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
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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/ K ELI M. N EARY
Keli M. Neary
United States District Judge
Middle District of Pennsylvania
March 19th, 2026
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