Jackson v. Murphy et al

Filing 18

ORDER signed by Judge Pamela Pepper on 6/30/2017 DENYING 12 Plaintiff's Motion for Preliminary Injunction and ORDERING plaintiff to participate in Prisoner E-Filing Program as long as he's confined at an institution that uses that program. (cc: all counsel, via mail to Keith Jackson at Oshkosh Correctional Institution) (cb)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN
______________________________________________________________________________
KEITH JACKSON,
Plaintiff,
v.

Case No. 17-cv-194-pp

DR. PATRICK MURPHY, et al.,
Defendants.
______________________________________________________________________________
ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR EMERGENCY INJUNCTION
TO STOP E-FILING PROCEDURE (DKT. NO. 12)
______________________________________________________________________________
The plaintiff has filed a motion for an emergency injunction to prevent
the Green Bay Clerk of Court’s Office from requiring that he participate in the
court’s Prisoner E-Filing Program. Dkt. No. 12. The plaintiff is incarcerated at
the Oshkosh Correctional Institution, and the court’s Prisoner E-Filing
Program, under which inmates give case filings to institution staff who scan
and e-mail the documents to the court, went into effect there on May 15, 2017.
In support of his motion, the plaintiff asserts that the institution library
has unreliable hours due to staffing issues, and he’s concerned that he may
not be able to timely file his court documents. The plaintiff also states that
prison staff shouldn’t be handling legal mail because the mail may be against
staff and it could help staff plot against prisoners related to their legal actions.
Lastly, the plaintiff requests that, since his case is before Judge Pepper who
presides in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, all matters related to this case be handled
from the Milwaukee Division of the Eastern District of Wisconsin, not the
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Green Bay Division. He says that if the court is going to require him to
participate in the Prisoner E-Filing Program, he wants a court order “for the
records.” Id. at 2.
The judges of the Eastern District (both the Milwaukee and Green Bay
Divisions) decided some time ago that the Prisoner E-Filing Program is
mandatory; all inmates at participating institutions must participate. If a
library staffing issue results in the plaintiff filing a document after a deadline,
he may explain to the court why the document is untimely. With regard to the
plaintiff’s concern that staff may read his case filings and plot against him, the
court notes that institution staff also may have the opportunity to read
inmates’ paper pleadings (not to mention internal inmate complaints that
prisoners file); in other words, the Prisoner E-Filing Program does not give
institution staff any more access to prisoners’ court filings than they already
have. In any event, pleadings filed in court cases are public.
Both the Green Bay Division and the Milwaukee Division are part of the
Eastern District of Wisconsin. There is one clerk’s office, and one clerk of court
(Stephen Dries); there are two physical locations for that one clerk’s office. The
staff located in the office in Green Bay administer portions of the Prisoner EFiling Program for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. While the plaintiff may
receive some court documents from the physical office in Green Bay, Judge
Pepper is the presiding judge in the plaintiff’s case.
The court DENIES the plaintiff’s motion for emergency injunction to stop
e-filing procedure. Dkt. No. 12. The court ORDERS that the plaintiff must
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participate in the Prisoner E-Filing Program as long as he is confined at one of
the institutions that uses the Prisoner E-Filing Program.
Dated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin this 30th day of June, 2017.
BY THE COURT:
________________________________________
HON. PAMELA PEPPER
United States District Judge

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