Dist. Ct. erred as dismissing as frivolous under 28 USC section 1915A plaintiff-prisoner’s section 1983 action alleging that defendants-police officers used excessive force when arresting him, where Dist. Ct. based dismissal on his consultation with newspaper account of defendant’s car chase that led to his arrest. According to plaintiff, police car chased plaintiff’s car until defendants shot at him and rammed their vehicle into his vehicle, and Dist. Ct. could not screen plaintiff’s lawsuit based on newspaper account of incident. Moreover, while certain portions of plaintiff’s pro se lawsuit might have been defective, plaintiff alleged at least one legally viable claim that could not be dismissed as frivolous, where defendant claimed that he was shot with stun gun on multiple occasions without allegation that said shooting took place during car chase. As such, appropriate remedy would be dismissal of complaint with leave to amend, rather than outright dismissal of lawsuit.
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Section 1983 Action