R. DAVID PROCTOR, District Judge.
The Magistrate Judge filed a Report and Recommendation on June 20, 2016, recommending that Defendants' Special Report, construed as a motion for summary judgment, be granted, and that this action be dismissed with prejudice. (Doc. 55). Plaintiffs timely filed objections to the Report and Recommendation. (Doc. 56). Having considered Plaintiffs' objections, the court finds as follows:
Plaintiffs' first object that the Report and Recommendation is "neither accurate or factual, and is insufficient as a matter of law." (Doc. 56 at 2). Plaintiffs continue, stating that the Magistrate Judge has "usurped the function of the fact-finder in resolving conflicting affidavits." (Id.). Plaintiffs provide no specific factual or legal basis for these assertions, and they do not identify any specific factual errors or legal insufficiencies in the Report. Plaintiffs fail to identify the affidavits to which they refer. Given the lack of specific objections to the Magistrate Judge's factual findings or recommendations, the court cannot decipher the grounds upon which Plaintiffs contend the Magistrate Judge erred.
Plaintiffs next complain that their attempts to conduct limited discovery were denied "several times." (Doc. 56 at 2-3). The court made no such rulings. Plaintiffs propounded six sets of interrogatories, requests for admission, and requests for production. (Docs. 38, 40-43, 46 and 47). Plaintiffs filed no motion to compel responses, and the court has no knowledge as to whether Plaintiffs ever received responses to their discovery requests. Plaintiffs never requested any additional discovery, nor filed any pleading which could be construed as a claim that the disclosures from Defendants' special report were insufficient.
Plaintiffs' third objection is that they were denied access to "all relevant data." (Doc. 56 at 3). Again, Plaintiffs have failed to identify any specific documents or other evidence which they sought but could not obtain. Plaintiffs complain that they lacked typewriter ribbons, had only a broken typewriter, and lacked adequate law library resources. (Id.). Plaintiffs further assert (somewhat creatively) that they "feel like they are members of the Fred Flintstone law firm."
Plaintiffs also object to the Magistrate's Judge's observation in footnote 8, page 6 of the Report and Recommendation that much of Plaintiffs' documentary submissions are hearsay. (Doc. 56 at 4). Although Plaintiffs assert that the Magistrate Judge failed to specify to which documents this observation referred to, that assertion is belied by footnote 8 of the Report and Recommendation itself. There the Magistrate Judge listed fourteen categories of submissions and cited to the thirty-five specific records of Plaintiffs' submissions. Plaintiffs rely on Church of Scientology v. City of Clearwater, 2 F.3d 1514, 1530 (11th Cir. 1993) for the proposition that the myriad newspaper articles they submitted can be used as evidence in opposition to summary judgment. (Doc. 56 at 4). However, as the Eleventh Circuit has since clarified, Church of Scientology held no such thing. Rather, the Court of Appeals has explained that:
McMillian v. Johnson, 88 F.3d 1573, 1584 (11th Cir. 1996), aff'd sub nom. McMillian v. Monroe Cty., Ala., 520 U.S. 781 (1997). The circuit court continued by explaining that "otherwise admissible" evidence may be submitted in inadmissible form at the summary judgment stage. Id. As the Magistrate Judge noted, Plaintiffs' materials included Plaintiffs' opinions as to the legality of various prison conditions, statements from other prisoners, printed articles from unidentified sources, complaints about general conditions and perceived fire hazards (including lack of cleaning supplies, kitchen plumbing, sewage problems, building code violations, health code violations and lack of mirrors in bathroom), and other irrelevant items. To the extent Plaintiffs object to the Magistrate Judge's failure to consider materials unrelated to Plaintiffs' claims or materials which could not be made admissible for trial, Plaintiff's objection is without merit. The newspaper articles and other evidence submitted by Plaintiffs failed to create any genuine issue of material fact on any of Plaintiff's claims.
Plaintiffs' next objection is that the Magistrate Judge only considered constitutional violations and not their state law claims or their claimed violations of Alabama administrative regulations by the Alabama Department of Corrections. (Doc. 56 at 5). This objection also lacks merit. Plaintiffs have not identified any specific law or regulation raised in their pleadings which the Report and Recommendation did not address. To sustain an action under Section 1983, a plaintiff must show a specific constitutional or federal guarantee safeguarding the interests that have been violated. Paul v. David, 424 U.S. 693, 696-97 (1976). To the extent Plaintiffs intended to bring claims for violations of state law or Alabama administrative regulations, the mere violation of departmental regulations and/or standard operating procedures does not assert a violation of an inmate's constitutional rights. Sandin v. Connor, 515 U.S. 472, 481-82 (1995) (prison regulations are not intended to confer rights or benefits on inmates but are merely designed to guide correctional officials in the administration of prisons). And, to the extent Plaintiffs intended their claims of violations of state regulations — including state fire regulations — to stand independently of evidence of constitutional violations, this court lacks jurisdiction to consider in the first instance whether a state agency is properly adhering to state regulations. Moreover, the court will not consider new claims raised for the first time in Plaintiffs' objections to the Report and Recommendation. To the extent Plaintiffs direct this objection to a claim under the Alabama Clean Indoor Air Act, the same has already been addressed, both in prior rulings and again in the Report and Recommendation. As previously found, the Alabama Clean Indoor Air Act does not provide Plaintiffs a private right of action. (Docs. 49 & 55 at 5).
Plaintiffs also assert they cannot obtain copies of their medical records without discovery.
Finally, Plaintiffs assure the court they will be ready for trial because more than twenty years ago Plaintiff Horsman tried a case in front of the Hon. James Hancock, and Judge Hancock stated that Horsman did a good job. (Doc. 56 at 7). As this is not an objection to the Report and Recommendation, it requires no consideration from the court. Moreover, a pro se plaintiff's ability to present his or her claims eloquently should the case proceed to trial has no bearing on a ruling on a summary judgment motion.
Having carefully reviewed and considered de novo all the materials in the court file, including the Report and Recommendation and the objections thereto, the Magistrate Judge's report is hereby
A Final Judgment will be entered.