SCOTT v. BUTTS

Filing 19

ENTRY - Petitioner's 17 MOTION (Request) for Interrogatory is DENIED. Petitioner's 18 Third MOTION for Extension of Time to File Reply Brief is DENIED. Petitioner's Reply to the respondent's response to order to show cause remains due on August 16, 2012. Signed by Judge Tanya Walton Pratt on 7/27/2012. Copy Mailed. (JD)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA
KENNETH E. SCOTT,
Petitioner,
v.
KEITH BUTTS,
Respondent.

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No. 1:12-cv-0077-TWP-MJD

Entry Concerning Selected Matters
The court, having considered the above action and the matters which are
pending, makes the following rulings:
1.

This is an action for habeas corpus relief brought by a state prisoner.

Discovery in such an action is not authorized as a matter of course, but only with
leave of court and based on a showing of good cause. Discovery has not been
authorized in this case and thus the interrogatories filed on July 24, 2012, are of no
effect. The petitioners request to use interrogatories to further expand the record by
obtaining an evidentiary basis on which to submit evidence opposing that relied on
by the hearing officer to find the petitioner guilty of misconduct [Dkt. 17] is denied
because this court’s review is limited to evidence considered by the hearing officer
and because, in any event, even submission of evidence such as expected by the
petitioner through the use of interrogatories would not establish the petitioner’s
entitlement to relief. This is because "[t]he Federal Constitution does not require
evidence that logically precludes any conclusion but the one reached by the
disciplinary board." Superintendent of Walpole v. Hill, 472 U.S. 445, 457 (1985),

2.

The petitioner’s motion for a further enlargement of time is linked to

his intended use of the discovery process as described above. Because the court has
determined that discovery will not be authorized in this action, a further extension
of time is not warranted. The petitioner’s motion for a further enlargement of time
[Dkt. 18] is denied. Petitioner’s Reply to the respondent’s response to order to show
cause remains due on August 16, 2012.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
07/27/2012
Date: __________________

________________________
Hon. Tanya Walton Pratt, Judge
United States District Court
Southern District of Indiana

Distribution:
Kenneth Edward Scott
No. 910421
Pendleton Correctional Facility
Inmate Mail/Parcels
4490 West Reformatory Road
Pendleton, IN 46064-9001
[e-mail]