Identity

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Estate of William A. Miller v. Helen J. Marberry et al

Case No.: 15-1497

Officials: POSNER, EASTERBROOK, and SYKES, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Identity

While confined at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, William Miller fell out of an upper bunk and broke his back. Contending that he should have been in a lower bunk, Miller seeks compensation in this Bivens action. Miller died in June 2016; the record does not show why. His estate has been substituted as the plaintiff, but we use his name to make the exposition easier to follow. Miller’s principal problem is the identity of the two defendants: Gary Rogers, a guard, and Helen Marberry, then the Warden of Terre Haute. Miller does not seek relief from any physician or nurse, even though the prison’s medical department is responsible for deciding who has a medical need for a lower bunk. (His complaint named nurse Trisha Haddix, but he has abandoned that claim.) Nor did Miller sue the guard responsible for making bunk assignments. That guard sits in a pod containing a computer with access to the prison’s SENTRY database that identifies medical restrictions. Rogers, by contrast, roamed the cells on foot Miller’s principal problem is the identity of the two defendants: Gary Rogers, a guard, and Helen Marberry, then the Warden of Terre Haute. Miller does not seek relief from any physician or nurse, even though the prison’s medical department is responsible for deciding who has a medical need for a lower bunk. (His complaint named nurse Trisha Haddix, but he has abandoned that claim.) Nor did Miller sue the guard responsible for making bunk assignments. That guard sits in a pod containing a computer with access to the prison’s SENTRY database that identifies medical restrictions. Rogers, by contrast, roamed the cells on foot

Affirmed

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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.