Opinion
C22-1392 BHS
01-26-2023
JASON LEE SUTTON, Plaintiff, v. LESLIE E. O'CONNOR, et al., Defendants.
ORDER
BENJAMIN H. SETTLE UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
This matter comes before the Court on Plaintiff Jennifer Lee Sutton's Emergency Motion for Relief, Dkt. 10, and Motion for Extension of Time, Dkt. 12, and Magistrate Judge Michelle L. Peterson's Report and Recommendation (“R&R”), Dkt. 9.
Sutton is a transgender woman who uses the pronouns she/her and the name “Jennifer.” See Dkt. 1-1. The Court therefore refers to her as such.
Sutton asserts various civil rights violations against prison guards at Monroe Correctional Complex (“MCC”) relating to accusations that she engaged in animal cruelty in the prison yard. See generally Dkt. 1-1. Judge Peterson granted Sutton's application for leave to proceed in forma pauperis but declined to serve her civil rights complaint for failure to state a plausible claim under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A. Dkt. 8. Judge Peterson granted Sutton leave to amend her complaint by December 16, 2022. Id.
After Sutton failed to timely amend her complaint, Judge Peterson issued a R&R recommending that this Court dismiss her case without prejudice. Dkt. 9. The following day, Sutton filed an emergency motion for relief from Judge Peterson's previous order setting the deadline to amend on December 16. Dkt. 10. She asserts that she attempted to timely file her amended complaint but due to a misunderstanding with the prison's law librarian, and the subsequent absence of that librarian, she had difficulty determining whether her amended complaint had been filed. Id. She seeks more time to file her amended complaint, id., which she ultimately filed on January 9, 2023, Dkt. 11.
Sutton also moves for an extension of time to object to Judge Peterson's R&R. Dkt. 12. She asserts that she is unable to timely file objections because she is being transported from MCC to the Washington State Penitentiary. Id.
The Court reads Sutton's motions as objections to Judge Peterson's R&R. Thus, her motion for extension of time to object, Dkt. 12, is DENIED as moot. Her emergency motion for relief from Judge Peterson's December 16 deadline, Dkt. 10, is GRANTED. Sutton's amended complaint, Dkt. 11, is the operative complaint and the case is REREFERRED to Judge Peterson for further screening of that complaint under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A. The Court DECLINES to adopt Judge Peterson's R&R, Dkt. 9.
IT IS SO ORDERED.