Arthur Lewis v. Gordon H. Faulkner

POSNER, Circuit Judge.

This appeal raises a recurrent issue in prisoners’ civil rights litigation: the responsibility of the trial judge to advise a prisoner not represented by counsel of the consequences of failing to respond to a motion for summary judgment supported by affidavits.

On April 8, 1980, the plaintiff, who is a prisoner at an Indiana state prison, filed a pro se complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against an official and employees of the prison, alleging that they had denied him due process of law during a disciplinary proceeding against him. On June 20, the defendants filed a motion…