Dist. Ct. erred in granting defendants-prison officials’ request to file second motion for summary judgment that raised plaintiff’s failure to exhaust his prison remedies prior to filing instant section 1983 action alleging that defendants used excessive force and failed to intervene on his behalf, under circumstances, where: (1) defendants had previously filed partially successful motion for summary judgment that neglected to raise instant failure to exhaust remedies issue; and (2) instant second motion for summary judgment was filed beyond deadline for filing any motion for summary judgment. While Rule 6(b)(1)(B) permits Dist. Ct. to extend deadlines, defendants merely attributed their failure to timely file instant summary judgment motion to “unknown reasons.” As a result, defendants failed to show that instant delay was due to “excusable neglect,” and thus Dist. Ct. erred in allowing defendants to file instant second motion for summary judgment and then ultimately granting said motion on its merits.
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Prisoners