Atwell v. Lavan
| Decision Date | 26 March 2008 |
| Docket Number | Civil No. 1:CV-03-1728. |
| Citation | 557 F.Supp.2d 532 |
| Parties | Geoffrey Willard ATWELL, Plaintiff v. Thomas LA VAN, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Middle District of Pennsylvania |
Geoffrey Willard Atwell, Downingtown, PA, pro se.
Gregory R. Neuhauser, Office of Attorney General, Harrisburg, PA, Anthony J. Piazza, Jr., Murphy, Piazza & Genello, Scranton, PA, Alan S: Gold, Gold & Robins, P.C., Jenkintown, PA, for Defendants.
Before the court is a December 21, 2007 report and recommendation of the magistrate judge addressing the cross-motions for summary judgment filed by the Commonwealth Defendants and by Plaintiff.1 The procedural history of this case will not be set forth herein as it is adequately set forth in the December 21, 2007 report and recommendation and is not in dispute.
The claims before this court come by way of a complaint filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging numerous defendants violated three of Plaintiffs constitutional rights, i.e. an Eighth Amendment excessive confinement claim; an Eighth Amendment denial of proper medical care claim; and a First Amendment claim of denial of access to court.
Plaintiff's complaint alleges that he was being held in custody beyond the expiration of his sentence and that he was denied access to the courts and necessary medical care. The magistrate judge, after a thorough examination of the facts and the law applicable thereto, recommended that the Commonwealth Defendants' motion for summary judgment be granted as to all of Plaintiffs claims against them and that judgment be entered in favor of all of the Commonwealth Defendants and against Plaintiff. He further recommended that Plaintiffs cross motion for summary judgment against the Commonwealth Defendants be denied.
Plaintiff has filed objections encompassing 36 pages. In summary, he alleges that the magistrate judge only considered Defendants' motion and brief and did not address Plaintiffs motion and brief. He further alleges that had the magistrate judge considered Plaintiffs submission, he would have found material facts in dispute so that the magistrate judge could not have recommended granting the Commonwealth Defendants' motion for summary judgment.
The standards governing the court's consideration of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(c) cross-motions are the same as those governing motions for summary judgment,2 although the court must construe the motions independently, viewing the evidence presented by each moving party in the light most favorable to the non-movant. Raymond Proffitt Foundation v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 930 F.Supp. 1088, 1096 (E.D.Pa. 1996).
The allegation that the magistrate judge failed to give consideration to Plaintiffs submissions is without foundation. The magistrate judge makes references to document 189 (Plaintiffs brief in support of his motion for summary judgment), and document 191 (Plaintiffs appendix to his brief). The copies of those file documents received from the magistrate judge contain highlighting and have numerous pages tabbed.
Significantly, Plaintiffs motion for summary judgment only addressed the issue of Plaintiffs alleged illegal incarceration. The exhibits in Plaintiffs appendix (doc. 191) were used by the magistrate judge in addressing this issue. The arguments in support of Plaintiffs motion for summary judgment on the illegal incarceration issue are the same arguments set forth in Plaintiffs opposition brief to the Commonwealth Defendants' motion for summary judgment. It would have been a waste of judicial resources for the magistrate judge to write two separate reports and recommendations on cross-motions for summary judgment. No other arguments are set forth in the objections other than a reiteration of Plaintiffs factual disputes that have been addressed by the magistrate judge.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED THAT:
1) The court adopts the December 21, 2007 report and recommendation of Magistrate Judge Blewitt.
2) The Commonwealth Defendant's motion for summary judgment is granted.
3) Plaintiffs cross-motion for summary judgment is denied.
4) The clerk of court shall defer the entry of judgment in favor of the Commonwealth Defendants and against Plaintiff until the conclusion of this case.
5) Any appeal from this order will be deemed frivolous and not taken in good faith.
On September 30, 2003, Plaintiff, Geoffrey W. Atwell, filed, pro se, this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. On January 20, 2004, he filed an Amended Complaint. (Doc. 18).1 The District Court dismissed Plaintiffs Amended Complaint on May 3, 2004, essentially because Plaintiff continued to misjoin Defendants in his pleadings. (Doc. 22). Plaintiff appealed the District Court's May 3, 2004 Order. On June 23, 2005, the Third Circuit vacated, the District Court's Order holding that misjoinder of parties was not grounds for dismissal of an action, and remanded Plaintiffs case. (Doc. 40). As the Third Circuit Court stated in its June 23, 2005 Opinion issued in Plaintiffs Appeal of the District Court's Order dismissing his action (Doc. 22), "While in prison, Atwell filed a complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against 86 Defendants alleging that he was being held in custody beyond the expiration of his sentence, and that he was denied access to the courts and necessary medical care." (Doc. 40-2, p. 2).
Subsequently, Plaintiffs Amended Complaint was screened, and fourteen (14) Defendants were dismissed. (Docs. 49 and 55). The remaining forty (40) Defendants were then served.
The District Court has stated that Plaintiff is proceeding on his Amended Complaint in this case. (Doc. 55).2 Plaintiff was granted leave to proceed in forma pauperis. (Doc. 48).
Plaintiff basically claims that Defendants made him serve, as an inmate at the State Correctional Institution at Dallas, Pennsylvania ("SCI-Dallas"), illegal additional time beyond the maximum sentences imposed by the Adams County Court, which should have expired October 19, 2002, and not May 22, 2004. Plaintiff states that, by requiring him to serve more time than mandated by his sentences, Defendants violated his Constitutional rights. (Doc. 189, pp. 1-3). Plaintiff states that his alleged illegal incarceration from October 19, 2002 through May 22, 2004 "is cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the 8th Amendment" and that it violated his "5th and 14th Amendment Rights." (Id., p. 4). Plaintiff does not indicate if he filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus, while he still was in custody, with respect to his claim the he was made to serve prison sentences in excess of the sentences imposed by the state court. Plaintiff further claims that his First Amendment right to access to the courts was denied by Defendants. (Id., pp. 4-5).3 Plaintiff states that Defendants improperly calculated his sentences and as a result required him to serve almost two more years than ordered by his sentences. Plaintiff contends that his maximum incarceration date was October 19, 2002, and not May 22, 2004, which was the date Defendants released him. Plaintiff also alleges that some Defendants violated his Eighth Amendment right to proper medical care. Plaintiff is no longer incarcerated at SCI-Dallas.
In his amended pleading, Plaintiff named fifty-four (54) Defendants. However, the District Court has dismissed fourteen (14) of those Defendants. Defendant Kelly Gallagher was subsequently dismissed. (Doc. 108). Thirty-nine (39) Defendants remain in this case. (Docs. 55 and 108). Service has been completed on all remaining Defendants. All of the remaining Defendants have filed Answers to the Amended Complaint, or they have filed Motions to Dismiss or for Summary Judgment.4
On January 23, 2006, Defendant Kelly Gallagher, P.A., a Physician Assistant at SCI-Dallas, filed a Motion to Dismiss the Plaintiffs Amended Complaint as against her. (Doc. 71). On March 13, 2006, as stated, the District Court granted Defendant Gallagher's Motion. (Doc. 108).
On March 27, 2007, Commonwealth Defendants filed a Motion for Summary Judgment. (Doc. 183). The thirty-six (36) named Commonwealth Defendants are the following: Lavan, Beard, James, Burks, Kelchner, Kazor, Marsella, Griffith, Hildebrand, Bernard, Shaffer, McGrady, Faneck, Leachey, Zaledonis, Burnett, Putnam, Keller, West, Tucker, Smith, Morris, Higgins, Thomas, Harrison, Ginochetti, Doknovitch, Blizzard, Meyers, Gaughan, Martinez, Ryan, McCrone, Szierzyna, Selvey and Dietrich. (Id.). As noted, we find Defendant Dougherty is also a Commonwealth Defendant with respect to Doc. 183.5 Since Plaintiff has stated the positions of the Commonwealth Defendants in his Amended Complaint (Doc. 18, pp. 3-12), we shall not repeat them. Commonwealth Defendants filed their Statement of Material Facts ("SMF") with Exhibits and their support Brief on March 28, 2007. (Docs. 184 and 185, respectively). (Commonwealth Defendants' Exhibits are attached to Doc. 184). On April 10, 2007, Plaintiff filed his Brief in opposition to the Commonwealth Defendants' Summary Judgment Motion, with an attached Appendix. (Docs. 194 and 194-2). After being granted an extension of time, Commonwealth Defendants filed their Reply Brief in support of their Summary Judgment Motion on April 23, 2007. (Doc. 200).
On May 11, 2007, Plaintiff, without leave of Court (See Local Rule 7.7, M.D. Pa.) filed a Sur-reply Brief with an Exhibit in response to the Commonwealth Defendants' Reply Brief. (Doc. 209). On May 4, 2007, Commonwealth Defendants filed a letter to the Court with a new Third Circuit case as additional authority in support of their Summary Judgment Motion, namely James v. PA. DOC, 230 Fed.Appx. 195 (3d Cir.2007) (Non-Precedential). (Doc. 204). We will consider this new case relied...
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Part 1: complete case summaries in alphabetical order.
...Legal Material, Limitations RULES & REGULATIONS-PRISONER: Rules- Items Permitted, Access to Court, Property Atwell v. Lavan, 557 F.Supp.2d 532 (M.D.Pa. 2008). A state inmate brought a pro se [section] 1983 action against prison employees, probation and parole board members and medical p......