Bledson v. Zenk

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA HAMMOND DIVISION

JERRY BLEDSON,

Plaintiff,

v. CAUSE NO. 2:19-CV-278-TLS-JPK

OSCAR MARTINEZ,

Defendant.

OPINION AND ORDER The Plaintiff, a prisoner without a lawyer, is proceeding on a single claim against Sheriff Oscar Martinez in his official capacity for injunctive relief to provide the Plaintiff with sanitary living conditions at the Lake County Jail, as required by the Fourteenth Amendment. The Plaintiff, however, is no longer housed at the Lake County Jail. He has been transferred to the Metropolitan Correctional Center. See Notice of Change of Address by Jerry Bledson, ECF No. 31. The Defendant has moved to dismiss the Plaintiff’s claims as moot [ECF No. 29]. The Plaintiff did not respond to the motion. “If a prisoner is transferred to another prison, his request for injunctive relief against officials of the first prison is moot unless he can demonstrate that he is likely to be retransferred.” Higgason v. Farley, 83 F.3d 807, 811 (7th Cir. 1996); see also Lehn v. Holmes, 364 F.3d 862, 871–872 (7th Cir. 2004) (citing Higgason, 83 F.3d at 811 for the “uncontroversial proposition that when a prisoner who seeks injunctive relief for a condition specific to a particular prison is transferred out of that prison, the need for relief, and hence the prisoner’s claim, become moot.”). Here, there is no reason to believe that the Plaintiff is likely to be transferred back to Lake County Jail. Thus, the Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss [ECF 29] is GRANTED and this case is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE. The clerk is DIRECTED to close this case. SO ORDERED on March 10, 2021. s/ Theresa L. Springmann JUDGE THERESA L. SPRINGMANN UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT