Opinion
Cause No. 3:03cv0888 AS.
October 4, 2005
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
This court takes full judicial notice of the record in this case which began with the filing of a pro se complaint by four pro se plaintiffs on or about December 9, 2003. This case has been in the able hands of United States Magistrate Judge Christopher A. Nuechterlein who has filed an extensive Report and Recommendation on September 16, 2005, to which the plaintiff Wrinkles and Lambert filed objections on September 26, 2005. The case was started in the LaPorte Superior Court in LaPorte County, Indiana and removed to this court on the basis of federal question jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1441(b). A summary judgment motion has been filed, and obviously there has been compliance with Lewis v. Faulkner, 689 F.2d 100 (7th Cir. 1982). The magistrate judge has done a masterful job navigating through to various issues involved with the housing arrangements on so-called death row during parts of 2002 and 2003.
The ruling here applies only to claims over which this court has federal question jurisdiction and it does not relate to claims based solely on state law, in this case the state law of Indiana. With that understood, the plaintiff Wrinkles' motion for summary judgment is DENIED as recommended, and the defendant's motion for summary judgment is GRANTED as recommended. The federal law claims of the plaintiffs Lambert, Saylor and Rastafari are DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE, and the court GRANTS summary judgment to the defendant on the merits of Wrinkles' Eighth Amendment claim. The state law claims are REMANDED to the LaPorte Superior Court. Each party will bear its own costs. The Clerk shall enter judgment accordingly. IT IS SO ORDERED.