ICAP represented Justin Herrera, a pre-trial detainee at Cook County Jail, in a federal civil rights lawsuit and a subsequent petition to the U.S. Supreme Court. Mr. Herrera sought to hold three correctional officers accountable for failing to protect him from a brutal assault by other detainees and for denying him prompt medical care. Because he did not initially know the officers’ names, Mr. Herrera filed his timely original complaint using “John Doe” placeholders. Once he identified the officers through discovery, he amended his complaint—but the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the amendment was untimely. The court held that using a “John Doe” placeholder is a deliberate choice due to a “lack of knowledge” rather than a “mistake,” meaning the amendment could not “relate back” to the original filing date under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(c)(1)(C).
Although the Supreme Court declined to hear the case in March 2022, ICAP’s work on Herrera remains a cornerstone of the national effort to reform “relation back” rules, ensuring that technicalities do not prevent victims of state violence from seeking justice.
