Brown v. Coleman et al

Filing 8

ORDER ADOPTING 5 the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendations; Plaintiff's Complaint is DISMISSED. Signed by Chief Judge Lisa G. Wood on 2/28/2012. (csr)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA
BRUNSWICK DIVISION

RAYMOND W. BROWN,
Plaintiff,
V.

CIVIL ACTION NO.: CV212-029

LUKE COLEMAN; HARRIET SIRMON;
ERICA F. CAGLE; and JIM HELTON,
Defendants.

ORDER
Plaintiff Raymond W. Brown ("Plaintiff') filed an Objection to the Magistrate
Judge's Report dated February 7, 2012, which recommended that Plaintiffs Complaint,
brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, be dismissed. After an independent and de novo
review of the record, the undersigned concurs with the Magistrate Judge's Report and
Recommendation.
In his Objection, Plaintiff states that "[t]he only ground raise in [t]he Magistrate
Judge's order and Report and Recommendation was [t]hat [t]he Defendant's [sic] did
not "[p]hysically" violate any of Raymond W. Brown constitutional right." (Doc. No. 7, p.
1). In support of his claim that his constitutional rights were violated, Plaintiff states that
Defendant Luke Coleman put him in jail in June 2011.
Contrary to Plaintiff's assertion, the Magistrate Judge never stated that his
recommendation was based on a lack of physical violation of Plaintiffs constitutional
rights by the Defendants. Instead, the Magistrate Judge addressed only the claims

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asserted in Plaintiffs Complaint: (1) that Luke Coleman, Harriet Sirmon, and Erica F.
Cagle have told him that if he possesses a firearm or goes near children then they will
put him in prison and (2) that Jim Helton published Plaintiff's name, picture, and address
as a convicted sex offender in the Tribune and Georgian newspaper. The Magistrate
Judge correctly determined that Plaintiff failed to make any allegations that Defendant
Helton was a person acting under color of state law at any time and that "claims of libel
and slander do not state a violation of federal law and are not cognizable in a section
1983 civil rights action." Charles v. Scarberrv, 340 F. App'x 597, 599-600 (11th Cir.
2009) (citing Paul v. Davis, 424 U.S. 693 (1976)). The Magistrate Judge also correctly
determined that Plaintiff's only allegation against Defendants Coleman, Sirmon, and
Cagle, that they warned him to not possess a firearm or go near children, does not rise
to the level of a constitutional violation because "verbal abuse alone is insufficient to
state a constitutional claim." Hernandez v. Fla. De p't of Corr., 281 F. App'x 862, 866
(11th Cir. 2008) (citing Edwards v. Gilbert, 867 F.2d 1271, 1274 n.1 (11th Cir. 1989)).
The undersigned agrees with the Magistrate Judge's recommendation of dismissal
because Plaintiff has failed to state a claim against any Defendant.
To the extent that Plaintiff attempts to state a claim, in his Objection, against
Defendant Coleman in relation to the alleged jailing of Plaintiff in June 2011, Plaintiff
again fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. A plaintiff must set forth "a
short and plain statement of the claim showing that [he] is entitled to relief." FED. R.
Civ. P. 8(a)(2). In order to state a claim for relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a plaintiff
must satisfy two elements. First, a plaintiff must allege that an act or omission deprived
him "of some right, privilege, or immunity secured by the Constitution or laws of the

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United States." Hale v. Tallapoosa County , 50 F.3d 1579, 1582 (11th Cii. 1995).
Second, a plaintiff must allege that the act or omission was committed by "a person
acting under color of state law."

iL

Plaintiff states that he was placed in jail by

Defendant Coleman in June 2011, in violation of his Thirteenth, Fourth, Fifth, and
Fourteenth Amendment rights. Plaintiff provides only this conclusory allegation
supported by no facts showing a short and plain statement of a claim that would entitle
him to relief.
Plaintiff's Objection to the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation is
without merit and is overruled. The Report and Recommendation of the Magistrate
Judge is adopted as the Opinion of the Court. Plaintiff's Complaint is DISMISSED.
SO ORDERED, this

day of

,2012

LISA GMJBEY WOOD, CHIEF JUDGE
UNITED-STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA

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