# SIDWELL v. SEARLES

> District Court, S.D. Indiana · August 14, 2023

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/10170392

## Case

- **Court:** District Court, S.D. Indiana
- **Decided:** August 14, 2023
- **Opinion:** 100trialcourt
- **Cited by:** 0 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

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## Opinion text

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA
INDIANAPOLIS DIVISION

CHESTER SIDWELL, )
)
Plaintiff, )
)
v. ) No. 1:23-cv-00870-JRS-TAB
)
CARLY SEARLES, )
)
Defendant. )
Order on Various Motions
I. Introduction
This is a civil rights case removed from state court. Pro se plaintiff Sidwell alleges
he lost his unborn child when a police station's full-body scanner caused his girlfriend
to miscarry. Now before the Court are various motions: Sidwell's Motion to Appoint
Counsel, (ECF No. 8); Sidwell's Motion for Jury Trial, (ECF No. 9); Searles' Motion
for Screening of Complaint, (ECF No. 10); and Sidwell's Motion for Default Judgment,
(ECF No. 11).
II. Discussion
A. Procedural Matters
Sidwell gives his address as the Bartholomew County Jail, which makes him a
prisoner within the meaning of the Prison Litigation Reform Act ("PLRA"). Because
he seeks redress from a governmental employee, the Court must screen his complaint
and dismiss any portion that is frivolous or malicious, fails to state a claim upon
which relief can be granted, or seeks money damages from a defendant who is
immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A. In determining whether the complaint
states a claim, the Court applies the same standard as when addressing a motion to
dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). See Cesal v. Moats, 851 F.3d
714, 720 (7th Cir. 2017). To survive dismissal,

[the] complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true,
to state a claim for relief that is plausible on its face. A claim has facial
plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the
court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for
the misconduct alleged.
Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009). Pro se complaints like Sidwell's are
construed liberally and held to "a less stringent standard than pleadings drafted by
lawyers." Cesal, 851 at 720.
Searles' Motion for Screening of Complaint, (ECF No. 10), which reminds the
Court of its screening obligation under the PLRA, is granted.
Searles' Motion also requests an extension of time to answer Sidwell's Complaint.
That is a sensible request—ordinarily, when the PLRA applies, this Court screens
complaints before they are served, and so only complaints that pass screening need
an answer. Now while that motion has been pending the usual deadline to answer
has passed. Sidwell, vigilant in his cause, has thus filed a Motion for Default
Judgment. (ECF No. 11). While the Court is impressed by his diligence, Sidwell
should bear in mind that the courts are about real justice, not technical gotchas.
Foman v. Davis, 371 U.S. 178, 182 (1962). The time it has taken the Court to consider
and decide these motions cannot fairly count against Searles, whose motion was made
in good faith. The Motion for Default Judgment, (ECF No. 11), is therefore denied.
Sidwell requests that the Court appoint counsel to help him. Litigants in federal
civil cases do not have a constitutional or statutory right to court-appointed counsel.
Walker v. Price, 900 F.3d 933, 938 (7th Cir. 2018). Instead, 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1)
gives courts the authority to "request" counsel. Mallard v. United States District
Court, 490 U.S. 296, 300 (1989). As a practical matter, there are not enough lawyers

willing and qualified to accept a pro bono assignment in every pro se case. See Olson
v. Morgan, 750 F.3d 708, 711 (7th Cir. 2014) ("Whether to recruit an attorney is a
difficult decision: Almost everyone would benefit from having a lawyer, but there are
too many indigent litigants and too few lawyers willing and able to volunteer for these
cases."). To appoint counsel, the Court in its discretion must find that the plaintiff
has tried to obtain counsel and that the plaintiff needs the help counsel would
provide. Eagan v. Dempsey, 987 F.3d 667, 682 (7th Cir. 2021). Here, then,

appointment of counsel is not appropriate: Sidwell has not shown that he has tried to
obtain counsel, and Sidwell's filings to this point are lucid and sensible. The Court
finds him competent to litigate his own case at this stage in the proceedings. Sidwell's
Motion to Appoint Counsel, (ECF No. 8), is denied.
Finally, Sidwell has filed a Motion for Jury Trial. (ECF No. 9). Insofar as Sidwell
intends this as a jury trial demand, it is well taken: disputes of fact are in the last

resort decided by the jury. But there are many procedural steps before trial, in which
the parties get to learn about the underlying facts and test the applicable law.
Sidwell may not avoid those steps and jump straight to trial. To that extent, his
Motion for Jury Trial, (ECF No. 9), is denied.
B. Screening
With procedural matters resolved, the Court turns to screening the Complaint.
As explained above, the question is whether the Complaint describes a situation that,

if true, amounts to a legal wrong.
Sidwell's Complaint is admirably "short and plain," Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2), indeed
better in that regard than some trained counsel. But "Rule 8(a)(2) specifies the
conditions of the formal adequacy of a pleading. It does not specify the conditions of
its substantive adequacy, that is, its legal merit." Kirksey v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco
Co., 168 F.3d 1039, 1041 (7th Cir. 1999). So it is possible for a clearly written
complaint to describe facts that, however unfortunate, do not amount to a legal

wrong. That is exactly what has happened here.
Sidwell claims that Searles, a correctional officer employed by the Bartholomew
County Sheriffs Department, "put Amber Nicole David through the body scanner
machine at the intake at the Bartholomew County Jail after being notified that she
was pregnant with a child." (Complaint 2, ECF No. 1-2.) After Searles had done that,
she "then was told by Captain Tyler Stillabower that she was not suppose[d] to put

pregnant women through the body scanner[.]" (Id. (emphasis added).) And David
miscarried the child—Sidwell's unborn child—two days later. (Id.) That is, according
to Sidwell, Searles' "negligence"—in putting his pregnant girlfriend through a full-
body scanner—caused him to lose his child. (Id.)
Needless to say, the loss of a child is a terrible thing. The courts have long
recognized that parents have liberty interests in "the care, custody, and control of
their children" protected by the Due Process clause, Troxel v. Granville, 530 U.S. 57,
65 (2000), which interests include the physical well-being of the child, Ingraham v.
Wright, 430 U.S. 651, 675 (1977). The Court is willing to assume arguendo that those

interests comprehend parents' relationships to their unborn children, as well. So a
state officer that wantonly harmed Sidwell's child would be answerable under 42
U.S.C. § 1983 for violating Sidwell's constitutional rights. Here, though, Sidwell
makes it clear that Searles' behavior was "negligence," not intentional wrongdoing.
Sidwell alleges that Searles had already put David through the scanner when she
was told that it was regarded as dangerous.1 It was, at most, a thoughtless mistake;
it was not an intentional "deprivation" of Sidwell's rights—and "the Due Process

Clause is simply not implicated by a negligent act of an official causing unintended
loss of or injury to life, liberty, or property." Daniels v. Williams, 474 U.S. 327, 328
(1986).
Sidwell's Complaint also mentions the Eighth Amendment2 and its protection
against "medical deliberate indifference." (Complaint 2, ECF No. 1-2.) But Searles

1 Though not dispositive to the Court's decision, as a factual matter, the scanner probably
was not dangerous. Millimeter-wave scanners of the sort commonly encountered in airports
and police stations are low-energy devices that do not use ionizing radiation and pose very
low risks to human health. Even x-ray scanners are unlikely to cause problems. The CDC
writes "[m]ost of the ways a pregnant woman may be exposed to radiation, such as from a
diagnostic medical exam or an occupational exposure within regulatory limits, are not likely
to cause health effects for a fetus." See Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
Radiation and Pregnancy: A Fact Sheet for Clinicians,
https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/radiation/emergencies/prenatalphysician.htm; CDC, Radiation
from Airport Security Screening, https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/radiation/airport_scan.htm.
2 If Sidwell and David were at the jail as pretrial detainees, which seems likely, then the
Fourteenth Amendment, not the Eighth Amendment, would apply, and the analysis would
proceed as above. The Court gives the Eighth Amendment analysis for completeness' sake.
was not indifferent to Sidwell's medical needs; she was at worst indifferent to David's
or to the child's. The "general rule [is] that a litigant must assert his own legal rights
and cannot assert the legal rights of a third party." Massey v. Helman, 196 F.3d 727,

739 (7th Cir. 1999). But even if the Court were to allow Sidwell to assert a third
party's rights here, the standard for an Eighth Amendment violation is "deliberate
indifference," which requires "a showing that the official was subjectively aware of
the risk." Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 829 (1994). As discussed above, Sidwell
alleges that Searles did not know of the risk until after the scan was done, so she
could not have had the subjective awareness that would make her conduct
"deliberate."

With Sidwell's two constitutional arguments thus disposed of, there is nothing left
for this Court in the complaint, even if the facts as alleged do give Sidwell a state-law
claim against Searles. "[A] claim that state officials violated state law in carrying out
their official responsibilities is a claim against the State that is protected by the
Eleventh Amendment. . . . [T]his principle applies as well to state-law claims brought
into federal court under pendent jurisdiction." Pennhurst State Sch. & Hosp. v.

Halderman, 465 U.S. 89, 121 (1984).
III. Conclusion
The Court granted Searles' Motion for Screening of Complaint, (ECF No. 10);
denied Sidwell's Motion for Default Judgment, (ECF No. 11); denied Sidwell's
Motion to Appoint Counsel, (ECF No. 8); and denied Sidwell's Motion for Jury Trial,
(ECF No. 9).
The Court then screened Sidwell's Complaint, which, despite its formal merits,
does not advance any claim cognizable in this Court. His federal constitutional rights
were not violated in the facts as alleged, and this Court has no power to address any
concurrent violations of state law. Sidwell's Complaint is therefore dismissed with
prejudice under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A for failure to state a claim upon which relief can
be granted. Sidwell has until August 18, 2023, within which to show cause why
judgment dismissing this action for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be
granted should not issue. The failure to do so within the time allowed will result in
dismissal without further notice.

SO ORDERED.

Date: 08/14/2023
JAMES R. SWEENEY II, JUDGE
United States District Court
Southern District of Indiana

Distribution:
CHESTER SIDWELL
Bartholomew County Jail
543 2nd Street
Columbus, IN 47201
Lisa A. Baron
KNIGHT, HOPPE, KURNIK & KNIGHT, LTD.
lbaron@khkklaw.com
Rosemary L. Borek
Knight Hoppe Kurnik & Knight, LTD
rborek@khkklaw.com

---

Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/10170392. Public record. Not legal advice.