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Protection of Prisoners – Dismissal with Prejudice

By: Derek Hawkins//September 21, 2015//

Protection of Prisoners – Dismissal with Prejudice

By: Derek Hawkins//September 21, 2015//

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Civil

7th Circuit Court of Appeals

Officials: WOOD, Chief Judge, and POSNER and ROVNER, Circuit Judges

Protection of Prisoners – Dismissal with Prejudice

No.14-3441 Mario Reyes v. Thomas J. Dart

Circuit court dismissal of appellant-prisoner’s claim alleging prison guard ignored appellants pleas for help while appellant was being stabbed was a miscarriage of justice.

“The judge erred. Rule 41(b) authorizes dismissal of a suit if the “plaintiff fails to prosecute [it] or to comply with these rules or a court order.” There was no failure to comply with any rule or any court order. Nor in refusing to sign the re‐ lease was the plaintiff failing to prosecute his suit—he was prosecuting it in part by challenging the defendants’ demand for unlimited access to and unlimited use of his medical records (albeit only such records as counsel might find in the files of the enumerated medical institutions). The demand for so comprehensive a release was improper, and the plaintiff should not have been criticized—let alone thrown out of court under inapplicable Rule 41(b)—for challenging it.”

Vacated and Remanded

Full Text


Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.

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