Torres Garcia v. Puerto Rico, No. Civ. 04-1365(SEC).

• Decision Date: 23 May 2005
• Docket Number: No. Civ. 04-1365(SEC).
• Parties: Justo TORRES GARCIA Plaintiff v. Commonwealth of PUERTO RICO et al Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Puerto Rico

402 F.Supp.2d 373

Justo TORRES GARCIA Plaintiff v. Commonwealth of PUERTO RICO et al Defendants.

No. Civ. 04-1365(SEC).

United States District Court, D. Puerto Rico.

May 23, 2005.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Justo Torres-Garcia, Guayama, PR, pro se.

Maria Eugenia Villares-Seneriz, Department of Justice, San Juan, PR, for Defendant.

OPINION AND ORDER

CASELLAS, District Judge.

Before the Court is Plaintiff's civil rights complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rico Department of Corrections, Bayamón Institutions Annex Nos. 292 and 501, and various individuals affiliated with the Department of Corrections (Docket # 1). Essentially, Plaintiff claims that he was transferred from a minimum security unit to a maximum security unit in violation of prison rules. Plaintiff alleges that, as a result of being housed in a maximum security prison, he has been deprived of his right to participate in educational and work programs, exercise, and enjoy familial visits, all in violation of his constitutional rights.

On March 4, 2005 Defendants, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Corrections Administration of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Miguel Pereira Castillo, Roberto Del Valle Navarro, and Rosanic Delgado Sevilla, filed a partial motion to dismiss (Docket # 16). The same was referred to Magistrate-Judge Aida Delgado-Colón for a Report and Recommendation (Docket # 18). On May 3, 2005 Magistrate-Judge Delgado-Colón issued her report, recommending that all of Plaintiff's claims be dismissed, with the exception of his due process claim¹ seeking injunctive relief against the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rico Department of Corrections, Bayamón Institution Annex # 292 and Bayamón Institution # 501 (Docket # 25). Magistrate Delgado-Colón further recommended that the request for dismissal of Plaintiff's claims based on Eleventh Amendment immunity be granted with respect to monetary damages and retrospective injunctive relief and denied with respect to prospective injunctive relief. Neither party has objected to the Magistrate's report and the time allotted for doing so has expired.

Standard of Review

The scope of review of a Magistrate's recommendation is set forth in 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(c). This section provides that "[a] judge of the [district] court shall make a de novo determination of those portions of the report or specified findings or recommendations to which [an] objection is made." Id. The Court can "accept, reject, or modify, in whole or in part, the findings or recommendations made by the magistrate," however, if the affected party fails to timely file objections, "`the district court can assume that they have agreed to the magistrate's recommendation.'" Alamo Rodríguez v. Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 286 F.Supp.2d 144, 146 (D.P.R.2003) (quoting Templeman v. Chris Craft Corp., 770 F.2d 245, 247 (1st Cir.1985)). Thus, no review is required of those issues to which objections are not timely raised. Thomas v. Arn, 474 U.S. 140, 106 S.Ct. 466, 88 L.Ed.2d 435 (1985), reh'g denied, 474 U.S. 1111, 106 S.Ct. 899, 88 L.Ed.2d 933 (1986); Borden v. Sec'y of Health & Human Servs., 836 F.2d 4, 6 (1st Cir.1987). In fact, a party who fails to file any objections to the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation within ten days of its filing waives his or her right to appeal from the district court's order. Henley Drilling Co. v. McGee, 36 F.3d 143, 150-51 (1st Cir.1994); United States v. Valencia-Copete, 792 F.2d 4, 5 (1st Cir.1986); Davet v. Maccarone, 973 F.2d 22, 30-31 (1st Cir.1992) ("[f]ailure to raise objections to the Report and Recommendation waives that party's right to review in the district court and those claims not preserved by such objection are precluded on appeal").

Analysis and Conclusion

Neither party has objected to the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation, thus we are not required by law to review it. However, upon review, we find no fault with Magistrate Judge Delgado-Colón's assessment and thus APPROVE and ADOPT her Report and Recommendation as our own. Consequently, Defendants' motion to dismiss is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part; Plaintiff's claims will be DISMISSED with the exception of his due process claim seeking injunctive relief against the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rico Department of Corrections, Bayamón Institution Annex # 292 and Bayamón Institution # 501. Partial Judgment shall be entered accordingly.

SO ORDERED.

MAGISTRATE-JUDGE'S REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

DELGADO-COLON, United States Magistrate Judge.

Justo Torres-García ("hereafter `Torres'"), an inmate housed at Guayama Annex # 500 Maximum Security Unit at the Guayama Correctional Institution, Puerto Rico, filed a pro se civil rights complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rico Department of Corrections, Bayamón Institutions Annex Nos. 292 and 501, and various individuals affiliated with the Department of Corrections (Docket No. 1). The essence of Torres's claim is that on March 4, 2003, he was transferred from a minimum security unit to a maximum security prison in violation of prison rules. Additionally, as a result of his being housed at a maximum security unit, Torres claims he has been derived of the right to educational programs, exercise, work programs and familial visits, all in violation of his constitutional rights.

Torres was granted leave to proceed in forma pauperis. At the same time Torres was ordered to provide and inform to the Court his current status and conditions of confinement; whether he was participating at educational or work programs; whether after November 2003 he received notice of any determination made by the "Comité de Quejas y Agravios" whether any proceedings were initiated after November 2003 before the state courts, in regards to these claims, and if so, the status of said cases (Docket No. 6). After this Order was entered on May 13, 2005, the District Judge entered an Order advising that documents submitted in Spanish "cannot be considered by the Court" (Docket No. 12). To date all the documents filed by Torres remain submitted in Spanish. In this regard, the First Circuit Court of Appeals has made it clear that "[t]he law incontrovertibly demands that federal litigation in Puerto Rico be conducted in English". Estades-Negroni v. Associates Corp. of North Am., 359 F.3d 1, 2 (1st Cir.2004) (citing 48 U.S.C. § 864 (2003)). This rule applies to trials as well as to the pre-trial process. Id. Exhibits that have not been translated into English are not and cannot on appeal become part of the record. Id. (citing United States v. Rivera-Rosario, 300 F.3d 1, 6 (1st Cir.2002)).

In the meantime service was effected on most, but not all, of the defendants and a Partial Motion to Dismiss was filed by Defendants Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Miguel Pereira-Castillo, Roberto Del Valle-Navarro, and Rosana Delgado-Sevilla, (Docket Nos. 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23). Torres did not file a response to the motion. The matter was then referred for a Report and Recommendation. A review of the file indicates that contrary to normal procedure in § 1983 prisoner cases, there has been no preliminary review of the complaint. Accordingly, in addition to preparing a Report and Recommendation on the Motion to Dismiss, the undersigned will also conduct an initial review of this matter.

I. Title 28 U.S.C.1915A

The undersigned now conducts a preliminary review of the complaint pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A, which provides:

(a) Screening. — The court shall review, before docketing, if feasible or, in any event, as soon as practicable after docketing, a complaint in a civil action in which a prisoner seeks redress from a governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity.

(b) Grounds for Dismissal. — On review, the court shall identify cognizable claims or dismiss the complaint, or any portion of the complaint, if the complaint —

(1) is frivolous, malicious, or fails to state a claim on which relief may be granted; or

(2) seeks monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief.

Title 28 U.S.C. § 1915A.

Torres alleges that on March 4, 2003, he was arbitrarily transferred from Unit 3 at Bayamón # 501, a unit assigned to government witnesses, to Bayamón # 292, a maximum security unit and facility. Torres alleges that the transfer was effected in disregard of institutional rules and procedures, specifically "Rule 22", as well as other applicable rules and regulations within the Commonwealth Administration of Corrections. Torres next alleges that upon his transfer to the maximum security unit in Bayamon, he was placed in segregation and was there for over three (3) months without being allowed family visits.

Torres was notified on August 20, 2003 that he would be transferred to the Guayama Annex # 500, at the Guayama Correctional Institutional of Puerto Rico. He is being housed in the segregation unit due to security concerns. At the time of the filing of the complaint Torres remained housed at Guayama. He considers that this subsequent institutional transfer to Guayama was also made in violation of his rights and applicable rules and regulations. He alleges that the transfer places his life at risk, inasmuch as he allegedly served as a witness in a case that was investigated and prosecuted in the Guayama area (Docket No. 4, page 3). Finally, he claims that since his transfer to Guayama he has had no participation in institutional work or rehabilitation programs, and is not provided adequate recreation or exercise.

Torres seeks compensatory damages and injunctive relief in the form of a transfer to the Bayamon # 501, Unit 3, where he was initially housed (Docket No. 4).

II. Exhaustion

The Prison Litigation Reform Act requires a prisoner to exhaust administrative remedies before suing over prison conditions. Booth v. Churner,...