Nyia Marie Harrell v. Brown County Department of Health and Human Services, Schanya Wilson, Kevin Brennan, Kailyn Epps, Heidi Skarr, Katie Koebernik, Taylor Schroeder, Green Bay Police Department, Jenna Luberda, Sgt. Thoreson, Officer Brey, Benjamin Synder, Mr. Heuvelmans, Mr. Delsart, Mr. Olendzki, Dante Jovan Lassiter, Steven L. Nordquist, Amy K. Peterman, Scott P. Robinson, Maureen Lawson, Kevin E. Martens, James M. Mishelow, David R. Pruhs, John P. Zakowski, Paul Burke, and Cynthia Vopal

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Wisconsin
DecidedNovember 25, 2025
Docket2:25-cv-01271
StatusUnknown

This text of Nyia Marie Harrell v. Brown County Department of Health and Human Services, Schanya Wilson, Kevin Brennan, Kailyn Epps, Heidi Skarr, Katie Koebernik, Taylor Schroeder, Green Bay Police Department, Jenna Luberda, Sgt. Thoreson, Officer Brey, Benjamin Synder, Mr. Heuvelmans, Mr. Delsart, Mr. Olendzki, Dante Jovan Lassiter, Steven L. Nordquist, Amy K. Peterman, Scott P. Robinson, Maureen Lawson, Kevin E. Martens, James M. Mishelow, David R. Pruhs, John P. Zakowski, Paul Burke, and Cynthia Vopal (Nyia Marie Harrell v. Brown County Department of Health and Human Services, Schanya Wilson, Kevin Brennan, Kailyn Epps, Heidi Skarr, Katie Koebernik, Taylor Schroeder, Green Bay Police Department, Jenna Luberda, Sgt. Thoreson, Officer Brey, Benjamin Synder, Mr. Heuvelmans, Mr. Delsart, Mr. Olendzki, Dante Jovan Lassiter, Steven L. Nordquist, Amy K. Peterman, Scott P. Robinson, Maureen Lawson, Kevin E. Martens, James M. Mishelow, David R. Pruhs, John P. Zakowski, Paul Burke, and Cynthia Vopal) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Nyia Marie Harrell v. Brown County Department of Health and Human Services, Schanya Wilson, Kevin Brennan, Kailyn Epps, Heidi Skarr, Katie Koebernik, Taylor Schroeder, Green Bay Police Department, Jenna Luberda, Sgt. Thoreson, Officer Brey, Benjamin Synder, Mr. Heuvelmans, Mr. Delsart, Mr. Olendzki, Dante Jovan Lassiter, Steven L. Nordquist, Amy K. Peterman, Scott P. Robinson, Maureen Lawson, Kevin E. Martens, James M. Mishelow, David R. Pruhs, John P. Zakowski, Paul Burke, and Cynthia Vopal, (E.D. Wis. 2025).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN

NYIA MARIE HARRELL,

Plaintiff, Case No. 25-CV-1271-JPS-JPS v.

BROWN COUNTY DEPARTMENT ORDER OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, SCHANYA WILSON, KEVIN BRENNAN, KAILYN EPPS, HEIDI SKARR, KATIE KOEBERNIK, TAYLOR SCHROEDER, GREEN BAY POLICE DEPARTMENT, JENNA LUBERDA, SGT. THORESON, OFFICER BREY, BENJAMIN SYNDER, MR. HEUVELMANS, MR. DELSART, MR. OLENDZKI, DANTE JOVAN LASSITER, STEVEN L. NORDQUIST, AMY K. PETERMAN, SCOTT P. ROBINSON, MAUREEN LAWSON, KEVIN E. MARTENS, JAMES M. MISHELOW, DAVID R. PRUHS, JOHN P. ZAKOWSKI, PAUL BURKE, and CYNTHIA VOPAL,

Defendants.

1. INTRODUCTION Plaintiff Nyia Marie Harrell (“Plaintiff”), proceeding pro se, sues Brown County Department of Health and Human Services, Schanya Wilson, Kevin Brennan, Kailyn Epps, Heidi Skarr, Katie Koebernik, Taylor Schroeder, Green Bay Police Department, Jenna Luberda, Sgt. Thoreson, Officer Brey, Benjamin Synder, Mr. Heuvelmans, Mr. Delsart, Mr. Olendzki, Dante Jovan Lassiter, and various Wisconsin and Illinois Family Court Officials (collectively, “Defendants”)1 for violations of her constitutional rights. ECF No. 7-1. She has filed or moved for leave to file an amended complaint three times. ECF Nos. 5–7. She also moves for leave to proceed in forma pauperis, ECF No. 2, for the Court to appoint counsel, ECF No. 3, and for the U.S. Marshals to serve her complaint, ECF No. 8. This Order screens Plaintiff’s third amended complaint and addresses her pending motions. For the reasons discussed herein, the Court will dismiss Plaintiff’s case without prejudice for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. It will also deny as moot Plaintiff’s motion to leave in forma pauperis, motion for appointment of counsel, motion for leave to file a second amended complaint, and motion to have the U.S. Marshals serve her complaint. 2. MOTION TO PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS A party proceeding pro se may submit a request to proceed without prepaying the filing fee, otherwise known as a motion to proceed in forma pauperis. “The federal in forma pauperis statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1915, is designed to ensure [that] indigent litigants have meaningful access to the federal courts while at the same time prevent indigent litigants from filing frivolous, malicious, or repetitive lawsuits.”2 Rodriguez v. Crim. Just. Facility

1Because the Court accepts Plaintiff’s third amended complaint and screens it as the operative complaint in this matter, see infra Section 3, the caption reflects the Defendants named in the third amended complaint. ECF No. 7-1 at 5–7. 2Although 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a) specifically references “prisoner” litigants, it has been interpreted as providing authority for such requests by both prisoner and non-prisoner pro se litigants alike. Floyd v. U.S. Postal Serv., 105 F.3d 274, 275–76 (6th Cir. 1997), superseded by rule on other, inapplicable grounds as recognized by Callihan v. Schneider, 178 F.3d 800 (6th Cir. 1999); see also Mitchell v. Farcass, 112 F.3d 1483, 1491 n.1 (11th Cir. 1997) (“Section 1915(e) applies to all [in forma pauperis] Safety Bldg., No. 23-CV-394, 2023 WL 3467565, at *1 (E.D. Wis. Apr. 7, 2023) (citing Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 324 (1989)), report and recommendation adopted sub nom. Rodriguez v. Crim. Just. Facility, No. 23-CV- 394-PP, 2023 WL 3467507 (E.D. Wis. May 15, 2023). To determine whether it may authorize a litigant to proceed in forma pauperis, the Court engages in a two-part inquiry. It must examine whether the litigant is able to pay the costs of commencing the action. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). The Court must also examine whether the action “is frivolous or malicious,” “fails to state a claim on which relief may be granted,” or “seeks monetary relief against a defendant who is immune from such relief”; if any of these criteria applies, the Court “shall dismiss the case.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(i)–(iii). Likewise, “[i]f the court determines at any time that it lacks subject-matter jurisdiction, the court must dismiss the action.” FED. R. CIV. P. 12(h)(3). The Court engages in this part of the inquiry infra Section 4. It follows that a litigant whose complaint does not clear the § 1915(e)(2) threshold or does not plead claims within the Court’s subject matter jurisdiction, and whose case cannot proceed as a result, necessarily cannot reap the benefits of proceeding in forma pauperis. In other words, although in forma pauperis status ought to be granted to those impoverished litigants “who, within the District Court’s sound discretion, would remain without legal remedy if such privilege were not afforded to them,” Brewster v. N. Am. Van Lines, Inc., 461 F.2d 649, 651 (7th Cir. 1972), a

litigants—prisoners who pay fees on an installment basis, prisoners who pay nothing, and nonprisoners in both categories.”) (Lay, J., concurring)). pro se litigant’s financial status is only part of the picture in determining whether the litigant’s case may proceed without payment of the filing fee. Because the Court concludes infra Section 4 that Plaintiff fails to set forth claims within the Court’s subject matter jurisdiction, the Court will deny Plaintiff’s motion to proceed in forma pauperis as moot. 3. MOTIONS TO AMEND COMPLAINT Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(a)(2), once a party has amended its pleading as a matter of course within twenty-one days of filing the original complaint, “a party may amend its pleading only with the opposing party’s written consent or the court’s leave.” “The Court should freely give leave when justice so requires.” Id. In this case, Plaintiff submitted an amended complaint as a matter of course a few days after filing her original complaint. ECF No. 5. She then moved twice to amend her complaint, each time attaching the proposed amended pleading. ECF Nos. 6, 7. Defendants have been not served and there is no other harm in letting Plaintiff amend here. Accordingly, the Court will grant Plaintiff’s motion for leave to file the third amended complaint, ECF No. 7, will screen that complaint, ECF No. 7-1, and will deny as moot Plaintiff’s motion for leave to file a second amended complaint, ECF No. 6. 4. SCREENING THE THIRD AMENDED COMPLAINT 4.1 Legal Standard As noted above, when a pro se litigant seeks to proceed in forma pauperis, the Court must screen the litigant’s complaint prior to service on the defendants. The Court “shall dismiss the case” if it finds any of the following: the action is frivolous or malicious, the complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or the complaint seeks monetary relief against a defendant who is immune from such relief, 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2); or the case is outside of the Court’s subject matter jurisdiction, FED. R. CIV. P. 12(h). A claim is legally frivolous when it “lacks an arguable basis either in law or in fact.” Denton v. Hernandez, 504 U.S. 25, 31 (1992) (quoting Neitzke, 490 U.S. at 325); see also Hutchinson ex rel. Baker v.

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Nyia Marie Harrell v. Brown County Department of Health and Human Services, Schanya Wilson, Kevin Brennan, Kailyn Epps, Heidi Skarr, Katie Koebernik, Taylor Schroeder, Green Bay Police Department, Jenna Luberda, Sgt. Thoreson, Officer Brey, Benjamin Synder, Mr. Heuvelmans, Mr. Delsart, Mr. Olendzki, Dante Jovan Lassiter, Steven L. Nordquist, Amy K. Peterman, Scott P. Robinson, Maureen Lawson, Kevin E. Martens, James M. Mishelow, David R. Pruhs, John P. Zakowski, Paul Burke, and Cynthia Vopal, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nyia-marie-harrell-v-brown-county-department-of-health-and-human-services-wied-2025.