Berumen v. Segal

Background

Irene Berumen sued Warden Michael Segal, Dr. L. Linder, Nurse Patterson, and Officer Reihman. The matter came before the district court on Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Cowan Wright’s Report and Recommendation, which recommended dismissing the case without prejudice because it was factually frivolous.

Court’s Analysis

After the recommendation was issued, Berumen filed an exhibit attaching a Bureau of Prisons letter denying relief on six administrative tort claims. The court stated that, to the extent the exhibit was relevant, it could not be treated as an objection to the recommendation’s conclusion that Berumen had failed to allege any factual matter supporting her claims.

The court explained that it must review specific objections to a magistrate judge’s recommendation independently, while an unobjected-to portion is reviewed for clear error. The court stated that the recommendation was correct under either standard of review.

Ruling

Judge Magnuson adopted the Report and Recommendation. The court denied Berumen’s application to proceed without paying the filing fee as moot. It ordered her to pay the unpaid filing-fee balance of $326 under the payment process required by 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2), and directed the Clerk of Court to notify the authorities at the institution where she was confined. The court dismissed the matter without prejudice as factually frivolous and ordered judgment entered accordingly.