Zakira Santasha Porter v. State of Indiana

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA SOUTH BEND DIVISION ZAKIRA SANTASHA PORTER, Plaintiff, v. CAUSE NO. 3:26cv640 DRL-SJF STATE OF INDIANA, Defendant.

OPINION AND ORDER Zakira Santasha Porter, a prisoner without a lawyer, filed a complaint suing the State of Indiana. ECF 1. “A document filed pro se is to be liberally construed, and a pro se complaint, however inartfully pleaded, must be held to less stringent standards than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers.” Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 94 (2007) (quotation and citations omitted). Nevertheless, under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A, the court must review the merits of a prisoner complaint and dismiss it if the action is frivolous or malicious, fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or seeks monetary relief against a defendant who is immune from such relief.

The State of Indiana is not a proper defendant because states are not “persons” who can be sued under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Will v. Michigan Dep’t of State Police, 491 U.S. 58, 70 (1989). Ms. Porter also seeks relief that is unavailable in a civil rights lawsuit: exoneration for her state convictions. See Preiser v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 475, 488 (1973) (habeas corpus is the exclusive civil remedy for a state prisoner seeking to challenge the fact or duration of his custody, and such relief cannot be pursued under 42 U.S.C. § 1983).

Though she seeks monetary compensation for events which happened in Lake County, without a proper defendant, this complaint does not state a claim.

If Ms. Porter believes she can state a claim based on (and consistent with) the events described in this complaint, she may file an amended complaint because “[t]he usual standard in civil cases is to allow defective pleadings to be corrected, especially in early stages, at least where amendment would not be futile.” Abu-Shawish v. United States, 898 F.3d 726, 738 (7th Cir. 2018). To file an amended complaint, she needs to write this cause number on a Pro Se 14 (INND Rev. 2/20) Prisoner Complaint form, which is available in her law library. She needs to write the word “Amended” on the first page above the title “Prisoner Complaint” and send it to the court after it is properly completed.

For these reasons, the court: (1) GRANTS Zakira Santasha Porter until June 17, 2026, to file an amended complaint; and (2) CAUTIONS Zakira Santasha Porter if she does not respond by the deadline, this case will be dismissed under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A without further notice because the current complaint does not state a claim for which relief can be granted.

SO ORDERED.

May 13, 2026 s/ Damon R. Leichty Judge, United States District Court