Wilson v. Warren County, No. 15-1939 (7th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CaseWilson and Hanson, business partners, had a property ownership dispute. Warren County issued a letter stating that real property occupied by Wilson had to be cleaned up, but sent the letter to Hanson. Hanson, attorney Johnson, and Reiners, photographed Wilson’s property. Wilson, who suffers from psychological disorders, became upset and was hospitalized. Wilson’s friend called State’s Attorney Algren, who stated that the men could not take Wilson's property without a court order. Hanson, through Johnson, sought such an order, but was unsuccessful because the judge was unavailable. Johnson told Algren about the suit but did not disclose his failure to get the order. When the men began removing items, Wilson called the sheriff’s department, which dispatched Carithers, who believed that Hanson owned the property. Johnson told Carithers that they had a legal right to remove property and handed him a stack of "court papers." Carithers called Algren, who advised him that if Johnson had the proper papers, they were within their rights. Wilson suffered another anxiety attack. The Seventh Circuit affirmed summary judgment, rejecting Wilson’s claims under 42 U.S.C. 1983 against Hanson, Johnson, Reiners, the county, Carithers, and Algren, and dismissal of a Fair Housing Act claim against the three private defendants.There was insufficient raise the inference that the private defendants would not have removed Wilson's property if he wasn’t disabled or that they acted under color of law.
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