Tillis v. Warden

Filing 8

OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING 6 MOTION to Dismiss Petition as Moot filed by Warden. This case is DISMISSED and the clerk is DIRECTED to close this case. Signed by Judge Jon E DeGuilio on 4/23/18. (ksp)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA
SOUTH BEND DIVISION
BRANDON TILLIS,
Petitioner,
v.
WARDEN,
Respondent.

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Case No. 3:17-CV-917-JD-MGG

OPINION AND ORDER
Brandon Tillis, a prisoner without a lawyer, filed a habeas corpus petition
challenging his prison disciplinary hearing in WCC 17-04-392 where a Disciplinary
Hearing Officer (DHO) at the Westville Correctional Facility found him guilty of
Possession or Use of a Controlled Substance in violation of B-202 on May 4, 2017. ECF
6-1 at 1. As a result, Tillis was sanctioned with the loss of 10 days earned credit time.
Id.
After Tillis filed his petition, the finding of guilt and sanctions were vacated.
ECF 6-2. The Warden has filed a motion to dismiss because this case is now moot. ECF
6. Tillis did not file a response and the time for doing so has passed. See N.D. Ind. L.
Cr. R. 47-2. Regardless, the court cannot overturn the disciplinary proceeding and
restore his time because the Indiana Department of Correction has already vacated the
proceeding and restored his time. That is to say, Tillis has already won and there is no
case left for this court to decide. Accordingly, this case must be dismissed. See Hadley v.
Holmes, 341 F.3d 661, 664 (7th Cir. 2003) (prisoner can challenge prison disciplinary

determination in habeas proceeding only when it resulted in a sanction that lengthened
the duration of his confinement).
For these reasons, the motion (ECF 6) is GRANTED and the case is DISMISSED.
Th e clerk is DIRECTED to close this case.
SO ORDERED on April 23, 2018.
/s/ JON E. DEGUILIO
JUDGE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT