Vaughn v. Litscher et al

Filing 12

ORDER signed by Judge J. P. Stadtmueller on 12/5/2016. 11 in 16-C-1486, 11 in 16-C-1499, 6 in 16-C-1557 Plaintiff's Requests for Order directing Wisconsin Secure Program Facility to provide his prison trust account statement DENIED. By 12/ 26/2016 plaintiff to file certified copy of prison trust account statement in each of his three pending cases or they will be dismissed for failure to prosecute. (cc: all counsel, via mail to Treon Vaughn and Warden at Wisconsin Secure Program Facility)(cb)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN
TREON D. VAUGHN,
Plaintiff,

Case No. 16-CV-1486-JPS

v.
JON LITSCHER, EDWARD WALL, HEISE,
CATHY JESS, J. PAQUIN, WARDEN
BOUGHTON, WARDEN KEMPER, A. ALT,
J. GUNDERSON, S. KOENER, PAIGE
O’CONNOR, STEPHANIE PIPIA, J.
LINDOW, CAPTAIN T. WIEGAND, K.
MARKS, J. ALDANA, KUSTMAN,
MORRISON, MINK, and GARDNER,
Defendants.

TREON D. VAUGHN,
Plaintiff,
v.
DEPUTY SHERIFF MCCOY, JON MASON,
JAMES FITZGERALD, GEOFFREY
DROWSE, MARY K. WAGNER, KENOSHA
COUNTY CLERK OF COURT, OFFICE
SORENSON, CLERK HANEY, DETECTIVE
DEWITT, ROBERT D. ZAPF, DANIEL
TUMBASCO, EMILY TERGY, ANDREW
BURGOYNE, DAVID BERMAN, CHAD
KERKMAN, DAVID BASTIANELLI, and
MS. WAGNER’S CLERK,
Defendants.

Case No. 16-CV-1499-JPS

TREON D. VAUGHN,
Plaintiff,

Case No. 16-CV-1557-JPS

v.
WISCONSIN SUPREME COURT,
WISCONSIN COURT OF APPEALS,
STUART GRAHAM, DIANE M.
FREMGEN, and J. DENIS MORAN,

ORDER

Defendants.

Before the Court are three separate actions filed by the same plaintiff,
Treon D. Vaughn, a prisoner at the Wisconsin Secure Program Facility. In
each of his three lawsuits, Plaintiff proceeds pro se and has filed a motion for
leave to proceed without prepayment of the filing fee. In these types of cases,
the prisoner must initially provide the Court with a certified copy of his
prison trust account statement for the last six months, which the Court uses
to calculate the appropriate amount of the prisoner’s required initial partial
filing fee. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2). Plaintiff has not filed his trust account
statement in any of his three cases. Instead, he has filed letters in each case
complaining that the prison will not issue him certified copies of his trust
account statement. He seeks an order directing the institution to do so.
Plaintiff does not state why his requests for his trust account statement
have been denied. The Court has been informed that the prison charges its
inmates for the expenses incurred in preparing these statements. Plaintiff
attempted to get a “legal loan” from the prison in order to pay those costs,
but that request was denied. Prison officials declined to extend him such a
loan because, pursuant to prison policy, they reviewed Plaintiff’s
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expenditures and found that he had overspent trust account funds at the
canteen which could have been used to pay for his trust account statement.
Finding that he squandered his money on other purchases, prison officials
denied his request for a legal loan to facilitate preparation of the trust
account statement.
The Court will not intervene in Plaintiff’s attempts to secure copies of
his trust account statement. Section 1915 places the burden on the prisoner
to obtain the statement and file it with his complaint. It provides that “[a]
prisoner seeking to bring a civil action . . . without prepayment of fees or
security therefor . . . shall submit a certified copy of the trust fund account
statement (or institutional equivalent) for the prisoner for the 6-month period
immediately preceding the filing of the complaint or notice of appeal,
obtained from the appropriate official of each prison at which the prisoner
is or was confined.” Nothing in the statute or relevant case law suggests that
the prisoner has an indelible right to receive the statement. If Plaintiff
requires a loan to pay the costs of producing the statement, and the prison
enforces a neutral, reasonable policy that leads to the denial of the loan, there
is nothing more for the Court to do. In short, it is Plaintiff’s duty to address
with prison officials any disagreements he might have about securing a loan
to pay for preparing the trust account statements. As a result, his request for
an order directing the institution to extend him that loan will be denied.
In each of Plaintiff’s three cases, the Clerk of the Court set a 21-day
deadline for Plaintiff to file his certified trust account statement. In the most
recently filed case, that deadline is December 12, 2016. In light of the
obstacles Plaintiff faces in obtaining the statement he needs, the Court will
afford him additional time to file the statement. Plaintiff will be granted until
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December 26, 2016 to file the statement in each of these three cases. If he does
not, Plaintiff is warned that his case will be dismissed without prejudice for
failure to prosecute. But more importantly, no extensions of this deadline
will be granted.
Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED that Plaintiff’s request for an order directing the
Wisconsin Secure Program Facility to provide him with his prison trust
account statement be and the same is hereby DENIED; and
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, no later than December 26, 2016,
Plaintiff shall file a certified copy of his prison trust account statement in each
of his three pending cases as required by 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2). If Plaintiff
fails to do so, each of the cases will be dismissed without prejudice for failure
to prosecute.
Dated at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, this 5th day of December, 2016.
BY THE COURT:

s/ J. P. Stadtmueller
J.P. Stadtmueller
U.S. District Judge

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