McCullon v. Saylor et al

Filing 35

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER - IT IS ORDERED that the Plaintiffs motion for leave to amend is GRANTED, and the Plaintiff shall file an amended complaint identifying all John Doe Defendants on or before September 5, 2012. Amended Pleadings due by 9/5/2012. Signed by Magistrate Judge Martin C. Carlson on August 22, 2012. (kjn )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA
MICHAEL McCULLON,

:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:

Plaintiff,
v.
M. SAYLOR, et al.
Defendants.

Civil No. 3:12-CV-445

(Judge Kosik)
(Magistrate Judge Carlson)

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
The background of this order is as follows:
On March 12, 2012, the Plaintiff, a federal prisoner, commenced this action by
filing a pro se complaint. (Doc. 1.) This complaint identified several Defendant
correctional officers simply as John Doe Defendants. (Id.) A summons issued and
the Defendants have filed a motion to dismiss, but the Defendants have not yet been
called upon to answer this complaint.
On July 30, 2012, the Plaintiff filed a motion for leave to amend the Plaintiff’s
complaint. (Doc. 32.) This motion simply seeks to identify these John Doe
Defendants as Correctional Officers G. Reese, J. Carpenter, S. Booth, J. Lesho, S.
Hicks, K. Whittaker, and W. Cross. (Id.) The Defendants have not responded to this
motion in any fashion. Therefore, we will deem the motion to be unopposed and as

1

an unopposed motion we agree that the motion for leave to amend should be granted.
Such motions are governed by Rule 15(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure,
which strongly favors amendment of pleadings at the outset of litigation. Rule 15(a),
F.R. Civ. P. In this case the Plaintiff timely sought leave to file an amended
complaint. Therefore, the Plaintiff should be granted leave to amend this complaint
under Rule 15. Of course, nothing in this decision implies any views on the ultimate
merits of the issues raised in the amended complaint, an issue that will be reserved
for another time.
Accordingly, for the foregoing reasons, IT IS ORDERED that the Plaintiff’s
motion for leave to amend is GRANTED, and the Plaintiff shall file an amended
complaint identifying all John Doe Defendants on or before September 5, 2012.
SO ORDERED, this 22d day of August 2012.

/s/ Martin C. Carlson
Martin C. Carlson
United States Magistrate Judge

2