Strizich v. Edwards et al

Filing 24

ORDER ADOPTING FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 19 in full. Claims for injunctive relief as contained in complaint 2 DENIED AS MOOT. Signed by Judge Brian Morris on 11/1/2016. Mailed to Strizich. (TAG, )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF MONTANA
GREAT FALLS DIVISION

JORY STRIZICH,

CV-16-00034-GF-BMM-JTJ

Plaintiff,
vs.
ORDER ADOPTING FINDINGS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS

BOB EDWARDS, DAN O’FALLON,
KEITH KAULULAAU, and
RICHARD ENGLISH,
Defendants.

Plaintiff Jory Strizich, a prisoner in Cascade County Detention Center at the
time, filed a Complaint pro se alleging violations of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 on April 18,
2016. (Doc. 2.) United States Magistrate Judge John Johnston entered Findings and
Recommendations in this matter on October 5, 2016. (Doc. 19.) Neither party filed
objections.

1

When a party makes no objections, the Court need not review de novo the
proposed Findings and Recommendations. Thomas v. Arn, 474 U.S. 140, 149-52
(1986). This Court will review Judge Johnston’s Findings and Recommendations,
however, for clear error. McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Commodore Bus. Mach.,
Inc., 656 F.2d 1309, 1313 (9th Cir. 1981).
Judge Johnston recommended that the Court deny Strizich’s claims as moot
because he has been released from custody (Doc. 19 at 2.) Judge Johnston cited to
two Ninth Circuit cases in support of the proposition that “an inmate’s release from
prison while his claims are pending generally will moot any claims for injunctive
relief relating to the prison’s policies.” Doc. 19 at 1-2, citing Dilly v. Gunn, 64 F.3d
1365, 1368 (9th Cir. 1995); see also Alvarez v. Hill, 667 F.3d 1061, 1063-64 (9th
Cir. 2012).
The Court has reviewed Judge Johnston’s Findings and Recommendations
for clear error. The Court finds no error in Judge Johnston’s Findings and
Recommendations, and adopts them in full. The Ninth Circuit has established that
an inmate-plaintiff’s released from custody renders claims related to prison policies
moot. Strizich filed a Notice of Change of Address indicating that he was released
from custody on October 4, 2016 (Doc. 19 at 1.)
IT IS ORDERED that Judge Johnston’s Findings and Recommendations
(Doc. 19) is ADOPTED IN FULL.

2

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff Jory Strizich’s claims for
injunctive relief as contained in his complaint (Doc. 2) are DENIED AS MOOT.
DATED this 1st day of November, 2016.

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