Order Form (01/2005)

United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois

Name of Assigned Judge or

Magistrate Judge Amy J. St. Eve Sitting Judge if Otherthan Assigned Judge

CASE NUMBER 12 C 0288 DATE 02/09/2012

CASE

TITLE

U.S. ex rel. Billy Sprinkle (#C-15277) v. Alex Dawson

DOCKET ENTRY TEXT:

Respondent is ordered to answer the petition or otherwise plead on or before March 13, 2012 . Petitioner’s reply

brief should be filed by April 3, 2012. Plaintiff’s motion for appointment of counsel, contained within his

application to proceed in forma pauperis [3] is denied.

O [For further details see text below.] Docketing to mail notices.

STATEMENT

Billy Sprinkle, a state prisoner, has filed a pro se petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C.

§ 2254. Petitioner challenges the sentence he received for his Will County, Illinois convictions for murder and

aggravated battery on the grounds that the Illinois Department of Corrections will not credit him for good conduct

credits for the time he spent on discretionary parole. The Court notes that Petitioner filed a previous federal

habeas petition U.S. ex rel. Billy Sprinkle v. Michael Randle, et al., Case No. 09 C 5660, (N.D.Ill) (St. Eve, J.) that

was dismissed on October 29, 2009, because the Court determined that Petitioner had not yet exhausted his state

court remedies, as required, prior to filing his federal habeas petition. 

Petitioner has paid the statutory filing fee. 

Petitioner indicates that he has exhausted state court remedies with respect to the claims raised in his

federal habeas petition as of September 28, 2011. Furthermore, he appears to have filed his petition in a timely

manner. Accordingly, Respondent is ordered to answer the petition or otherwise plead on or before March 13,

2012. This preliminary order to respond does not, of course, preclude the State from making whatever waiver,

exhaustion or timeliness arguments it may wish to present. 

Petitioner is instructed to file all future papers concerning this action with the Clerk of Court in care of

the Prisoner Correspondent. Petitioner must provide the Court with the original plus a judge’s copy (including

a complete copy of any exhibits) of every document filed. In addition, Petitioner must send an exact copy of any

court filing to the Chief, Criminal Appeals Division, Attorney General’s Office, 100 West Randolph Street, 12th

Floor, Chicago, Illinois 60601. Every document filed by Petitioner must include a certificate of service stating

to whom exact copies were sent and the date of mailing. Any paper that is sent directly to the judge or that

otherwise fails to comply with these instructions may be disregarded by the Court or returned to Petitioner.

AWL

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STATEMENT (continued)

 To the extent that Petitioner’s application to proceed in forma pauperis [#3] also included a motion for

appointment of counsel, the motion is denied as premature. Counsel must be appointed in a habeas corpus

proceeding only if an evidentiary hearing is needed or if the interests of justice so require. See Rule 8(c), Rules

Governing Section 2254 Cases. Whether the interests of justice require appointment of counsel in this case cannot

be determined until after the Court has had an opportunity to review and consider Respondent’s answer to the

petition.

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