LOVE v. SEVIER

• Court: District Court, S.D. Indiana
• Decided: January 8, 2025
• Docket: 1:22-cv-00811
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA INDIANAPOLIS DIVISION

TONY LIONEL LOVE, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) No. 1:22-cv-00811-JPH-MG ) MARK SEVIER, ) STORMS Lt., ) ) Defendants. )

ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION AND TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER

Plaintiff Tony Lionel Love, an Indiana Department of Correction inmate, brought this action alleging Defendant Warden Mark Sevier retaliated against him and denied him meaningful reviews while he was housed in segregation, and that both Defendants Warden Sevier and Lt. Storms subjected him to unconstitutional conditions of confinement. Dkt. 1. Currently before the Court is his motion for a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order. Dkt. 48. He is seeking the Court order all of his legal mail be delivered "untampered and unopened" by facility staff. Id. at 2. The Court notes that both defendants in this action are employees at New Castle Correctional Facility ("New Castle"). Dkt. 1. However, Mr. Love has not been incarcerated at New Castle since May 2022, when he transferred to Wabash Valley Correctional Facility. Dkt. 6. Currently, he is incarcerated at the Indiana State Prison ("ISP"), where he has been since January 2024. Dkt. 37. Thus, Mr. Love's request for injunctive relief to require his legal mail be delivered to him "untampered and unopened" is against unknown staff members at ISP, where he is presently housed. These individuals are not defendants in this matter. Accordingly, this Court lacks authority to grant the relief requested, and the motion, dkt. [48], must be denied without prejudice. See Maddox v. Wexford Health Sources, Inc., 528 F. App'x 669, 672 (7th Cir. 2013) ("An injunction, like any 'enforcement action,’ may be entered only against a litigant, that is, a party that has been served and is under the jurisdiction of the district court") (quoting Lake Shore Asset Mgmt., Ltd. v. Commodity Futures Trading Comm'n, 511 F.3d 762, 767 (7th Cir. 2007)); Pacific Radiation Oncology, LLC v. Queen's Medical Center, 810 F.3d 631, 636 (9th Cir. 2015) (holding that absent a nexus between underlying claims and request for injunctive relief, district court has no authority to grant injunctive relief) (citing De Beers Consol. Mines v. United States, 325 U.S. 212, 220 (1945)). SO ORDERED. Date: 1/8/2025 <) Patrick \+ 0 James Patrick Hanlon United States District Judge Distribution: Southern District of Indiana TONY LIONEL LOVE 127260 INDIANA STATE PRISON INDIANA STATE PRISON Inmate Mail/Parcels One Park Row MICHIGAN CITY, IN 46360 All electronically registered counsel