Butler v. Whitmer ( 2022 )

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN SOUTHERN DIVISION BRUCE HARLAND BUTLER, EDDIE ARMAIL JULIAN-BEY, Plaintiffs, Civil Action No. 2:22-CV-12528 v. HONORABLE DENISE PAGE HOOD GOVERNOR GRETCHEN WHITMER, et. al., Defendants. ________________________________________________/ OPINION AND ORDER DISMISSING COMPLAINT AS DUPLICATIVE TO CASE No. 2:22-CV-12525 Bruce Harland Butler and Eddie Julian-Bey, (“Plaintiffs”), confined at the Gus Harrison Correctional Facility in Adrian, Michigan, filed a civil rights complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Having reviewed plaintiffs’ complaint, the Court dismisses it without prejudice for being duplicative of a previously filed civil rights complaint. In their current complaint, plaintiffs claim that the defendants have failed to take adequate steps to protect them from contracting the Coronavirus while incarcerated. Plaintiffs previously filed an identical lawsuit against these defendants and raised the same claims, which remains pending before this Court in a separate case. See Julian, et. al. v. Whitmer, et. al., U.S.D.C. No. 2:22-CV- 12525 (E.D. Mich.). As a general rule, when duplicative lawsuits are pending in separate federal courts, “the entire action should be decided by the court in which an action was first filed.” Smith v. S.E.C., 129 F.3d 356, 361 (6th Cir. 1997). A duplicative suit is one in which the issues “have such an identity that a determination in one action leaves little or nothing to be determined in the other.” Id. The Sixth Circuit has held that a district court “has broad discretion in determining whether to dismiss litigation or abstain in order to avoid duplicative proceedings.” In re Camall Co., 16 F. App’x 403, 408 (6th Cir. 2001)(citing In Re White Motor Credit, 761 F.2d 270, 274–75 (6th Cir. 1985)). Plaintiffs’ current civil rights complaint will be dismissed because it is duplicative of their civil rights case which remains pending before this Court in Case No. 2:22-CV-12525. IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiffs’ complaint is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE FOR BEING DUPLICATIVE OF THE COMPLAINT FILED IN CASE No. 2:22-CV-12525. s/Denise Page Hood Denise Page Hood Dated: October 28, 2022 United States District Court