NEWMAN v. PA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS et al

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA
CLIFFORD T. NEWMAN, JR.,
Plaintiff,
v.
PA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, et
al.,
Defendants.
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Civil Action No. 3:23-58
Judge Nora Barry Fischer
Magistrate Judge Keith Pesto
MEMORANDUM ORDER
AND NOW, this 4th day of December, 2025, upon consideration of the Report and
Recommendation filed by United States Magistrate Judge Keith A. Pesto on October 21, 2025,
(Docket No. 25), recommending that the Motion to Dismiss filed by Defendants be granted, in part
and denied, in part, such that Plaintiff Clifford T. Newman’s official capacity claims against
Defendants Barry Smith, Sean Bresnchan and Robert Cleave and the Pa Department of Corrections
are barred by Eleventh Amendment immunity, and should be dismissed, with prejudice but that
Plaintiff should be granted leave to amend his § 1983 individual capacity claims against
Defendants under Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825 (1994) for allegedly being deliberately
indifferent to his needs to be protected from another inmate, (Docket No. 25), and the Magistrate
Judge having further directed that any objections by non-ECF registered users were initially due
by November 7, 2025, but subsequently extended the deadline for Plaintiff to file objections to
December 6, 2025 or, alternatively, directed him to file an Amended Complaint by the same
deadline, (Docket No. 27), no objections having been filed by the parties as of the date of this
Order but Plaintiff having filed an Amended Complaint on December 1, 2025, (Docket No. 29),
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and upon independent review of the record and de novo consideration of the Magistrate Judge’s
Report and Recommendation of October 21, 2025, (Docket No. 25),
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Report and Recommendation (Docket No. 25) is
adopted as the Opinion of the Court;
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Motion to Dismiss filed by Defendants (Docket No.
21) is granted, in part and denied, in part, as stated in the Report and Recommendation; and,
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, as Plaintiff has filed an Amended Complaint, (Docket
No. 29), 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)
Case 3:23-cv-00058-NBF-PEO Document 30 Filed 12/04/25 Page 2 of 2