Grissom, Terrance v. Bartow, Byron

Filing 13

ORDER denying plaintiff's motions to waive an initial partial payment of the filing fee, Dkt. 5 , 7 , & 11 . Plaintiff may have until March 29, 2017, to submit his $0.03 initial partial payment of the filing fee or show cause for his failure to do so. Plaintiff's motion for legal library materials and writing supplies, Dkt. 5 , and appointment of counsel, Dkt. 9 , are DENIED. Signed by District Judge James D. Peterson on 3/8/2017. (jef),(ps)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN

TERRANCE GRISSOM,
Plaintiff,
v.

OPINION & ORDER
17-cv-51-jdp

BYRON BARTOW,
Defendant.

Pro se plaintiff Terrance Grissom, currently a prisoner at the Green Bay Correctional
Institution, brings this action alleging that he was mistreated and abused at the Wisconsin
Resource Center. Grissom is a frequent litigator in this court (he has brought more than 60
cases here since 1990) who has “struck out” under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g) and has been barred
from filing new complaints in this court unless his allegations show that he is in imminent
danger of serious physical injury. Grissom’s recent filings have generally been unfocused, and
he has taken no action when directed by this court to amend his complaints and to pay the
initial partial payments of his filing fees.
Grissom’s new allegations are similar to those contained in previous complaints. He
seems to be saying that he is being treated with experimental medication or other treatments
against his will, although I noted in a previous case that documents he submitted suggested
that he was being involuntarily treated under court order. See Dkt. 6 in case no. 16-cv-521jdp, at 6. He also includes new allegations that he was physically beaten by unnamed WRC
staff: he states that defendant WRC director Bartow’s “coworkers are beating upon
myself/other inmates/to where blood is everywhere.” Dkt. 1, at 8.

While his allegations remain fairly vague, his new allegations about being beaten are
troubling. Grissom does not appear to be in imminent danger of serious physical harm at
present because he has been transferred to GBCI. But I will not immediately dismiss the case
on the basis of the filing restrictions against him. A threshold barrier remains: as with so
many of his previous cases, he has not made an initial partial payment of the filing fee. It is
still unclear whether Grissom is prepared to follow the court’s directions. Unlike his other
current lawsuit filed in this court, case no. 17-cv-121-jdp, he has not submitted a document
indicating his willingness to authorize state officials to pay the filing fee under 28 U.S.C.
§ 1915 out of his accounts. Rather, he has filed a series of submissions asking to waive the
initial partial payment completely. See Dkt. 5, 7, & 11. Some of his attached documents
seem to show that he has misunderstood that the payment would come from a legal loan.
These payments come from his prison financial accounts.
I will deny Grissom’s motions because the financial information shows that he has
funds (albeit only $0.17) in his release account. The court has recalculated his initial partial
payment to be $0.03. See Dkt. 10. Grissom should be able to make this payment. But he
needs to ask prison officials to submit this payment from his release account. He should show
this order to prison officials to ensure that they are aware that they should send his initial
partial payment to this court. I will give him a short time to submit this payment. Should
Grissom fail to submit this payment or show that prison officials are not properly
withdrawing the fee from his account, I will dismiss the case. If he submits his initial partial
payment, I will screen his complaint.
Grissom also asks for legal library materials and writing supplies, Dkt. 5, and
appointment of counsel, Dkt. 9. But he has seemingly had no problem filing documents in

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this court, so I need not consider the question whether he has adequate supplies. Because
Grissom’s task at this point is a very simple one—pay the initial partial payment of his filing
fee—it is premature to consider his access to legal materials or his request for counsel. And in
any case, he does not explain in any detail how the lack of adequate legal materials has
harmed him. Nor has he attempted to make the showings usually required for the court to
recruit counsel: that he has made reasonable efforts to recruit counsel on his own (usually, by
providing the names of at least three attorneys who declined to represent him) and that the
difficulty of the case exceeds his capability to litigate it.
Grissom remains free to renew these motions. But if he seeks access to particular legal
library materials, he will need to explain what materials he has been blocked from accessing
and what litigation tasks he has been unable to complete because of the lack of access. If
Grissom renews his motion for counsel, he will need to show that he has asked attorneys for
help and that they have turned him down, and he will need to explain why he cannot litigate
the case on his own.

ORDER
IT IS ORDERED that:
1. Plaintiff Terrance Grissom’s motions to waive an initial partial payment of the
filing fee, Dkt. 5, 7, & 11, are DENIED. Plaintiff may have until March 29, 2017,
to submit his $0.03 initial partial payment of the filing fee or show cause for his
failure to do so. If plaintiff fails to make the initial partial payment by this
deadline or show cause for his failure to do so, I will direct the clerk of court to
close the case.

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2. Plaintiff’s motion for legal library materials and writing supplies, Dkt. 5, and
appointment of counsel, Dkt. 9, are DENIED.
Entered March 8, 2017.
BY THE COURT:
/s/
________________________________________
JAMES D. PETERSON
District Judge

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