Opinion
CIVIL ACTION NO.: 19-00206-BAJ-RLB
08-24-2020
TERRY M. LAWRENCE, JR. v. EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH PRISON, ET AL.
AMENDED RULING AND ORDER
Before the Court for further consideration is Defendant Sheriff Sid J. Gautreaux, III's MOTION TO DISMISS (Doc. 19), seeking dismissal of Plaintiff's Complaint (Doc. 1) for failure to state a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. On February 18, 2020, the Magistrate Judge issued an initial Report And Recommendation recommending that Defendant's Motion be granted and that Plaintiff's official capacity claims for monetary damages be dismissed under an Eleventh Amendment immunity analysis, and that Plaintiff's remaining claims be dismissed because Plaintiff's allegations cannot overcome Defendant's qualified immunity defense. (Doc. 31) On April 20, 2020, the Court issued its original Ruling and Order adopting the Magistrate Judge's Report, granting Defendant's Motion, and dismissing Plaintiff's claims against Defendant, with prejudice. (Doc. 40)
On June 26, 2020, the Magistrate Judge issued an Amended Report and Recommendation (Doc. 47) clarifying that the original Eleventh Amendment immunity analysis was erroneous, and, accordingly, recommending that the Court vacate its Original Ruling and Order. Nonetheless, the Amended Report further recommends that Plaintiff's official capacity claims be dismissed with prejudice for failure to satisfy the requirements of municipal liability, and that Plaintiff's remaining claims be dismissed because Plaintiff' cannot overcome Defendant's qualified immunity defense (as before). Plaintiff filed a timely Objection to the Amended Report. (Doc. 49)
Having independently re-considered Defendant's Motion (Doc. 19), the Amended Report, and related filings—including Plaintiff's Objection—the Court APPROVES the Magistrate Judge's AMENDED REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION (Doc. 47) and ADOPTS it as the Court's opinion herein.
Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED that the Court's original Ruling and Order (Doc. 40) dismissing Plaintiff's claims against Defendant Sheriff Sid J. Gautreaux, III is VACATED.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff's Complaint is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE as to Defendant Sheriff Sid J. Gautreaux, III for the revised reasons explained in the Magistrate Judge's Amended Report and Recommendation (Doc. 47).
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that this matter is referred back to the Magistrate Judge for further proceedings herein.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, this 24th day of August, 2020
/s/ _________
JUDGE BRIAN A. JACKSON
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA