Court Error – Abuse of Discretion

By: Derek Hawkins//December 13, 2017//

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: DeLaurence Robinson v. Dale Scrogum, et al.

Case No.: 16-3363

Officials: FLAUM, RIPPLE, and ROVNER, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Court Error – Abuse of Discretion

DeLaurence Robinson, an inmate in Illinois, alleged in this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 that five guards at Pontiac Correctional Center beat him in 2011 as punishment for filing grievances. The district court initially permitted Robinson to proceed on claims of retaliation and excessive force, but later dismissed the case, reasoning that Edwards v. Balisok, 520 U.S. 641 (1997), bars the suit because some of Robinson’s allegations about the altercation conflicted with his disciplinary conviction for assaulting the guards. Because we conclude that the district court abused its discretion in declining to recruit counsel for Robinson, we vacate the judgment and remand for further proceedings.

Vacated and Remanded

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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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