West v. Ebers et al

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
KENTES WEST,
Plaintiff,
vs.
SCOTT EBERS,
ROBERT W. RHOADES,
ZACKARY CONNOR,
RYAN RAMSEY, KEVIN TILLEY,
SYLVESTER LAMBERT,
JESSICA ARMBRUSTER,
MARK HANKS, MORGAN GIACOMO,
and WARDEN OF MENARD
CORRECTIONAL CENTER
Defendants.
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Case No. 23-cv-224-SMY
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
YANDLE, Chief District Judge:
This matter is before the Court on the Report and Recommendation (“Report”) of United
States Magistrate Judge Mark A. Beatty (Doc. 94), recommending the granting of the Joint Motion
for Pavey Hearing (Doc. 72) and the denial of the motions for summary judgment for failure to
exhaust administrative remedies filed by Defendants (Docs. 56, 61). 	No objections have been
filed to the Report. 	For the following reasons, Judge Beatty’s Report and Recommendation is
ADOPTED.
When neither timely nor specific objections to a Report and Recommendation are made,
the Court need not conduct a de novo review of the Report. 	See Thomas v. Arn, 474 U.S. 140
(1985). 	Instead, the Court reviews the Report for clear error. 	Johnson v. Zema Systems Corp.,
170 F.3d 734, 739 (7th Cir. 1999). The Court may “accept, reject, or modify, in whole or in part,
the findings or recommendations made by the magistrate judge.” 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1).
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Here, Judge Beatty thoroughly discussed and supported his conclusions that the grievance
process was unavailable to Plaintiff and, therefore, Plaintiff was not required to exhaust the
institutional grievance process before filing this lawsuit. The Court finds no clear error in Judge
Beatty’s findings, analysis and conclusions, and adopts his Report and Recommendation in its
entirety.
Accordingly, the Joint Motion for Pavey Hearin (Doc. 72) is GRANTED. 	Defendants’
motions for summary judgment for failure to exhaust administrative remedies (Docs. 56, 61) are
DENIED. Plaintiff’s claims in Counts 1 and 2 against Defendants shall proceed.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATED: March 4, 2026
STACI M. YANDLE
Chief United States District Judge
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