Camby v. Davis
| Decision Date | 03 October 1983 |
| Docket Number | No. 82-6070,82-6070 |
| Parties | David E. CAMBY, Appellant, v. Larry DAVIS; James M. Lester, Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit |
Robert L. Flax, Richmond, Va., for appellant.
Everett B. Saslow, Jr., Greensboro, N.C. (Charles E. Nichols, Nichols, Caffrey, Hill, Evans & Murrelle, Greensboro, N.C., on brief), for appellees.
Before RUSSELL, WIDENER and HALL, Circuit Judges.
This case presents the question of what action a district court must take upon a magistrate's proposed findings and recommendations on a dispositive motion under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 636(b)(1)(B) when there is no objection made to the magistrate's proposal.
The plaintiff in this Sec. 1983 action, David Camby, was indicted for second-degree burglary, and subsequently arrested by the defendant police officers, Larry Davis and James Lester, pursuant to a court order. After the North Carolina Superior Court set bond for pre-trial release, Camby was incarcerated in an Iredell County Prison unit. Before trial, the prosecutor obtained a voluntary dismissal of the charges, stating Camby had been improperly charged, and that the State would seek a new indictment.
Claiming that his arrest violated his constitutional rights, Camby brought this action for damages for the cost of his bond, attorney fees, and mental anguish. The defendants moved for summary judgment, supported by affidavits and copies of the state court record. The plaintiff filed rebuttal neither to the motion nor to the affidavits. The plaintiff failed to file any objections, and the district court, in a brief order, adopted the Magistrates Findings and Recommendations and dismissed the action. 1
The plaintiff contends that the district court must do more than merely adopt the magistrate's findings and recommendations. The plaintiff claims that the district court was bound, at least, to review the factual and legal basis of his action and point out the controlling legal authorities. The claim is that the district court must at least explicitly review the exhibits, affidavits, pleadings and principles in its opinion or order adopting the magistrate's report.
Under the Federal Magistrates Act, 28 U.S.C. Sec. 636(b)(1)(B), a district court may, without the parties' consent, designate a magistrate to consider a dispositive motion, such as the one before us, for summary judgment. After considering such a motion, a magistrate must submit "proposed findings of fact and recommendations for the disposition, by a judge of the court ...."
The Act permits a party who objects to the magistrate's proposals to file written objections. Id. at Sec. 636(b)(1)(C). If a party objects, the district court shall make a de novo review of the specified proposed findings or recommendations objected to. Id.
The district court referred consideration of the motion to a magistrate, who found no constitutional violation, and recommended that the defendants' motion for summary judgment be granted. The clerk of the court mailed a copy of the magistrate's proposed findings and recommendations to the plaintiff with a notice which called plaintiff's attention to and quoted the statutory provisions of 28 U.S.C. Sec. 636(b)(1)(C) which requires objection to be filed within ten days of service of the magistrate's recommendations, and advised plaintiff that unless objections were made in accordance with that statute and local Rule 50.3(b), which was also quoted, that "... an appropriate order or judgment will be entered by the court on the Magistrate's Findings and Recommendations."
While the Magistrate's Act does not separately address a standard of review, and action thereupon, by the district court in a situation in which a party fails to object to the magistrate's proposed findings and recommendations, the statute does address, in terms, the filing of the magistrate's report. 28 U.S.C. Sec. 636(b)(1)(C) applies whether or not there has been objection to the report of the magistrate. That subsection provides that the magistrate shall file his proposed findings and recommendations with the court and that a copy shall forthwith be mailed to all parties. Within ten days after being served with a copy, a party may serve and file written objections to the findings and recommendations. The next sentence provides that a judge of the court shall make a de novo determination of those portions of the report or specified proposed findings or recommendations to which objection is made. It is the following sentence which we construe here, and it is: "A judge of the court may accept, reject, or modify, in whole or in part, the findings or recommendations made by the magistrate." Thus, the judge has the power to accept, reject, or modify in whole or in part the magistrate's report. In this case the judge explicitly adopted it. Adoption is an affirmative act. In the absence of objection, for which provision is made by the statute, we do not believe that it requires any explanation. We also do not believe it may be presumed by the absence of explanation, as plaintiff requests us to do, that the judge who entered the order adopting the magistrate's report had not given the report any consideration at all. Indeed, quite the contrary is true, for official acts are presumed to be regular, and since the judge had the power either to accept, reject, or modify the report in whole or in part, we will not consider that the judge did not exercise the discretion which the statute gives him. If no objection were made, for example, it could hardly be argued that the judge must accept the report if it contained an error of law apparent on its face.
Our position in this case is supported by the Legislative History, House Rep. No. 94-1609, U.S.Code Cong. and Adm.News, 1976, pp. 6162, 6171:
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