Caskey v. South Dakota State Penitentiary et al

Filing 21

ORDER denying 13 Motion to Dismiss; not adopting 16 Report and Recommendation; granting 18 Motion to Amend/Correct. Amended complaint due 11/7/2014. Signed by U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier on 10/8/2014. (KC)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF SOUTH DAKOTA
SOUTHERN DIVISION
CODY RAY CASKEY,

4:14-CV-04010-KES

Plaintiff,
vs.

ORDER GRANTING MOTION
TO AMEND COMPLAINT

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
PENITENTIARY,
SOUTH DAKOTA DEPARTMENT OF
HEALTH,
DR. EUGENE REGIER, and
RYAN MANSON, CNP;
Defendants.
Cody Ray Caskey requests leave to amend his complaint to add claims
against defendants Dr. Eugene Regier and Ryan Manson in their individual
capacities; Darin Young in his individual and official capacities; Jessica
Stevens, Jared Hanson, Heather Bowers, and unknown Jane and John Does in
their individual and official capacities; and Dennis Lawsing in his individual
and official capacity. Docket 18. Defendants have not responded to the motion,
and the time for response has passed.
A motion for leave to amend is committed to the sound discretion of the
district court. Bell v. Allstate Life Ins. Co., 160 F.3d 452, 454 (8th Cir. 1998)
(citations omitted). “A party may amend its pleading once as a matter of course
within . . . 21 days after serving it.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(1)(A). “In all other

cases, a party may amend its pleading only with the opposing party’s written
consent or the court’s leave.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(2). Although Federal Rule of
Civil Procedure 15(a) dictates that “[t]he court should freely give leave when
justice so requires,” the court may deny such requests for “undue delay, bad
faith or dilatory motive on the part of the movant, repeated failure to cure
deficiencies by amendments previously allowed, undue prejudice to the
opposing party by virtue of allowance of the amendment, [or] futility of the
amendment.” Foman v. Davis, 371 U.S. 178, 182 (1962).
Here, more than 21 days passed between the date on which defendants
were served with this action and the date on which Caskey filed the pending
motion to amend. The court is therefore not bound by the Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure to grant Caskey’s motion to amend the complaint. Nonetheless,
because the court can identify no reason that would justify denying Caskey’s
request, the court grants Caskey leave to amend his complaint to add the
parties and claims as identified in his motion to amend the complaint. Caskey
should file an amended complaint that identifies all the individual defendants
in the caption together with a description of whether the individuals are being
sued in their individual or official capacity, or both, and a description of the
claims against each defendant in the body of the amended complaint. If Caskey
did not intend to name the entities such as the South Dakota Penitentiary or
the South Dakota Department of Health as defendants, they should not be
listed in the caption. Caskey’s amended complaint should be filed by November
7, 2014.
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Also pending is defendants South Dakota State Penitentiary, South
Dakota Department of Health, Dr. Eugene Regier and Ryan Manson’s motion to
dismiss pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). A motion to amend a complaint
renders moot a motion to dismiss the original complaint. Pure Country, Inc., v.
Sigma Chi Fraternity, 312 F.3d 952, 956 (8th Cir.2002). As a result, the court
does not adopt Magistrate Judge Simko’s report and recommendation on the
motion to dismiss, and the motion to dismiss is denied. It is
ORDERED that Caskey’s motion to amend his complaint (Docket 18) is
granted. Caskey must file his amended complaint by November 7, 2014.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that defendants’ motion to dismiss (Docket
13) is denied.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the report and recommendation (Docket
16) is not adopted.
Dated October 8, 2014.
BY THE COURT:
/s/Karen E. Schreier
KAREN E. SCHREIER
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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