Clifford T. Newman, Jr. v. PA Department of Corrections, et al.

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA CLIFFORD T. NEWMAN, JR., ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) Civil Action No. 3:23-58 ) Judge Nora Barry Fischer PA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, et ) Magistrate Judge Keith Pesto al., ) ) Defendants. ) MEMORANDUM ORDER AND NOW, this 17th day of February, 2026, upon consideration of the Report and Recommendation filed by United States Magistrate Judge Keith A. Pesto on December 30, 2025, (Docket No. 36), recommending that after screening Plaintiff Clifford T. Newman’s Amended Complaint that it be dismissed, with prejudice, in part, but that his § 1983 claims for failure to protect under the Eighth Amendment against the John Doe Department of Corrections employee(s) who made the cell assignment in this matter in their individual capacities, see Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825 (1994), for allegedly being deliberately indifferent to his needs to be protected from another inmate may proceed to discovery, that the Motion to Dismiss filed by the named Defendants and the Pa Department of Corrections be denied, as unnecessary, and that the Motion for Reconsideration filed by Plaintiff challenging the Court’s prior Order adopting the initial Report and Recommendation be denied, (Docket No. 36), and the Magistrate Judge having directed that objections be filed within 14 days such that objections from non-ECF users like Plaintiff were due by January 16, 2026, Plaintiff’s Objections which were timely filed on January 14, 2026, (Docket No. 38), and upon independent review of the record and de novo consideration of the Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation of December 30, 2025, (Docket No. 36), IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Report and Recommendation (Docket No. 36) is adopted as the Opinion of the Court; IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff’s Motion for Reconsideration [34] is DENIED and his Objections [38] are OVERRULED, for the reasons stated in the December 30, 2025 Report and Recommendation. To that end, the Court agrees with the Magistrate Judge that Plaintiff has failed to sufficiently allege personal involvement of the named Defendants Sean Bresnchan, Robert Cleaver, and Barry Smith in the Eighth Amendment failure to protect claim as he has not set forth a plausible claim that these individuals made the cell assignment in question nor were they aware of the propensity for the inmate to act violently toward a cellmate or that he made a specific threat toward Plaintiff. (See Docket No. 36). With that said, liberally construing the Plaintiff’s allegations, the Court adopts the Magistrate Judge’s recommendation that the matter proceed to discovery to determine the Department of Corrections staff member who made the cell assignment. (Id.). The Court likewise adopts the Report and Recommendation to the extent that it recommends that all other claims against Defendants Bresnchan, Cleaver, Smith and PA Department of Corrections should be dismissed, with prejudice, and without leave to amend, as any further amendment would be futile. See Grayson v. Mayview State Hospital, 293 F.3d 103 (3d Cir. 2002); IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff’s Amended Complaint is dismissed, with prejudice, in part, as this matter will proceed only as to Plaintiff’s § 1983 Eighth Amendment failure to protect claim under Farmer v. Brennan against John Doe Department of Corrections employee(s) who made the cell assignment in their individual capacities and all other claims against Defendants Bresnchan, Cleaver, Smith and PA Department of Corrections are dismissed, with prejudice, and without leave to amend. The Clerk of Court shall terminate Defendants Bresnchan, Cleaver, Smith and PA Department of Corrections as parties in this action; IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Motion to Dismiss filed by Defendants (Docket No. 31) is denied, as moot; and, FINALLY, IT IS ORDERED that this matter is referred back to the U.S. Magistrate Judge for further pretrial proceedings.

s/Nora Barry Fischer Nora Barry Fischer Senior U.S. District Judge cc/ecf: Magistrate Judge Keith A. Pesto cc: Clifford T. Newman, Jr. AT-0783 SCI Houtzdale P.O. Box 1000 Houtzdale, PA 16698-1000 (via first class mail)