United States District Court, D. Rhode Island
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
ANDREA
K. JOHNSTONE UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE.
Before
the court is plaintiff Kormahyah Karmue's motion (Doc.
No. 78) to amend the complaint in this matter. No defendant
who has appeared in this action has responded to the motion.
In his motion, Karmue seeks to: (1) amend the allegations and
name defendants to the claims set forth in the May 18, 2018
Report and Recommendation (“May 18 R&R”)
(Doc. No. 67) as Claims 7 and 8; and (2) assert claims
against United States Marshals Service for the District of
Rhode Island (“USMS-RI”) Chief Deputy David
Remington.
Discussion
I.
Standard for Motion to Amend
In
general, under Rule 15(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure, leave to amend is to be “freely
given.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 15(a). One ground for denying a
proposed amendment is futility. See Todisco v. Verizon
Commc'ns, Inc., 497 F.3d 95, 98 (1st Cir. 2007). To
assess whether the proposed amendment is futile, this court
applies the standard for preliminary review of claims set
forth in the May 18 R&R.
II.
Claim 7
In the
May 18 R&R, the court set forth Claim 7 as follows:
7. One or more unnamed [Donald D. Wyatt Detention Center
(“WDC”)] officers violated Karmue's Fifth
and/or Fourteenth Amendment right not to be subjected to
punishment during pretrial confinement, or his Eighth
Amendment right to avoid cruel and unusual punishment after
sentencing, by forcing him to sleep in a top bunk with
knowledge that such a bed assignment would cause Karmue pain
due to his physical limitations occasioned by his medical
conditions.
Karmue
now seeks to amend Claim 7 to allege that an individual whom
he identifies as “Dr. David Blanchette”
“forced [Karmue] to sleep in a top bunk in which he had
to climb up and down a ladder . . . while he was in terrible
hip, back, and leg pain.” The court presumes that
Karmue intended to name “Dr. Edward Blanchette”
as the defendant to Claim 7, as Dr. Edward Blanchette treated
Karmue at the WDC and is already a defendant in this
case.[1]
Karmue
has stated sufficient facts to allow Claim 7 to proceed
against Dr. Edward Blanchette. Accordingly, the district
judge should grant Karmue's motion to amend in part, to
the extent Karmue seeks to amend Claim 7 to name Dr. Edward
Blanchette as the defendant to that claim. In an Order issued
simultaneously with this R&R (“Simultaneous
Order”) the court vacates the portion of the May 18
R&R recommending dismissal of Claim 7.
III.
Claim 8
In the
May 18 R&R, the court set forth Claim 8 as follows:
8. One or more unnamed WDC officers violated Karmue's
First Amendment right to petition the government for a
redress of grievances when, in retaliation for Karmue's
repeated requests for medical care and complaints about the
inadequacy of his medical care, those officers caused Karmue
to be transferred from the WDC medical clinic to SHU and then
threatened to house Karmue in conditions worse than those in
SHU.
In the
May 18 R&R, the court recommended the dismissal of this
claim, as Karmue had failed to name a defendant responsible
for the harms alleged therein. In his motion to amend (Doc.
No. 78), Karmue ...