8th Amendment Violation.

Byline: Derek Hawkins

7th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: John Evans v. Susan Griffin, et al.

Case No.: 17-1957

Officials: WOOD, Chief Judge, and EASTERBROOK and ST. EVE, Circuit Judges.

Focus: 8th Amendment Violation

John Evans is a state prisoner and, unquestionably, not a healthy man. His most recent malady is the subject of this lawsuit. Evans alleges that he developed nasal polyps and that the prison medical staff refused to authorize surgerythe only effective remedyfor him. Frustrated within the prison, he brought this suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983, alleging a violation of his Eighth Amendment rights. The district court never reached the merits of that claim, however, because it dismissed Evans's case with prejudice as a discovery sanction. Dr. Francis Kayira, one of the defendants, attempted to depose Evans. Kayira noticed the deposition by mail on Thursday, February 16, 2017, for the next Tuesday, February 21. Evans swears that he did not receive that notice until February 22, the day after the designated time. When, on the 21st, he was brought out from his cell to meet with the defendants' lawyers, he says that he had no idea why they were there. Further, he was feeling ill and could not (and would not) sit for the deposition. Evans refused to be sworn or to answer any questions.

Thwarted in his...