Craft v. Sheriff

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA SOUTH BEND DIVISION

KENNETH R. CRAFT, JR.,

Plaintiff,

v. CAUSE NO. 3:22-CV-583-JD-MGG

SHERIFF,

Defendant.

OPINION AND ORDER Kenneth R. Craft, Jr., a prisoner without a lawyer, has filed an unauthorized sur- response to the defendant’s summary judgment motion. ECF 65. The court received this filing after entering its order granting the defendants’ summary judgment motion. See ECF 63, 65.1 The local rules do not authorize the filing of a sur-response without leave of court. N.D. Ind. L.R. 56-1(d). A copy of Local Rule 56-1 was provided to Craft with the summary judgment motion. ECF 51 at 4-5. District courts “may strictly enforce local summary-judgment rules” even against parties who are unrepresented by counsel. McCurry v. Kenco Logistics Servs., LLC, 942 F.3d 783, 787 (7th Cir. 2019). See also Robinson v. Waterman, 1 F.4th 480, 482 (7th Cir. 2021) and Phoneprasith v. Greff, No. 21-3069, 2022 WL 1819043 (7th Cir. June 3, 2022). Craft did not seek, and was not granted, leave to file a sur-response. Moreover, Craft’s unauthorized sur-response does not provide any basis for requesting leave from the court to file an additional brief. The arguments he

1 The court’s dismissal order is dated May 30, 2023. ECF 63. Judgment was entered the next day. ECF 64. Craft’s sur-response is dated May 31, 2023, and the court received it on June 5, 2023. ECF 65. raised in his unauthorized sur-response were, or could have been, raised in his initial response. For these reasons, Craft’s unauthorized sur-response (ECF 65) is STRICKEN.

SO ORDERED on June 12, 2023 /s/JON E. DEGUILIO CHIEF JUDGE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT