Opinion ID: 707800
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: conspiracy/retaliation claim

Text: 67 Finally, the plaintiff's catch-all allegation that the defendant Dobucki and his subordinates have conspired to retaliate against him because of his litigation is wholly unsupported. No evidence supports the plaintiff's charge that a prison-wide conspiracy exists to punish him for his lawsuits. See Gramenos v. Jewel Companies, Inc., 797 F.2d 432, 436 (7th Cir.1986), cert. denied, 481 U.S. 1028 (1987) (A party may not cry 'conspiracy' and throw himself on the jury's mercy. There must be facts from which a jury could conclude that there was a conspiracy.). 68 The court recognizes that retaliation for the exercise of a constitutionally protected right is actionable under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983, even if the act, if taken for a different reason, would have been proper. See Matzker v. Herr, 748 F.2d 1142, 1150 (7th Cir.1984). However, alleging merely the ultimate fact of retaliation is insufficient. Benson v. Cady, 761 F.2d 335, 342 (7th Cir.1985). Here, the record does not raise a triable inference that the plaintiff was the victim of retaliation. 69 An inmate cannot insulate himself from adverse prison action simply by filing multiple lawsuits against the prison. Otherwise, correctional officials would be powerless to exert any control over the plaintiff, a prolific litigator. The plaintiff has not set forth a chronology of events from which retaliation reasonably could be inferred. See Murphy v. Lane, 833 F.2d 106, 108-09 (7th Cir.1987). In the same token, the plaintiff's conclusory claim of conspiracy is insufficient to defeat summary judgment.