Cherry et al v. Washington County Sheriff's Department et al

Filing 42

ORDER granting 36 Motion to Amend/Correct; denying 37 Motion to Appoint Counsel ; denying 20 Motion to Compel. Plaintiff's should submit an amended complaint within 21 days of the date of this order. Signed by Judge William C Griesbach on 01/30/2012. (cc: all counsel, via US mail to Eugene Cherry and Valerie Dabel) (Griesbach, William)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN
EUGENE CHERRY and VALERIE DABEL,
Plaintiffs,
v.

Case No. 11-C-1021

WASHINGTON COUNTY SHERIFFS’
DEPARTMENT, et al.,
Defendants.

ORDER

Plaintiffs have filed three motions, which I address herein. The first is both frivolous and
moot. In it, Plaintiffs ask that this Court order several defendants to accept service of the complaint.
Since the filing of the motion, these defendants have appeared through counsel, rendering the
motion moot.
The second motion asks for leave to amend the complaint to add claims based on racial
profiling. Leave to amend will be granted to allow claims for violations of the Equal Protection
Clause based on racial profiling. Sow v. Fortville Police Dept., 636 F.3d 293 (7th Cir. 2011). The
motion did not follow the Local Rules, however, which require the proposed amended pleading to
be attached to the motion to amend. See Civil L. R. 15(b). Because Plaintiffs are pro se, I will
allow them to file an amended complaint including their equal protection claims within 21 days of
the date of this order.
Finally, Plaintiffs have filed a second motion seeking appointment of counsel. Plaintiff
Cherry indicates that he is in “seg” and has limited access to a law library. Plaintiff Dabel, while
a free citizen, is a mother and does not have time to do legal research. These assertions do not

justify the “appointment” of counsel. Plaintiffs should be aware that there is no procedure nor
funding for “appointed” counsel in civil cases. Instead, in rare cases, a judge will inquire if an
attorney wishes to volunteer and donate his or her time to ensure that Due Process is met in a given
action. Certainly, the fact that an inmate litigant has wound up in segregated confinement should
not be a factor in his favor, lest inmates be given an incentive to misbehave. This is a garden variety
civil action alleging violations of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments. The Plaintiffs are their
own best witnesses as to what occurred, and they appear well equipped to alert the Court to their
positions and concerns (having filed no fewer than six motions already). If a trial proves necessary
the matter will be revisited.
The motion to compel is DENIED. The motion to amend is GRANTED: Plaintiffs should
submit an amended complaint within 21 days of the date of this order. The motion to appoint
counsel is DENIED.
SO ORDERED this

30th

day of January, 2012.

s/ William C. Griesbach
William C. Griesbach
United States District Judge

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