Thomas V. Lampley v. Scotty Bodiford

Summary

The United States District Court for the District of South Carolina dismissed with prejudice, but not on the merits, a pro se state pretrial detainee’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241. The court adopted the Magistrate Judge’s recommendation, as modified, and dismissed the petition under the abstention doctrine established in Younger v. Harris. The court also denied a certificate of appealability.

Holdings

1. When no timely specific objection is filed to a magistrate judge's Report and Recommendation, the district court need only review the recommendation for clear error on the face of the record rather than conduct de novo review.
2. The petition was barred by Younger abstention and was therefore dismissed with prejudice on procedural, nonmerits grounds.
3. A certificate of appealability should not issue because the petitioner did not satisfy the required showing for appellate review of the procedural dismissal.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the district court should accept the magistrate judge's Report and Recommendation when the petitioner filed no objections.
2. Whether the petition should be dismissed under Younger v. Harris because federal intervention in the state pretrial proceedings was barred by abstention principles.
3. Whether a certificate of appealability should issue after dismissal on procedural grounds.

Disposition

dismissed