Opinion
Civil Action 21-1094
01-19-2022
Carl S. Jones, Jr., Anthony Lee, Charles Lantzy, Christian Stevens, Courde Daye, Daelon Hill-Johnson, Daniel Miles, Daymond Wiggins, Devin Hale, Devon Thompson, Elijah Price, Geron Anderson, Jaimone Robinson, Jaque David, Jeremy Carson, Jermaine Dehonney, Juan Hayden, Justin Parrotte, Mario Wall, Martell Smith, Nathaniel Weatherspoon, Racoco Williams, Raymond Harrison, Roman Jones, Stephen Day, Thomas Morton, To-Michael Sherrell, William Lynn, Zai-Quan Henderson, Jermaine Rodgers, Plaintiffs, v. County of Allegheny and Warden Orlando L. Harper, Defendants.
LISA PUPO LENIHAN, MAGISTRATE JUDGE
MEMORANDUM ORDER
W. SCOTT HARDY, DISTRICT JUDGE
This matter comes before the Court on the Report and Recommendation (“R&R”) entered by Magistrate Judge Lisa Pupo Lenihan on November 1, 2021. (Docket No. 53). As background, the case was initiated by Plaintiff Carl S. Jones, Jr. on behalf of himself and 29 other individuals who currently are, or formerly were, confined at the Allegheny County Jail (“ACJ”). The Complaint asserts claims against Defendants for unconstitutional conditions of confinement at the ACJ relative to the COVID-19 virus. (Docket No. 6).
As explained in the R&R, the Court issued an order on September 23, 2021 (Docket No. 29) notifying Plaintiffs as follows: as a non-lawyer, Plaintiff Jones only was authorized to represent his own interests in this case; and, given that Jones was the only Plaintiff to have signed the Complaint, it could not be treated as a pro se filing on behalf of the other 29 named Plaintiffs. (Docket No. 53 at 2). Plaintiffs were advised that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11 requires that the Court strike the Complaint to the extent it was filed on behalf of any other Plaintiff unless each Plaintiff signed it. (Id.). Accordingly, the Court mailed to each Plaintiff with a current address on file a copy of the Complaint and informed them that they had until October 25, 2021 to sign and return it. (Id.). The Court also notified those Plaintiffs whose address was not up to date that they had until October 25, 2021 to file a Notice of Change of Address with the Court, and, if they did so, they too would be mailed a copy of the Complaint to sign and return. (Id.).
As of the filing of the R&R, ten Plaintiffs had not returned a signed copy of the Complaintand seven Plaintiffs had not updated their address. (Docket No. 53 at 2-3). Consequently, the R&R recommends that the following Plaintiffs be dismissed from this case for their failure to prosecute: (1) Daymond Wiggins; (2) Devin Hale; (3) Devon Thompson; (4) Elijah Price; (5) Jeremy Carson; (6) To-Michael Sherrell; (7) Zai-Quan Henderson; (8) Jermaine Rodgers; (9) Thomas Morton; (10) Raymond Harrison; (11) Charles Lantzy; (12) Christian Stevens; (13) Jaimone Robinson; (14) Justin Parrotte, (15) Nathaniel Weatherspoon; (16) Racoco Williams; and (17) William Lynn. (See id. at 1, 9). Service of the R&R was made on Plaintiffs by mail, and any objections were due by November 18, 2021. Thereafter, none of the Plaintiffs filed objections to the R&R.
Those Plaintiffs are Daymond Wiggins, Devin Hale, Devon Thompson, Elijah Price, Jeremy Carson, To-Michael Sherrell, Zai-Quan Henderson, Jermaine Rodgers, Thomas Morton, and Raymond Harrison.
Those Plaintiffs are Charles Lantzy, Christian Stevens, Jaimone Robinson, Justin Parrotte, Nathaniel Weatherspoon, Racoco Williams, and William Lynn.
The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provide that a party may file specific written objections to the proposed findings and recommendations of a magistrate judge, and a district judge must conduct a de novo review of any part of the R&R that has been properly objected to. Fed.R.Civ.P. 72(b)(2), (b)(3); 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1). Here, however, because no party filed any objections to the R&R, this Court reviews the magistrate judge's decision for plain error. See Tice v. Wilson, 425 F.Supp.2d 676, 680 (W.D. Pa. 2006); see also Fed.R.Civ.P. 72(b), Advisory Committee Notes (“When no timely objection is filed, the court need only satisfy itself that there is no clear error on the face of the record in order to accept the recommendation.”).
In this case, upon careful review of the R&R and the entire record, and finding no plain error on the face of the record, the Court will accept Judge Lenihan's recommendation. As such, the Court will adopt the R&R as the Opinion of the Court as more specifically set forth below, with one exception. After the R&R was filed, Plaintiff Devin Hale returned a signed copy of the Complaint on November 15, 2021. (Docket No. 61 at 11). Although Plaintiff Hale's signed Complaint was received after the October 25th deadline, he will not be dismissed from this case given that he complied with the Court's Order shortly after that deadline and well prior to the issuance of this Memorandum Order.
Accordingly, in view of the foregoing, the Court enters the following Order:
AND NOW, this 19h day of January, 2022, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the R&R (Docket No. 53) is ADOPTED as the Opinion of the Court (expect as to Plaintiff Devin Hale as explained above).
For the reasons set forth in the R&R, IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the following Plaintiffs are DISMISSED from this case for their failure to prosecute: (1) Daymond Wiggins; (2) Devon Thompson; (3) Elijah Price; (4) Jeremy Carson; (5) To-Michael Sherrell; (6) Zai-Quan Henderson; (7) Jermaine Rodgers; (8) Thomas Morton; (9) Raymond Harrison; (10) Charles Lantzy; (11) Christian Stevens; (12) Jaimone Robinson; (13) Justin Parrotte; (14) Nathaniel Weatherspoon; (15) Racoco Williams; and (16) William Lynn.