Williams v. O'Conner

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
PETER WILLIAMS,
Plaintiff,
v.
RITA O’CONNER,
Defendant.
Case No. 25-cv-1597-NJR
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
ROSENSTENGEL, Chief Judge:
Plaintiff Peter Williams, an inmate of the Illinois Department of Corrections who
is currently incarcerated at Lawrence Correctional Center, filed the instant action styled
as a “Petition of Mandamus” (Doc. 1). He seeks payment in accordance with an April
2024 settlement agreement in state court.
This case is now before the Court for preliminary review of the Complaint
pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A. Under Section 1915A, the Court is required to screen
prisoner complaints to filter out non-meritorious claims. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). Any
portion of a complaint that is legally frivolous, malicious, fails to state a claim upon which
relief may be granted, or asks for money damages from a defendant who by law is
immune from such relief must be dismissed. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b).
The Court notes that Williams captioned his petition to be filed in the Circuit Court
of Cook County, Illinois, in the Sixth Judicial Circuit Division. He further seeks a writ of
mandamus pursuant to Illinois law, citing 735 ILCS 5/14-101, et seq., and seeks the
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enforcement 	of 	a 	settlement 	agreement 	with 	the 	Cook 	County State’s 	Attorneys
Forfeiture Unit (Doc. 1, p. 5). This suggests that his case was erroneously filed in this
Court because this Court has no power to issue a writ in this situation. See In re Campbell,
264 F.3d 730, 731 (7th Cir. 2001).
Accordingly, Williams SHALL NOTIFY this Court in writing, on or before
January 5, 2026, whether he intends to proceed with this action in the Southern District
of Illinois, or whether he instead will re-file this action in the Circuit Court of Cook
County, Illinois. If Williams decides NOT to proceed with this action in this Court, his
initial filing fee will be returned and no further fee will be collected.
Failure to comply with this Order shall result in the dismissal of this action. See
F ED. R. CIV. P. 41(b). To enable Williams to comply with this Order, the Clerk is
DIRECTED to return a copy of the Petition for Mandamus (Doc. 1) to Williams along
with a copy of this Order.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATED: December 3, 2025
____________________________
NANCY J. ROSENSTENGEL
Chief U.S. District Judge
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