Timothy McCarter v. State of Oregon by and through the Oregon Department of Corrections, Leland Beamer, and John and Jane Does I-III

Summary

A magistrate judge recommends granting defendants’ motion for summary judgment in Timothy McCarter’s action alleging deliberate indifference to medical needs under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and state-law negligence. The recommendation concludes that the claims are procedurally undefended, time-barred, and unsupported by evidence of deliberate indifference or negligence.

Holdings

1. When a properly supported summary-judgment motion is unanswered, and the opposing party does not identify specific facts showing a genuine issue for trial, the factual record submitted by the movant is undisputed for purposes of the motion.
2. McCarter's § 1983 claim was time-barred because it accrued no later than June 3, 2022, when he knew or had reason to know of his injury and its cause, and he filed suit on June 5, 2024, after Oregon's two-year limitations period expired.
3. McCarter's Oregon negligence claim was time-barred because he knew of his injury and the allegedly tortious conduct by June 3, 2022, and did not file within Oregon's two-year limitations period for tort claims against a public body.
4. The undisputed evidence did not establish deliberate indifference, or even negligence, by defendants; therefore, McCarter's § 1983 claim failed on the merits.

Questions Presented

1. Whether defendants were entitled to summary judgment because McCarter failed to respond to the motion and therefore failed to identify a genuine dispute of material fact.
2. Whether McCarter's 42 U.S.C. § 1983 deliberate-indifference claim was barred by Oregon's two-year personal-injury statute of limitations.
3. Whether McCarter's Oregon negligence claim against a public body was barred by Oregon's two-year limitations period for tort claims.
4. Whether the undisputed evidence established that defendants were not deliberately indifferent to McCarter's medical needs and had not even acted negligently.

Disposition

other