Jeffrey Earl Johnson v. Unknown, Milwaukee County Jail Staff

Summary

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin grants Jeffrey Earl Johnson leave to proceed without prepaying the filing fee and screens his complaint under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2). The court permits his Fourteenth Amendment excessive-force claim against unidentified Milwaukee County Jail staff to proceed and adds Milwaukee County Sheriff Denita R. Ball solely to help identify the unknown defendants. The order establishes discovery and filing procedures for identifying the defendants and warns that the case may be dismissed if the plaintiff does not diligently prosecute it.

Holdings

1. Johnson could proceed without prepaying the filing fee because the information in his application showed that he lacked the ability to pay.
2. The complaint plausibly stated a Fourteenth Amendment excessive-force claim against the unidentified officers because Johnson alleged that officers assaulted him and used force that was objectively unreasonable.
3. The court could add Sheriff Ball as a defendant for the limited purpose of helping Johnson identify the names of the unknown defendants, without requiring Ball to respond to the merits of the complaint.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Johnson qualified to proceed without prepaying the filing fee.
2. Whether Johnson's allegations plausibly stated a constitutional excessive-force claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
3. Whether the court could add the Milwaukee County sheriff for the limited purpose of facilitating discovery to identify unknown defendants.

Disposition

other