WOOD v. JOSEPH et al

Filing 8

ENTRY Dismissing Claims and Directing Further Proceedings - The claims found insufficient and which are dismissed for that reason are the claims against Corizon Medical Services and against Plainfield Superintendent Brian Smith. No final judgment shall issue at this time as to the claims dismissed in this Entry. The case shall proceed on the deliberate indifference claims asserted against Dr. Joseph, Dr. LeClerque, and Nurse Practitioner Jennifer Barnes. The clerk is designated pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(c)(3) to issue and serve process on the remaining defendants in the manner specified by Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(d)(1). Process shall consist of the complaint, applicable forms and this Entry. Signed by Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson on 1/24/2014. (copies via US Mail to Plaintiff and Defendants as directed) (JKS)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA
INDIANAPOLIS DIVISION
RAYMOND WOOD,
Plaintiff,

v.
LOLITE JOSEPH, et al.,

Defendants.

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No. 1:13-cv-1883-JMS-TAB

Entry Dismissing Insufficient
Claims and Directing Further Proceedings
Raymond Wood is a prisoner as defined in 28 U.S.C. § 1915(h). This means that his civil
rights complaint is subject to the screening requirement of 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b). Lagerstrom v.
Kingston, 463 F.3d 621, 624 (7th Cir. 2006). Pursuant to this statute, “[a] complaint or a claim
within a complaint is subject to dismissal for failure to state a claim if the allegations, taken as
true, show that plaintiff is not entitled to relief.” Jones v. Bock, 127 S. Ct. 910, 921 (2007).
To satisfy the notice-pleading standard of Rule 8 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure,
a complaint must provide a “short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is
entitled to relief.” Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 93 (2007) (per curiam) (citing Bell Atl. Corp.
v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007), and quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2)), and “must always . . .
allege >enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’” Limestone
Development Corp. v. Village of Lemont, Ill., 520 F.3d 797, 803 (7th Cir. 2008) (quoting Bell
Atlantic Corp., 550 U.S. at 555). AA claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual
content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the
misconduct alleged.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 129 S. Ct. 1937, 1949 (2009).

Wood claims that medical personnel and others at the Plainfield Correctional Facility have
denied him constitutionally adequate medical care. Under the Eighth Amendment, inmates are
entitled to adequate medical care. Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 104 (1976). To establish
liability, a prisoner must satisfy both an objective and subjecting component by showing that: (1)
his medical need was objectively serious; and (2) the defendant acted with deliberate indifference
to that medical need. Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 834 (1994). A medical need is “serious”
if it is one that a physician has diagnosed as mandating treatment, or one that is so obvious that
even a lay person would easily recognize the necessity for a doctor's attention. Greeno v. Daley,
414 F.3d 645, 653 (7th Cir. 2005). Deliberate indifference means that the defendant “acted in an
intentional or criminally reckless manner, i.e., the defendant must have known that the plaintiff
was at serious risk of being harmed and decided not to do anything to prevent that harm from
occurring even though he could have easily done so.” Board v. Farnham, 394 F.3d 469, 478 (7th
Cir. 2005) (internal citation omitted).
Based on the foregoing standard, the claims found insufficient and which are dismissed
for that reason are the claims against Corizon Medical Services, see Rodriguez v. Plymouth
Ambulance Serv., 577 F.3d 816, 828 (7th Cir. 2009), and against Plainfield Superintendent Brian
Smith. Burks v. Raemisch, 555 F.3d 592, 593-94 (7th Cir. 2009) (ALiability depends on each
defendant's knowledge and actions, not on the knowledge or actions of persons they supervise.”).
No final judgment shall issue at this time as to the claims dismissed in this Entry.
The case shall proceed on the deliberate indifference claims asserted against Dr. Joseph,
Dr. LeClerque, and Nurse Practitioner Jennifer Barnes.

The clerk is designated pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(c)(3) to issue and serve process on
the remaining defendants in the manner specified by Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(d)(1). Process shall consist
of the complaint, applicable forms and this Entry.
IT IS SO ORDERED.

01/24/2014
Date: ___________

_______________________________
Hon. Jane Magnus-Stinson, Judge
United States District Court
Southern District of Indiana

Distribution:
RAYMOND WOOD
140780
PLAINFIELD CORRECTIONAL FACILITY
Inmate Mail/Parcels
727 MOON ROAD
PLAINFIELD, IN 46168
Dr. Joseph
Each at:
Dr. LeClerque
Nurse Practitioner Jennifer Barnes

PLAINFIELD CORRECTIONAL FACILITY
727 MOON ROAD
PLAINFIELD, IN 46168