Owens v. Evans

Owens, an Illinois prisoner, brought suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983 alleging that 43 prison employees and the Illinois Department of Corrections obstructed his access to courts in violation of the First Amendment. Owens alleges that at four different correctional facilities, over the course of seven years, he had insufficient access to the law library and his excess legal storage boxes, was unable to send mail required to prosecute his cases, and was denied supplies. The district judge dismissed several claims and defendants and later entered summary judgment for the remaining defendants. The Seventh Circuit affirmed. Owens’s strongest claim for relief, that prison officials declined to advance him funds for legal mail in 2006-2010. was untimely. The court noted that “Owens—no stranger to the courts in this circuit—again filed an omnibus complaint against unrelated defendants and with claims arising from alleged conduct at four different prisons. As we have told him before, this scattershot strategy is unacceptable under Rule 20(a)(2) … and the Prison Litigation Reform Act, 28 U.S.C. 1915(b), (g).” View "Owens v. Evans" on Justia Law