Opinion
3:24-cv-00018-SLG
06-11-2024
THOMAS L. MASSEY, JR., Plaintiff, v. MICHEAL ROBIN SPAAN, et al., Defendants.
ORDER
SHARON L. GLEASON UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Plaintiff Thomas Massey initiated this case in January 2024, naming three state court judges as Defendants. The matter was referred to the Honorable Magistrate Judge Kyle F. Reardon. At Docket 6, Judge Reardon issued his Report and Recommendation, in which he recommended that the Complaint be dismissed with prejudice because judges are absolutely immune from suit for acts performed in their official capacities, such that amendment of the Complaint would be futile.
Mr. Massey did not filed objection to the Report and Recommendation. Instead, he filed a Motion for Continuance at Docket 7 in which he asked for a continuance in order to obtain legal aid.
The matter is now before this Court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1). That statute provides that a district court “may accept, reject, or modify, in whole or in part, the findings or recommendations made by the magistrate judge.” A court is to “make a de novo determination of those portions of the magistrate judge's report or specified proposed findings or recommendations to which objection is made.”However, § 636(b)(1) does not “require district court review of a magistrate's factual or legal conclusions, under a de novo or any other standard, when neither party objects to those findings.”
Id.
Thomas v. Arn, 474 U.S. 140, 150 (1985); see also United States v. Reyna-Tapia, 328 F.3d 1114, 1121 (9th Cir. 2003).
The Magistrate Judge recommended that the Court dismiss the Complaint with prejudice. The Court has reviewed the Report and Recommendation and agrees with its analysis. Accordingly, the Court adopts the Report and Recommendation, and IT IS ORDERED that the Complaint is DISMISSED with Prejudice. The Motion for Continuance at Docket 7 is DENIED because regardless of whether he has an attorney to represent him, Mr. Massey cannot state a plausible claim for relief against judges for their official acts because they have absolute immunity.
The Clerk of Court shall enter a final judgment accordingly.