JERRY LANCE PETTY v. CITY OF FREEPORT, TEXAS, et al.

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT July 15, 2026 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS Nathan Ochsner, Clerk GALVESTON DIVISION

JERRY LANCE PETTY, § § Plaintiff. § § V. § CIVIL ACTION NO. 3:25-cv-00296 § CITY OF FREEPORT, TEXAS, et al., § § Defendants. § ORDER ADOPTING MAGISTRATE JUDGE’S MEMORANDUM AND RECOMMENDATION On January 13, 2026, all pretrial matters in this case were referred to United States Magistrate Judge Andrew M. Edison under 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1). Dkt. 29. Judge Edison filed a memorandum and recommendation on June 29, 2026, recommending that the defendants’ motion to dismiss (Dkt. 17) be granted. Dkt. 36. No objections have been filed to the memorandum and recommendation. Accordingly, the court reviews it for plain error on the face of the record. 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1); Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(b)(3). On the date that objections were due, however, the plaintiff filed his first motion for leave to file an amended complaint. Dkt. 37. Because there is no docket control order in place, because the plaintiff has never amended his complaint, and because the Fifth Circuit has held that “plaintiffs facing a motion to dismiss [should] go through a process of receiving briefing from the movant, conducting research and submitting opposing briefing to the district court, and finally receiving a ruling identifying potential flaws in their original complaint” before amending, the motion for leave is granted. Ass’n of Am. Physicians & Surgeons Educ. Found. v. Am. Bd. of Internal Med., 103 F.4th 383, 394 (5th Cir. 2024).

Based on the pleadings, the record, and the applicable law, the court finds that there is no plain error apparent from the face of the record. Accordingly: (1) Judge Edison’s memorandum and recommendation (Dkt. 36) is approved and adopted in its entirety as the holding of the court;

(2) The plaintiff’s first motion for leave to file an amended complaint (Dkt. 37) is granted; and

(3) The plaintiff shall file his first amended complaint and exhibits thereto within one week.

SIGNED on Galveston Island this 15th day of July 2026.

______________________________ JEFFREY VINCENT BROWN UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE