Clinton Johnson, Jr. v. B. Dancelon

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• Decided: June 23, 2025
• Docket: 23-6480
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

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UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 23-6480

CLINTON D. JOHNSON, JR., a/k/a Clinton D. Johnson, a/k/a Clinton Douglas Johnson, Jr., a/k/a Kayzon Ru,

Plaintiff - Appellant,

v.

OFFICER B. R. DANCELON; BLAKE A. NORTON; SHAWN D. CHASTIN; ELI ELIJAH HEWELL; KIM RUTZ; KIM DUBOSE; SOUTHERN HEALTHCARE PARTNERS; HENRY MCMASTER; CAPTAIN JEREMY CHAPMAN; BRIAN DANIELSON; MIKE CRENSHAW; WAYNE OWENS; MPD COLLINS; DEPUTY HAILEY; BETHANY BLUNDY; DAVID R. WAGNER; STEVEN GILLIARD,

Defendants - Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at Orangeburg. Sherri A. Lydon, District Judge. (5:22-cv-01547-SAL)

Submitted: June 10, 2025 Decided: June 23, 2025

Before WYNN and HEYTENS, Circuit Judges, and FLOYD, Senior Circuit Judge.

Vacated and remanded by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Steven J. Alagna, WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW, St. Louis, Missouri, for Appellant.

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PER CURIAM:

Clinton D. Johnson, Jr., appeals the district court’s order adopting the magistrate

judge’s recommendation and dismissing without prejudice his pro se amended complaint. 1

Because the district court did not apply the proper standard in reviewing the magistrate

judge’s recommendation, we vacate and remand for further proceedings.

“The Federal Magistrates Act only requires district courts to ‘make a de novo

determination of those portions of the report or specified proposed findings or

recommendations to which objection is made.’” Osmon v. United States, 66 F.4th 144,

146 (4th Cir. 2023) (quoting 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)). “[A] party wishing to avail itself of

its right to de novo review” under the Federal Magistrates Act must make an objection that

is “sufficiently specific to focus the district court’s attention on the factual and legal issues

that are truly in dispute.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). Stated differently, “a

party must object . . . with sufficient specificity so as reasonably to alert the district court

of the true ground for the objection.” Martin v. Duffy, 858 F.3d 239, 245 (4th Cir. 2017)

(internal quotation marks omitted). “The specificity required for an objection is a modest

bar.” United States ex re. Wheeler v. Acadia Healthcare Co., 127 F.4th 472, 486 (4th Cir.

2025) (internal quotation marks omitted).

1 We previously remanded this case to the district court for a determination of whether Johnson was entitled to a reopening of the appeal period. On remand, the district court reopened the appeal period, and Johnson timely filed a new notice of appeal. We have jurisdiction to hear this appeal. See Britt v. DeJoy, 45 F.4th 790, 791 (4th Cir. 2022) (en banc) (order).

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Important here, “objections need not be novel to be sufficiently specific.” Elijah v.

Dunbar, 66 F.4th 454, 460 (4th Cir. 2023) (footnote omitted); see Osmon, 66 F.4th at 146

(“[A] party need not frame its arguments anew when it objects.”). Consequently, an

objection that simply restates the litigant’s claims triggers de novo review “because it

alert[s] the district court that the litigant believed the magistrate judge erred in

recommending dismissal of those claims.” Elijah, 66 F.4th at 460 (alteration and internal

quotation marks omitted). When a district court fails to apply the proper standard of review

to a magistrate judge’s recommendation, a remand is warranted. United States v.

De Leon-Ramirez, 925 F.3d 177, 181 (4th Cir. 2019).

In these proceedings, Johnson filed a pro se amended complaint under 42 U.S.C.

§ 1983, alleging that the defendants contravened his First and Fourteenth Amendment

rights while he was incarcerated as a pretrial detainee. More specifically, Johnson alleged

that the defendants violated his right to the free exercise of his religion under the First

Amendment and placed him in conditions of confinement that amounted to punishment in

violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. The magistrate judge determined that the amended

complaint lacked merit and recommended dismissing it without prejudice pursuant to 28

U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B). Johnson opposed that recommendation and filed more than 100

pages of objections. The district court deemed Johnson’s objections insufficient to trigger

de novo review and assessed the magistrate judge’s recommendation for clear error only.

Discerning no clear error, the district court adopted the recommendation and dismissed

without prejudice Johnson’s amended complaint.

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Having reviewed the record, we are satisfied that Johnson’s objections were

sufficient to warrant de novo review, especially considering Johnson’s pro se status. See

Elijah, 66 F.4th at 461 (“[W]e review the sufficiency of a litigant’s objection de novo.”);

id. at 460-61 (“[W]hen reviewing pro se objections to a magistrate[ judge’s]

recommendation, district courts must review de novo any articulated grounds to which the

litigant appears to take issue. Such a requirement advances district courts’ obligation to

liberally construe pro se objections while maintaining constitutional limitations on a

magistrate[ judge’s] authority.” (citation and internal quotation marks omitted)). Notably,

some of Johnson’s objections reiterated his allegations related to his First and Fourteenth

Amendment claims. See Johnson v. Dancelon, No. 5:22-cv-01547-SAL (D.S.C., PACER

Nos. 35 at 7; 36 at 22; 39 at 16, 20, 30, 32-33). We thus conclude that the district court

was obliged to review de novo the magistrate judge’s recommendation to dismiss

Johnson’s free exercise and conditions of confinement claims. 2

Accordingly, we vacate the district court’s order and remand for the district court to

apply the proper standard of review to the magistrate judge’s recommendation. We express

no opinion on the ultimate merits of Johnson’s objections. We dispense with oral argument

2 We observe that the magistrate judge seemingly applied the wrong legal standard in assessing Johnson’s Fourteenth Amendment conditions of confinement claim. See Short v. Hartman, 87 F.4th 593, 606 (4th Cir. 2023) (describing difference between Fourteenth Amendment and Eighth Amendment conditions of confinement claims), cert. denied, 144 S. Ct. 2631 (2024). The magistrate judge’s analysis of that claim also did not fully consider Johnson’s allegations in the amended complaint that he was confined to a cell with an overflowing toilet for 10 days, causing him to become sick. We are confident that the district court’s de novo review on remand will correct these apparent errors.

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because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before this

court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

VACATED AND REMANDED