Sewell, Bradley v. Manlove, Jeffrey et al

Filing 34

ORDER denying plaintiff's 29 Motion for Reconsideration. Signed by Magistrate Judge Stephen L. Crocker on 2/6/2017. (jef),(ps)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN
BRADLEY SEWELL,
Plaintiff,

ORDER

v.
15-cv-241-slc
DR. JEFFREY MANLOVE, et al.,
Defendants.

Pro se plaintiff Bradley Sewell is proceeding on claims that several employees of the
Wisconsin Department of Corrections violated his rights under the First and Eighth
Amendments. On January 4, 2017, I denied his Motion for Assistance in Recruiting Counsel
(dkt. 28), and he has since filed a Motion for Reconsideration of that order. (Dkt. 29.)
According to Sewell, because he has been relying on another inmate to assist him in preparing
his filings, I erred in reasoning that he has shown himself capable of litigating this matter on his
own behalf. I disagree. The fact that Sewell has recruited another inmate to help him does not
show that this case is too complicated for him to handle on his own without a lawyer. See Pruitt
v. Mote, 503 F.3d 647, 655 (7th Cir. 2007). Rather, by reaching out to other inmates for help,
Sewell has demonstrated that he is identifying and making use of the resources and people that
are available to him right now.
More importantly, I also denied Sewell’s request because it is still too early to determine
whether the complexities of this case really do exceed Sewell’s ability to litigate it. That is why
I denied his motion without prejudice: he may renew it AFTER the exhaustion phase if Sewell
can show that, even when he uses all of the resources available to him—including the help of
other inmates–-he can no longer adequately meet the demands of this lawsuit. Plaintiff’s motion
for reconsideration is thus DENIED at this time, again without prejudice.

ORDER
IT IS ORDERED that plaintiff Bradley Sewell’s Motion for Reconsideration (dkt. 29)
is DENIED.

Entered this 6th day of February, 2017.
BY THE COURT:
/s/
STEPHEN L. CROCKER
Magistrate Judge

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