Opinion
Civil Action 22-154
09-20-2022
ALFRED WHITEFIELD, Plaintiff, v. CRYSTAL GREENAWALT, MR. ANKROM, MINDY ANDRETTI, MICHAEL ZAKEN, SGT. STRECHLY, and JOHN DOES 1,2, 3,4, 5 and 6, Defendants.
Marilyn J. Horan, District Judge
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
Re: ECF No. 39
MAUREEN P. KELLY, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
I. RECOMMENDATION
Plaintiff Alfred Whitefield (“Plaintiff'), an inmate presently incarcerated at the State Correctional Institution at Greene (“SCI-Greene”), filed this pro se action arising out of allegations that prison officials improperly withheld access to his legal materials and placed him in the Restricted Housing Unit (“RHU”) under false pretenses. ECF No. 43.
Presently before the Court is Plaintiffs Motion for Summary Judgment. ECF No. 39. For the reasons below, the Motion for Summary Judgment should be denied.
II. REPORT
Plaintiff filed the instant Motion for Summary Judgment on August 8, 2022. ECF No. 39. He argues that Defendants' deadline to respond to his Complaint was July 18, 2022, and that judgment should be entered in his favor as to Defendants Greenawalt, Andretti, Ankrom, Strechly, Zaken, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (“DOC”) and SCI-Greene (the “Corrections Defendants”) because they untimely requested an extension of time to file their response two days after the relevant deadline. Id.
This is incorrect. In fact, the Court set a deadline of July 22, 2022 for Defendants to respond to the Complaint. ECF No. 28. The Corrections Defendants timely requested an extension of time to file their responsive pleading on July 20, 2022, which the Court granted. ECF Nos. 36 and 37. After the Corrections Defendants filed a timely Motion to Dismiss, Plaintiff filed an Amended Complaint, to which Corrections Defendants' answer is not due until September 21, 2022. ECF Nos. 40, 43,47 and 48. Because the Corrections Defendants' answer to the Amended Complaint is not yet due and they have complied with all relevant deadlines, the Motion for Summary Judgment is without merit and should be denied.
Plaintiff also has since eliminated his claims against Defendants DOC and SCI-Greene in his Amended Complaint. ECF No. 43.
In accordance with the Magistrate Judges Act, 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1), and Local Rule 72.D.2, the parties are permitted to file written objections in accordance with the schedule established in the docket entry reflecting the filing of this Report and Recommendation. Objections are to be submitted to the Clerk of Court, United States District Court, 700 Grant Street, Room 3110, Pittsburgh, PA 15219. Failure to timely file objections will waive the right to appeal. Brightwell v. Lehman, 637 F.3d 187,193 n. 7 (3d Cir. 2011). Any party opposing objections may file their response to the objections within fourteen (14) days thereafter in accordance with Local Civil Rule 72.D.2.