Grissom, Terrance v. Bartow, Byron

Filing 17

ORDER that plaintiff Terrance Grissom may have until June 14, 2017, to submit $0.03 initial partial payments of the filing fees for each of these cases, or show cause for his failure to do so. Plaintiff's renewed motions for writing supplies and for appointment of counsel, Dkt. 16 in case no. 17-cv-51-jdp, are DENIED. Plaintiff's motion to waive the filing fee in case no. 17-cv-241-jdp, Dkt. 2, is DENIED. Signed by District Judge James D. Peterson on 5/24/2017. (jef),(ps)

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

TERRANCE GRISSOM,
Plaintiff,
v.

ORDER
17-cv-51-jdp

BYRON BARTOW,
Defendant.
TERRANCE GRISSOM,
Plaintiff,
v.
EDMOND YOUNG and DASHUN WILLIAMS,

ORDER
17-cv-241-jdp

Defendants.
Pro se plaintiff Terrance Grissom, currently a prisoner at the Green Bay Correctional
Institution, brought case no. 17-cv-51-jdp, alleging that he was mistreated and abused at the
Wisconsin Resource Center. But Grissom has a long history of filing lawsuits and then failing
to pay the initial partial payment of the filing fee assigned to each case. In a March 8, 2017
order, I denied Grissom’s motions to waive the filing fee, to recruit counsel for him, and to
direct prison officials to provide him with legal materials. Dkt. 13 in the ’51 case. I directed
Grissom to ask prison officials to disburse $0.03 from his release count for the initial partial
payment of the filing fee. Id.
Grissom has responded to that order by stating that prison officials have denied his
written request for use of funds to pay the initial partial payment. Dkt. 14 in the ’51 case. But

none of the documents Grissom attaches to that response show that he actually made that
request to prison officials. Rather, the documents he has submitted seem to show denials of his
requests for legal loan funds, so it appears that Grissom continues to believe that the $0.03
payment can be made from legal loan funds. As I explained in the previous order, his initial
partial payment must come from his release account, not legal loan funds.
I will give Grissom a final chance to submit the $0.03 initial partial payment for the ’51
case. He should ask prison officials to disburse the money from his release account, and he
should show them a copy of this order to ensure that they are aware that they should send his
initial partial payment to this court. If the request is rejected, he should submit the rejection
to this court. If Grissom does not make the initial payment or explain why he was unable to
do so, I will dismiss the ’51 case.
Also in his response, Grissom renews his request for access to counsel and his allegations
that he is being denied writing supplies. But Grissom does not need counsel to accomplish the
next step in the ’51 case, which is to pay the initial partial filing fee. And there is no reason to
think that he needs to court’s assistance to obtain writing supplies. Not only did he respond to
my last order, but he also filed a brand new case, no. 17-cv-241-jdp. I will deny his renewed
motions.
Turning to the ’241 case, Grissom brings claims that two fellow inmates are threatening
him and his family. I conclude that his allegations are sufficient to overcome the court sanction
barring him from filing new complaints unless he pays off all of his previous filing fees or
submits a complaint alleging that he is imminent danger of serious physical injury. But there
are two other problems with his new complaint.

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First, Grissom asks to waive the filing fee. This court cannot waive the filing fee, but it
could waive prepayment of any of it if Grissom’s financial information showed that he was
completely indigent. However, it appears that Grissom still has money he could use to pay an
initial partial payment. The trust fund account statement Grissom submits with his complaint
in the ’241 case is not completely up to date, but it continues to show that he has $0.17 in his
release account, which means that the initial partial payment for this case is also $0.03. See 28
U.S.C. § 1915(b). I will give him a short time to file the initial partial payment along with his
payment from the ’51 case.
The second problem is that Grissom names as defendants only the two inmates who are
threatening him. The type of constitutional claims Grissom tries to bring in this case may only
be brought against defendants who are acting “under color” of law, which usually means that
they are government officials. See 42 U.S.C. § 1983. I take Grissom to be alleging that prison
officials are not protecting him and his family from harm, but he does not actually name any
prison officials as defendants. When Grissom submits his initial partial payment, he should
also submit an amended complaint explaining who at the prison knew about the threats and
how they responded to them. If Grissom does not know the actual identities of those
individuals, he should refer to these individuals as “John Doe No. 1,” “John Doe No. 2,” and
so on.

ORDER
IT IS ORDERED that:
1. Plaintiff Terrance Grissom may have until June 14, 2017, to submit $0.03 initial
partial payments of the filing fees for each of these cases, or show cause for his failure
to do so.

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2. Plaintiff’s renewed motions for writing supplies and for appointment of counsel,
Dkt. 16 in case no. 17-cv-51-jdp, are DENIED.
3. Plaintiff’s motion to waive the filing fee in case no. 17-cv-241-jdp, Dkt. 2, is
DENIED.
Entered May 24, 2017.
BY THE COURT:
/s/
________________________________________
JAMES D. PETERSON
District Judge

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