Bill Sampley and Michael Holland v. Jack Duckworth, in His Personal Capacity

CUDAHY, Circuit Judge.

This case presents only one issue: whether district courts have authority to impose upon a losing plaintiff the expenses incurred by state corrections officials in transporting prisoners to be witnesses in a civil suit. The case had its origins in a civil rights suit brought by plaintiffs Bill Sampley and Michael Holland against the Superintendent of the Indiana State Prison, Jack Duckworth, involving conditions at that institution. During the course of the lawsuit the district court issued orders of transportation requiring the Indiana Department of Corrections to bring…