Gilmore v. Martin County Sheriff Dept.

Background

Christopher John Gilmore filed motions for a temporary restraining order, summary judgment, immediate summary judgment, and an order releasing him from prison. United States Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Cowan Wright issued a report and recommendation on July 12, 2019, recommending that the court deny all four motions.

Review of the Recommendation

Gilmore did not file timely objections. When a party does not timely object to a magistrate judge’s report and recommendation, the district court reviews the recommendation for clear error—an obvious mistake on the face of the record. The court reviewed the recommendation and found no clear error.

Ruling

Judge Wilhelmina M. Wright adopted the report and recommendation. The court denied Gilmore’s motion for a temporary restraining order, denied his motion for an order of prisoner release, and denied both summary-judgment motions as premature. A summary-judgment motion asks the court to decide a claim without a trial when there is no genuine dispute about important facts. The order states that genuine issues of material fact remained. The court also noted that the defendants’ appearances did not change the denial of the summary-judgment motions because they remained premature.