Peter Williams v. Rita O’Conner

• Court: District Court, S.D. Illinois
• Decided: December 3, 2025
• Docket: 3:25-cv-01597
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS

PETER WILLIAMS,

Plaintiff,

v. Case No. 25-cv-1597-NJR

RITA O’CONNER,

Defendant.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER ROSENSTENGEL, Chief Judge: Plaintiff Peter Williams, an inmate of the Illinois Department of Corrections who is currently incarcerated at Lawrence Correctional Center, filed the instant action styled as a “Petition of Mandamus” (Doc. 1). He seeks payment in accordance with an April 2024 settlement agreement in state court. This case is now before the Court for preliminary review of the Complaint pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A. Under Section 1915A, the Court is required to screen prisoner complaints to filter out non-meritorious claims. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). Any portion of a complaint that is legally frivolous, malicious, fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or asks for money damages from a defendant who by law is immune from such relief must be dismissed. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b). The Court notes that Williams captioned his petition to be filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, in the Sixth Judicial Circuit Division. He further seeks a writ of mandamus pursuant to Illinois law, citing 735 ILCS 5/14-101, et seq., and seeks the enforcement of a settlement agreement with the Cook County State’s Attorneys Forfeiture Unit (Doc. 1, p. 5). This suggests that his case was erroneously filed in this Court because this Court has no power to issue a writ in this situation. See In re Campbell, 264 F.3d 730, 731 (7th Cir. 2001). Accordingly, Williams SHALL NOTIFY this Court in writing, on or before January 5, 2026, whether he intends to proceed with this action in the Southern District of Illinois, or whether he instead will re-file this action in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois. If Williams decides NOT to proceed with this action in this Court, his initial filing fee will be returned and no further fee will be collected. Failure to comply with this Order shall result in the dismissal of this action. See Feb. R. Civ. P. 41(b). To enable Williams to comply with this Order, the Clerk is DIRECTED to return a copy of the Petition for Mandamus (Doc. 1) to Williams along with a copy of this Order. IT IS SO ORDERED. DATED: December 3, 2025 Tl wtp oentg! NANCY J. ROSENSTENGEL Chief U.S. District Judge