MALACHY E. MANNION, District Judge.
Pending before the court is the report and recommendation, (Doc. 3), of Judge Martin C. Carlson recommending that this civil rights action filed pro se by plaintiff Donald Miles, (Doc. 1), an inmate awaiting his criminal trial at the Lackawanna County Prison, ("LCP"), be dismissed. After granting plaintiff's motion to proceed in forma pauperis for the purpose of filing this action, Judge Carlson screened the complaint pursuant to
On June 7, 2018, plaintiff filed objections to the report and recommendation with exhibits. (Doc. 5). Plaintiff then filed an amended complaint, (Doc. 6), and more objections to Judge Carlson's report, (Doc. 7). After having reviewed the record, the court will
When objections are timely filed to the report and recommendation of a magistrate judge, the district court must review de novo those portions of the report to which objections are made.
With respect to the portions of a report and recommendation to which no objections are made, the court should, as a matter of good practice, "satisfy itself that there is no clear error on the face of the record in order to accept the recommendation."
Plaintiff names 14 defendants in both his original complaint and amended complaint, including unlimited Doe defendants. Plaintiff asserts that he is being illegally confined in the LCP since December 13, 2017, and that his rights under the U.S. and Pennsylvania Constitutions have been violated regarding the filing of the state criminal charges against him since he is being deprived of his liberty without any judgment being made by his peers, i.e., a grand jury. The criminal charges filed against plaintiff are still pending in state court.
Judge Carlson details six reasons in his report why plaintiff's complaint fails to state a cognizable claim and should be dismissed. Plaintiff challenges Judge Carlson's determinations in his objections. The court has reviewed both the report and the objections. Additionally, the court also finds that plaintiff's amended complaint is subject to dismissal for the same reasons which Judge Carlson found required the dismissal of his original complaint.
First, Judge Carlson correctly finds that plaintiff cannot maintain a private action for damages under the Pennsylvania Constitution. See Smithson v. Rizzo, 2015 WL 1636143 (M.D.Pa. April 7, 2015); Moeller v. Bradford Co., 444 F.Supp.2d 316, 327 n. 13 (M.D.Pa. 2011) ("Pennsylvania has no statutory equivalent to 42 U.S.C. §1983, which provides a private right of action for a federal constitutional violation.").
Second, as Judge Carlson points out, plaintiff has no federal right to have had his state criminal charges presented to and approved by a grand jury. See Romansky v. Folino, 2017 WL 810689, *16 n. 10 (M.D.Pa. March 1, 2017) (Court noted that "the Fifth Amendment's grand jury indictment requirement does not apply, via the Fourteenth Amendment, to the states" and thus, "the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania are not subject to the Fifth Amendment's requirement of grand jury indictment.") (citing Hurtado v. California, 110 U.S. 516, 520 (1884)).
Third, Judge Carlson finds that under the Younger abstention doctrine, this court should not intervene in plaintiff's pending state criminal case. As Judge Carlson thoroughly explains in his report, the Supreme Court has recognized "a strong policy against federal intervention in state judicial processes in the absence of great and immediate irreparable harm to a federal plaintiff."
Fourth, Judge Carlson finds that plaintiff's constitutional claims challenging his arrest and prosecution are barred by the "favorable termination" rule recognized in
Fifth, Judge Carlson finds that the defendant judges and prosecutors sued in this case are entitled to immunity. The judges named by plaintiff are absolutely "immune from suit under section 1983 for monetary damages arising from their judicial acts." Gallas v. Supreme Court of Pa., 211 F.3d 760, 768 (3d Cir. 2000) (citations omitted). Similarly, the prosecutors named as defendants are entitled to immunity. It is well-settled that prosecutors are entitled to absolute immunity when performing their official duties, including the decision to prosecute or not prosecute an individual. See
Further, the probation officers named as defendants are entitled to absolute immunity since the claims against them involve their performance of functions integral to the judicial process. See Williams v. Consovoy, 453 F.3d 173 (3d Cir. 2006).
Lastly, Judge Carlson recommends that plaintiff's claim against LCP Warden should be dismissed for lack of allegations regarding any personal involvement by this defendant. The Warden cannot be held liable based upon his supervisory position as plaintiff seeks to do in this case. "To establish liability for deprivation of a constitutional right under §1983, a party must show personal involvement by each defendant."
Moreover, to the extent plaintiff names the District Attorney's Office as a defendant, it must be dismissed since it is not a "person" subject to suit in a §1983 action. See Zerby v. Waltz, 2017 WL 386616, *6 (M.D.Pa. Jan. 27, 2017) (citing Briggs v. Moore, 251 Fed.Appx. 77, 79 (3d Cir. 2007)).
In addition, the Probation Office, which plaintiff names as a defendant, must be dismissed since "the Eleventh Amendment bars Plaintiff from maintaining [his] Section 1983 action against the [Lackawanna] County Probation Department." See Creek v. Franklin County, 2018 WL 2427579, *3-*4 (M.D.Pa. May 30, 2018) (citing Haybarger v. Lawrence Cty. Adult Prob. & Parole, 551 F.3d 193, 197 (3d Cir. 2008) (Third Circuit held that "Pennsylvania's judicial districts, including their probation and parole departments, are entitled to Eleventh Amendment immunity.")).
Finally, based on the above, it would be futile to grant plaintiff leave to amend his complaints at this time.
As plaintiff still has his criminal case pending in state court, the report and recommendation of Judge Carlson is