Brzowski v. Sigler

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedJune 26, 2020
Docket1:17-cv-09339
StatusUnknown

This text of Brzowski v. Sigler (Brzowski v. Sigler) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brzowski v. Sigler, (N.D. Ill. 2020).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS EASTERN DIVISION

WALTER BRZOWSKI, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) vs. ) Case No. 17 C 9339 ) BRENDA SIGLER and DAVID HADLEY, ) ) Defendants. )

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER MATTHEW F. KENNELLY, District Judge: Walter Brzowski, who was formerly incarcerated at Pontiac Correctional Center, asserts claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Brenda Sigler, the records office supervisor at Pontiac, and David Hadley, a correctional officer there. Brzowski alleges that Sigler violated his rights under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments by repeatedly dismissing his complaints that his release date was wrong and causing him to remain in prison for nearly two years after he had completed the full term of his sentence. Brzowski also alleges that he was placed in segregation at Pontiac due to a false accusation of assault by Hadley and that this violated his Eighth Amendment rights. Both sides have moved for summary judgment on all of the claims in Brzowski's third amended complaint. Background In 2012, Brzowski was convicted and sentenced in two separate cases in a Will County court for violating an order of protection for his ex-wife and two children. The sentences for the two cases were to run consecutively, yielding a total sentence for both convictions of a four-year prison term, with day-for-day good time to apply, followed by four to eight years of mandatory supervised release (MSR). Brzowski appealed his convictions.

In September 2013, Brzowski had completed his actual incarceration time and was released to begin a four-year MSR term. Twenty days after his release, Brzowski was arrested for MSR violations, and on November 29, 2013, he was remanded to the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) to serve the remainder of his MSR. An Illinois appeals court reversed both of Brzowski's convictions in 2015 and remanded to the Will County court for new trials. The government dropped one of the cases, and Brzowski pled guilty to all counts in the other. A Will County judge subsequently sentenced Brzowski to a three-year prison term, followed by four years of MSR. The sentencing order, signed and dated July 22, 2015, stated that Brzowski was to receive fifty percent good time credit and that he was entitled to credit for 1,452 days

of time actually served in custody as of that date. The order set forth the specific dates for which Brzowski was to receive credit: "11-7-10, 12-7-10, 2-7-11 to 6-23-11, 11-29-11 to 9-10-13 and 10-1-13 to July 22, 2015." Defs.' L.R. 56.1 Stmt., Ex. 10 (dkt. no. 129- 10) at 2. To facilitate Brzowski's appearance at his July 2015 sentencing hearing in Will County court, IDOC had transferred him to its Northern Reception and Classification Center (NRC) from Pinckneyville prison, where he had been held since his MSR violation in 2013. After the sentencing, Brzowski remained in custody at the NRC. On October 14, 2015, IDOC's Prisoner Review Board reduced Brzowski's four-year MSR term to two years. On October 21, 2015, he was transferred from the NRC to Pontiac Correctional Center. Shortly after his arrival there, Brzowski and Hadley were involved in an altercation, the details of which the parties dispute. It is undisputed, however, that

following the incident, Hadley issued a disciplinary ticket alleging that Brzowski had assaulted him and disobeyed a direct order. IDOC's Adjustment Committee held a hearing on the ticket, found Brzowski guilty of both alleged violations, and ordered discipline of twelve months in segregation. Brzowski remained in custody at Pontiac until July 2017. He was released after an Illinois appeals court ruled that, as of July 2015, he had completed the term of his sentence for violating the order of protection. Brzowski v. Pierce, 2017 IL App (3d) 160228-U ¶¶ 15, 20. The court found that after applying the credit for time served listed in the July 2015 order to Brzowski's sentence on remand—a three-year prison term and a four-year MSR term, with good time credit—he had only eight days remaining on his

full sentence as of July 22, 2015. Id. ¶ 15. By the time of the appeals court's ruling in June 2017, Brzowski had remained incarcerated for nearly two extra years beyond those eight days. See id. ¶ 20. Accordingly, the appellate court reversed and remanded the trial court's denial of Brzowski's 2015 emergency petition for habeas corpus. On remand, a Will County judge ordered Brzowski's release. IDOC released Brzowski on July 20, 2017. From November 2015 through February 2017, Brzowski made thirty complaints at Pontiac that he was being improperly held past his release date. All of these complaints were referred to Sigler for consideration. Sigler's responses are documented in an IDOC database called "CHAMPS." A November 23, 2015 CHAMPS entry states that Sigler responded to the first of Brzowski's complaints by informing him that she had reviewed his "masterfile . . . along with [his] Judgment Order from Will county" and concluded that he was not entitled to discharge until April 2017. Defs.' L.R.

56.1 Stmt. (dkt. no. 130) Ex. 14 at 19. She explained her calculation: he had already served his term of imprisonment and had an "MSR [start] date of 1/30/13"; he was "not received at IDOC until 7/28/15"; and "[d]ue to the Johnson Decision, your parole time starts on the day you are released having served your incarceration time, 7/28/15." Id. Adding four years to that date, Sigler continued, "calculates your discharge date as 7/28/19." Id. She then cited the Prisoner Review Board's October 2015 decision reducing Brzowski's MSR term to two years and concluded that his "discharge date[] is 4/28/2017." Id. Sigler noted that these calculations "have been performed in accordance with your Judgment Order and your PRB violation order." Id. The parties dispute whether, at the time Sigler issued this response to Brzowski,

there was a copy of his "master file" at Pontiac. The parties, agree, however, that Brzowski's master file would have included the 2015 sentencing order, which should have been used to calculate Brzowski's time served. The defendants contend that Sigler's November 23, 2015 CHAMPS entry indicates that she had Brzowski's master file and a copy of the 2015 sentencing order. Brzowski disputes this, pointing to a June 26, 2017 e-mail to Sigler from an associate from Pinckneyville's record office stating "[A]ttached is section 1 of Walter Brzowski's master-file." Pl.'s L.R. 56.1 Stmt. (dkt. no. 138) Ex. 11 at 2. To this, Sigler responded "Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Id. After receiving Sigler's initial response that his discharge date was not until April 2017, Brzowski complained that "the response he received [on] 11/23/15 is incorrect and flawed." Defs.' L.R. 56.1 Stmt. (dkt. no. 130), Ex. 14 at 19. On November 25, 2015, Sigler replied: "The response I sent to you explains you[r] calculation of the Judgment order received. If you feel you[r] time is calculated incorrect, an amended

Judgment order must be received. You need to contact your attorney or the court." Id. Sigler's responses to all of Brzowski's subsequent complaints were similar: she informed him that his "concern has been addressed and will not be re-visited" and that his release date would not change without another sentencing order. Id. at 10, 14; see id. at 8-18. Brzowski filed this action against Sigler, Hadley, IDOC's director, and the wardens of the Statesville and Pontiac prisons, asserting several claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983

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Brzowski v. Sigler, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brzowski-v-sigler-ilnd-2020.