Armando Gomez v. Kelvin D. Masters, et al.

Summary

The United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas adopted a magistrate judge's memorandum and recommendation in Armando Gomez's civil rights action. The court retained certain Eighth Amendment excessive-force and failure-to-protect claims against four defendants in their individual capacities and dismissed other claims without prejudice, including official-capacity damages claims barred by the Eleventh Amendment.

Holdings

1. When no timely objection is filed, the district court need only satisfy itself that there is no clear error on the face of the record before accepting the magistrate judge's memorandum and recommendation.
2. Plaintiff's claims for money damages against defendants in their official capacities are barred by the Eleventh Amendment and must be dismissed without prejudice.
3. Plaintiff's remaining claims must be dismissed without prejudice for failure to state a claim pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(e)(2)(B) and 1915A(b)(1).

Questions Presented

1. Whether the district court should adopt the magistrate judge's memorandum and recommendation when no timely objection was filed.
2. Whether Plaintiff's official-capacity claims for money damages are barred by the Eleventh Amendment.
3. Whether Plaintiff's remaining claims should be dismissed for failure to state a claim under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(e)(2)(B) and 1915A(b)(1).

Disposition

other