Jackson v. Kline et al

Filing 26

ORDER Adopting 20 Report and Recommendation, and Denying 16 Plaintiff's Motion for Default Judgment. Signed by District Judge Terrence G. Berg. (AChu)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN
SOUTHERN DIVISION
CURTIS JACKSON,
v.

Plaintiff,

Case No. 16-12917

J. KLINE, et al.,
Defendant.

HON. TERRENCE G. BERG
HON. ELIZABETH A. STAFFORD
/

ORDER ACCEPTING AND ADOPTING REPORT
AND RECOMMENDATION (DKT. 20) AND DENYING
PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR DEFAULT JUDGMENT (DKT. 16)
This matter is before the Court on Magistrate Judge Elizabeth A. Stafford’s
November 23, 2016 report and recommendation (Dkt. 20), recommending that
Plaintiff’s motion for default judgment (Dkt. 16) be denied.
The law provides that either party may serve and file written objections
“[w]ithin fourteen days after being served with a copy” of the report and
recommendations. 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1). The district court will make a “de novo
determination of those portions of the report . . . to which objection is made.” Id.
Plaintiff filed a timely objection (Dkt. 25) to the report and recommendation.
The Court has carefully reviewed the Magistrate Judge’s report and
recommendation and Plaintiff’s objection thereto. The Court finds that the report
and recommendation is well-reasoned and supported by the relevant law. Plaintiff
argues in his objections that the Court “ordered” Defendants to respond to
Plaintiff’s Complaint by October 21, 2016. This date appears on the waiver of

service forms executed by Defendants, which are standard forms used in every civil
case (Dkts. 9, 10). However, as noted by Magistrate Judge Stafford, 42 U.S.C. §
1997e(g)(1) permits a defendant to waive the right to reply to a § 1983 prisoner
complaint. Furthermore, Magistrate Judge Stafford ordered Defendants to respond
to the Complaint by January 4, 2017 (Dkt. 21). Thus, Defendants have until that
date to timely respond to Plaintiff’s Complaint. The Court will, therefore, accept
the Magistrate Judge’s report and recommendation of November 21, 2016, as this
Court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law. Plaintiff’s objection is not welltaken, and is overruled.
Accordingly, it is hereby ORDERED that Magistrate Judge Stafford’s report
and recommendation of November 23, 2016 (Dkt. 20) is ACCEPTED and
ADOPTED. It is FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff’s motion for default
judgment (Dkt. 16) is DENIED.
SO ORDERED.
Dated: December 29, 2016

s/Terrence G. Berg
TERRENCE G. BERG
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Certificate of Service

I hereby certify that this Order was electronically submitted on December 29,
2016, using the CM/ECF system, which will send notification to all parties.
s/A. Chubb
Case Manager

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