Smith v. Donate et al

Filing 81

MEMORANDUM ORDER - 65 MOTION to Compel filed by Alan Smith will be DISMISSED as moot. Signed by Magistrate Judge Martin C. Carlson on July 18, 2011. (kjn )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA
ALAN SMITH,

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Plaintiff,
v.
JANINE DONATE, et al.,
Defendants.

CIVIL NO. 4:10-CV-2133
(Judge Rambo)

(Magistrate Judge Carlson)

MEMORANDUM ORDER
In this action, the pro se plaintiff, Alan Smith, has filed a detailed complaint,
comprised of 224 separately numbered paragraphs, in which he alleges that
corrections officers, prison employees, and other individuals providing services to
inmates at the Lackawanna County Prison subjected him to routine beatings,
harassment, and other malicious conduct during the 48-day period between
November 19, 2008, and January 5, 2009, when he was temporarily housed at the
prison as a witness to a grand jury proceeding.
This matter now comes before the Court on a motion by Smith to compel
discovery. (Docs. 65 and 66) In his motion Smith alleged a wholesale failure by
defendants to respond to his discovery requests. (Id. ) The defendants have now
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responded to this motion, advising the Court that they have provided Smith with
responses to all of his outstanding discovery requests. In light of this reply, the
defendants suggest that this issue is now moot.
We agree. The mootness doctrine recognizes a fundamental truth in litigation:
“[i]f developments occur during the course of adjudication that eliminate a plaintiff’s
personal stake in the outcome of a suit or prevent a court from being able to grant the
requested relief, the case must be dismissed as moot.” Blanciak v. Allegheny Ludlum
Corp., 77 F.3d 690, 698-99 (3d Cir. 1996). Since these defendants have replied to
Smith’s discovery demands, Smith’s request for an order directing a response is now
moot, and this motion to compel (Doc. 65), will be DISMISSED as moot.
So ordered this 18th day of July, 2011.

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

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