Johnson v. AWA Westpal
- Paul Magnuson
- 0:24-cv-04226
- U.S. District Court · District of Minnesota
- 2
In Johnson v. AWA Westpal, Judge Magnuson adopted the recommendation, dismissed Johnson’s claims as frivolous without prejudice, and denied other requests as moot.
The dismissal affected Eugene Laron Johnson’s claims and any claims purportedly brought for the other plaintiffs. The court’s mootness rulings affected the fee-waiver applications of Johnson, Larry Riddle-Evans, and Edward E. Dembry, and Johnson’s request for in-person service.
What happened
Eugene Laron Johnson and five other plaintiffs sued AWA Westpal and Tracy Beltz. A magistrate judge recommended dismissing the matter without prejudice, and the district court reviewed that recommendation.
The court dismissed any claims brought for plaintiffs other than Johnson without prejudice. It dismissed Johnson’s claims without prejudice as frivolous under the federal statute governing fee-waiver cases. It also denied Larry Riddle-Evans’s and Edward E. Dembry’s fee-waiver applications as moot, and denied Johnson’s fee-waiver application and request for in-person service as moot.
Judge Paul A. Magnuson adopted the magistrate judge’s recommendation and entered judgment accordingly.
The detailed version
- Johnson v. AWA Westpal · No. 0:24-cv-04226
- Paul Magnuson
- Apr. 10, 2025
Background
The plaintiffs were Eugene Laron Johnson, Edward K. Dembry, Larry Riddle-Evans, Bobby Dawkins, Cornell Roberson, and Aaron Teague. They sued AWA Westpal, identified in the caption as an Assistant Warden, and Tracy Beltz, identified as a Warden. The matter came before the district court on Magistrate Judge John F. Docherty’s March 13, 2025, Report and Recommendation. The recommendation advised dismissing the matter without prejudice.
Court’s review
The district court explained that it must independently review any part of a magistrate judge’s recommendation to which a party makes a specific objection. If no specific objection is made, the district court reviews the recommendation only for clear error. The court reviewed the recommendation and found no error, clear or otherwise, in the magistrate judge’s reasoning.
Ruling
The court adopted the Report and Recommendation. It dismissed the matter without prejudice to the extent it purported to bring claims on behalf of plaintiffs other than Eugene Laron Johnson. It denied as moot the applications to proceed without prepaying fees or costs filed by Larry Riddle-Evans and Edward E. Dembry.
The court dismissed Johnson’s claims without prejudice as frivolous under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2). It also denied as moot Johnson’s application to proceed without prepaying fees or costs and his motion for in-person service. Judge Paul A. Magnuson ordered that judgment be entered accordingly.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.