Kadamovas v. Stevens
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
706 F.3d 843 (2013)
- Written by Brianna Pine, JD
Facts
Jurijus Kadamovas (plaintiff), a federal inmate, filed a Bivens action against several prison-staff members (defendants), complaining of various mistreatments. Specifically, Kadamovas’s complaint alleged that in retaliation for his hunger strikes, the prison staff used excessive force to force-feed him and draw blood samples, placed him in a cell infested with feces, denied him minimal recreation opportunities, refused to provide him with a Bible, refused to allow him to file grievances, and tried to block his access to the federal courts. Kadamovas’s complaint was 28 pages long and accompanied by a 71-page appendix. English was not Kadamovas’s first language, and he received assistance from another inmate in writing the complaint. The district court dismissed Kadamovas’s complaint before an answer or other responsive pleading was filed, stating that the “99-page complaint” defied understanding, was unintelligible, and failed to comply with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2)’s requirement for a “short and plain statement” of the claim. Kadamovas appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Posner, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 899,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 47,000 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

