/18/2019. (mlp)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
STANTON E. SILLAS,
Plaintiff,
v.

Case No. 3:18-CV-1021-NJR-GCS

JOE LORERA, 1 MARK BURTON,
and ROBERT MUELLER,
Defendants.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
ROSENSTENGEL, Chief Judge:
This matter comes before the Court on the Report and Recommendation of United
States Magistrate Judge Gilbert C. Sison (Doc. 30), which recommends granting the
motion for summary judgment on the issue of exhaustion of administrative remedies
filed by Defendants Mark Burton and Robert Mueller (Doc. 17).
Plaintiff Stanton Sillas filed this lawsuit on April 26, 2018, pursuant to 42 U.S.C.
§ 1983, alleging his constitutional rights were violated while he was incarcerated at
Centralia Correctional Center (Doc. 1). Specifically, Sillas claims Defendants imposed a
rule on him, not imposed on other inmates, that he must consume food items purchased
from the commissary within two months of purchase (Id.). After threshold review of his
complaint pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A, Sillas was permitted to proceed on one count
alleging Defendants violated his right to equal protection by implementing a rule, only

1

The Clerk of Court is DIRECTED to correct Defendant C/O Lorea’s name to Joe Lorera on the docket.

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applying to him, that deprives him of his property in violation of the Fourteenth
Amendment (Doc. 8).
On November 14, 2018, Defendants Burton and Mueller filed a motion for
summary judgment on the issue of exhaustion of administrative remedies asserting Sillas
failed to exhaust his administrative remedies pursuant to the Prison Litigation Reform
Act, 42 U.S.C. §1997e, et seq., prior to filing this lawsuit (Doc. 18). Sillas filed a response
in opposition on December 28, 2018, and testified at an evidentiary hearing held by Judge
Sison pursuant to Pavey v. Conley, 544 F.3d 739 (7th Cir. 2008), on May 9, 2019 (Docs. 21,
28).
In his Report and Recommendation, Judge Sison recommends that the
undersigned grant Defendants’ motion for summary judgment because, while there is no
dispute that Sillas filed a grievance on May 1, 2017, the grievance was insufficient to
exhaust his claims against Defendants Burton and Mueller. Instead, the grievance only
references Defendant Lorera and an April 2017 search of Sillas’s cell. Because the
grievance does not identify, describe, or otherwise complain about Burton or Mueller
such that the prison was put on notice of Sillas’s complaints about them, Sillas failed to
exhaust his administrative remedies as to these Defendants. Objections to the Report and
Recommendation were due June 6, 2019. 28 U.S.C. §636(b); SDIL-LR 73.1(b). No
objections were filed.
Because no party has filed an objection, the undersigned need not undertake de
novo review. 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(C); see also Thomas v. Arn, 474 U.S. 140 (1985); Johnson v.
Zema Sys. Corp., 170 F.3d 734, 741 (7th Cir. 1999). Instead, the Court should review the
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Report and Recommendation for clear error. Johnson v. Zema Systems Corp., 170 F.3d 734,
739 (7th Cir. 1999). The Court may then “accept, reject, or modify, in whole or in part, the
findings or recommendations made by the magistrate judge.” 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1).
While de novo review is not required here, the Court has reviewed Judge Sison’s
Report and Recommendation for clear error. Following this review, the Court agrees with
his findings, analysis, and conclusions. Accordingly, the Court ADOPTS the Report and
Recommendation (Doc. 30) and GRANTS the Motion for Summary Judgment on the
Issue of Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies filed by Defendants Mark Burton and
Robert Mueller (Doc. 18). This case shall now proceed solely on Sillas’s claim against
Defendant Joe Lorera.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATED: June 18, 2019
____________________________
NANCY J. ROSENSTENGEL
U.S. Chief District Judge

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