Ali v. Smith

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA SOUTH BEND DIVISION MUFTI ABDUL EL-MALIK-BEY ALI, Plaintiff, v. CAUSE NO. 3:24-CV-141-CCB-SLC K. SMITH, MORGAN, GUAJAVDO, CRUZE, M. RUSH, McCRAY, JOCSTIS, BENNIDICT, CHAD, HEATHER MONTES, CENTERION MEDICAL SERVICE, and ARAMARK FOOD SERVICES, Defendants.

OPINION AND ORDER Mufti Abdul El-Malik-Bey Ali, a prisoner without a lawyer, filed a complaint with seven unrelated claims. ECF 1. The complaint alleges Sgt. McCray and Officer Bennidict tampered with his legal mail on multiple occasions in 2023. It alleges Captain M. Rush interfered with his grievance process on September 13, 2023. It alleges Sgt.

Jocstis illegally searched his cell and destroyed legal mail on July 1, 2023. It alleges Case Manager K. Smith “lost” various paperwork, did not properly do her job, and denied him due process by refusing him a classification hearing on various dates in 2023 and 2024. It alleges Heather Montes interfered with his diet in various ways in 2023 and 2024. It alleges Officer Guajavo, Sgt. Cruse, and Capt. Morgan were involved with forcing him to be housed in an unsanitary cell. It alleges Nurse Chad denied him medical treatment in January 2024. “[U]nrelated claims against different defendants belong in different suits,” George v. Smith, 507 F.3d 605, 607 (7th Cir. 2007). When a plaintiff files a complaint with unrelated or mis-joined claims, the court may allow the plaintiff to decide which properly joined and related claims to pursue in the current case and when (or if) to bring the other claims in separate suits. See Wheeler v. Wexford Health Sources, Inc., 689 F.3d 680, 683 (7th Cir. 2012) (District courts may direct a plaintiff “to file separate complaints, each confined to one group of injuries and defendants.”). Ali needs to decide which claim to bring in this case. To do so, he must file an amended complaint with only related claims. If he wants to pursue any other claims, he must file a separate complaint with a new case number for each unrelated group of claims.

For these reasons, the court: (1) GRANTS Mufti Abdul El-Malik-Bey Ali until February 28, 2025, to file an amended complaint; and (2) CAUTIONS Mufti Abdul El-Malik-Bey Ali if he does not respond by the deadline, the court will select a claim and dismiss the others.

SO ORDERED.

February 3, 2025 /s/Cristal C. Brisco CRISTAL C. BRISCO, JUDGE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT