Terry v. Spencer

In section 1983 action by plaintiff-prisoner alleging that defendants-prison officials were deliberately indifferent to plaintiff’s medical needs, Dist. Ct. erred in dismissing plaintiff’s lawsuit pursuant to “merit-review hearing” to screen case under 28 USC section 1915A, after finding that plaintiff had impermissibly joined two sets of unrelated claims against different defendants, and after finding that plaintiff, who did not file amended complaint, could not use Rule 59(e) to seek reconsideration of initial dismissal order. While Rule 59(e) did not apply, Dist. Ct. could reconsider instant initial interlocutory order that dismissed case with leave to replead complaint before entering final order, and plaintiff’s claims regarding deliberate indifference to his medical needs and defendants’ alleged interference with his legal mail were sufficiently related so as to allow plaintiff to proceed on both matters in single lawsuit, where plaintiff claimed that alleged interference with his legal mail precluded him from filing timely indifference to his medical needs claim. Ct. further noted that there was no transcript of instant merit-review hearing in record on appeal and found that all Dist. Cts. are required to docket either transcript (at public expense if warranted) or digital recording of said hearing.