Richards v. Wallace ( 2024 )

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA EDDIE RICHARDS CIVIL ACTION VERSUS NO: 24-1529 RHONDA B. WALLACE, ET AL. SECTION: “J”(4) ORDER The Court, having considered the complaint, the record, the applicable law, the Report and Recommendation of the United States Magistrate Judge (Rec. Doc. 4), and petitioner’s objections (Rec. Doc. 5), hereby approves the Report and Recommendation of the United States Magistrate Judge and adopts it as its opinion in this matter. Magistrate Judge Roby recommended that petitioner’s claims should be dismissed, sua sponte, because this Court “lacks jurisdiction over Richard’s Complaint against the State of Louisiana, the DOC as a state agency, and the other defendants in their official capacities” and because his complaint fails to state a claim for which relief can be granted and for seeking relief against an immune defendant. (Rec. Doc. 4, at 7, 9). Furthermore, Plaintiff’s claims against Secretary LeBlanc, Warden Day, Director Wheat, Nurse Wallace, Lt. McMurray, and Lt. Wallace in their individual capacities must be dismissed because they are frivolous. Likewise, Plaintiff’s equal protection claims must be dismissed for frivolity and failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Finally, Judge Roby recommends that this Court decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Plaintiff's remaining state law claims. Plaintiff has filed an objection to the Report and Recommendations arguing in part that Magistrate Judge Roby is a part of the cover-up of the actions of Defendants and that she should be recused. Plaintiff also argues that state employees should not be immune from suit under § 1983. See Will v. Mich. Deptt of St. Pol., 491 U.S. 58 (1989); Stotter v. Univ. of Tex., 508 F.3d 812, 821 (5th Cir. 2007). Although Plaintiff may be displeased with the protection the law provides for state actors, this reason alone is not sufficient to allow his case to proceed in Federal Court. IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Antoine Edwards’s objection (Rec. Doc. 5) is OVERRULED, and the Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation (Rec. Doc. APPROVED and ADOPTED as the Court’s opinion. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiffs 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claims against defendants, the State of Louisiana through the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections and Secretary James LeBlanc, Warden Travis Day, Medical Director Wheat, Lt. Rhonda B. Wallace, Lt. McMurray, and Nurse Reed Wallace, each in their individual and official capacities, be DISMISSED, with prejudice. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiffs state law battery claims are DISMISSED, without prejudice, and may be refiled in state court. New Orleans, Louisiana, this 22nd day of Amgust, 2024 ali My WKY alu CARL J. BA iy RV UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE