Ruben Conji Holton v. United States of America

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA RUBEN CONJI HOLTON, : CIVIL ACTION NO. 4:22-CV-487 : Plaintiff : (Judge Neary) : v. : : UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, : : Defendant : MEMORANDUM This matter comes before the court upon the Report and Recommendation (“R&R”) (Doc. 62) of Magistrate Judge Leo A. Latella, wherein Judge Latella recommends the court grant defendant United States of America’s motion (Doc. 49) for summary judgment. To date, no objections have been filed. As he failed to file timely objections, pro se plaintiff Ruben Conji Holton has forfeited his right to de novo review of Judge Latella’s R&R, which this court will now review for “reasoned consideration.” E.E.O.C. v. City of Long Branch, 866 F.3d 93, 99-100 (3d Cir. 2017).

In addition to failing to object to Judge Latella’s R&R, Holton also failed to provide an opposing statement of material facts as required by Local Rule 56.1. This is after Magistrate Judge William I. Arbuckle specifically warned Holton that “the failure to file a responsive statement of facts may result in Defendant’s statement of facts being deemed admitted pursuant to Local Rule 56.1.” (Doc. 52). Despite this warning, Holton’s responsive brief did not contain a meaningful dispute of the United States’s statement of material facts. (See, generally, Doc. 53 and exhibits thereto). Thus, Judge Latella was correct in deeming the United States’s statement of material facts as wholly uncontested. (Doc. 62 at 19-20).

Reviewing those uncontested facts, and the record on which they rely, it is clear Holton disagrees with the medical care he received while incarcerated. Yet, it is also clear that he did receive medical care, however inadequate Holton thought it might have been. Still, nothing in the record before the court demonstrates the United States was negligent in providing care to Holton or that Holton suffered any harms connected to the denial of some care by the United States. Affording reasoned consideration to Judge Latella’s R&R, this court finds it to be sound, well- supported, and adopts the R&R in its entirety.

The United States’s motion (Doc. 49) for summary judgment will be granted, and this case will be closed. An appropriate order shall issue.

/S/ KELI M. NEARY Keli M. Neary United States District Judge Middle District of Pennsylvania March 19th, 2026