Bobby L. Brooks v. Warden Mike Dutton

Plaintiff, Bobby L. Brooks, is an inmate at Tennessee State Prison, Nashville, Tennessee. He was hospitalized on September 9, 1983, and when he returned to his cell, five days later, he alleges that his personal property, valued at several hundred dollars, had been removed. Plaintiff attempted to use prison administrative procedures to procure the return of his property. When those procedures failed, plaintiff filed a civil rights complaint in the district court.

On the same day that the complaint was filed, the district court denied the motion to proceed in forma pauperis and sua sponte…