Lonnie McCann v. Warden Christopher Smith, et al.

• Court: District Court, W.D. Pennsylvania
• Decided: February 24, 2026
• Docket: 3:23-cv-00308
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA

LONNIE MCCANN ) ) Civil Action No. 3:23-cv-308 Plaintiff, ) District Judge Nora Barry Fischer ) Magistrate Judge Keith A. Pesto v. ) ) WARDEN CHRISTOPHER SMITH, et al., ) ) Defendants. )

ORDER OF COURT

AND NOW, this 24th day of February, 2026, upon consideration of the Report and Recommendation filed by United States Magistrate Judge Keith Pesto on August 21, 2024, (Docket No. 12), recommending that after screening Plaintiff Lonnie McCann’s Amended Complaint under the Prison Litigation Reform Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2) and § 1915A, that the Amended Complaint be dismissed, with prejudice, and without leave to amend, as any amendment would be futile, and Plaintiff’s Objections which were filed on September 16, 2024, (Docket No. 14), and upon independent review of the record and de novo consideration of the Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation, (Docket No. 12), which is ADOPTED as the opinion of this Court, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiff’s Objections [14] are OVERRULED for the reasons set forth in the Report and Recommendation. As such, Plaintiff has failed to demonstrate that he has stated plausible § 1983 claims pursuant to Twombly and its progeny. See Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 557 (2009). Concerning his medical claims, Plaintiff was no longer detained at the Cambria County Prison (“the Prison”) as of April 2024, when he was transferred to Northeast Ohio Correctional Center. (ECF No. 9 at 18). He alleges that he received medical care at the Prison from November 2023-December 2023 related to his kidneys (Id. at 17), but as of May 3, 2024, when he was no longer at the Prison, he had yet to be scheduled for kidney surgery. (Id. at 18). Simply because Plaintiff alleges that he did not receive his preferred medical treatment on his preferred timeline, the Prison staff cannot be said to be deliberately indifferent. See Soto- Muniz v. Martin, 665 F. App’x 226, 228-29 (3d Cir. 2016) (“[D]isagreements over medical

judgment do not amount to an Eighth Amendment claim.”). As noted by the Magistrate Judge, Plaintiff does not allege that any Defendant actually knew of and disregarded an excessive risk to his health, and excessive risk or injury cannot be presumed from an allegation of delay. (ECF No. 12 at 5). Concerning the named Defendants who were not themselves physicians or other medical personnel, such as the Warden, Deputy Warden, Security Captain and other Lieutenants, they too, cannot “be considered deliberately indifferent simply because they failed to respond directly to the medical complaints of a prisoner who was already being treated by the prison doctor.” Durmer v. O’Carroll, 991 F.2d 64, 69 (3d Cir. 1993); see also Spruill v. Gillis, 372 F.3d 218, 236 (3d Cir. 2004) (“If a prisoner is under the care of medical experts . . . a non-medical prison official will

generally be justified in believing that the prisoner is in capable hands.”). The Magistrate Judge permitted Plaintiff to amend his complaint to tie each of the alleged and varied infractions to a particular named Defendant or Defendants, which Plaintiff has still failed to do in the Amended Complaint. See Rode v. Dellarciprete, 845 F.2d 1195 (3d Cir. 1988) (a defendant in a civil rights action must have personal involvement in the alleged wrongs; liability may not be predicated on the operation of respondeat superior). Any attempt to further amend these claims would be futile. See Grayson v. Mayview State Hosp., 293 F.3d 103 (3d Cir. 2002); IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff’s Amended Complaint [9] is DISMISSED, with prejudice and leave to amend is denied; IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Clerk of Court shall mark this case CLOSED; and, FINALLY, IT IS ORDERED that pursuant to Rule 4(a)(1) of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, Plaintiff has thirty (30) days to file a notice of appeal as provided by Rule 3 of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure.

s/ Nora Barry Fischer Nora Barry Fischer Senior U.S. District Judge

cc/ecf: United States Magistrate Keith Pesto Lonnie McCann MV 4061 SCI Smithfield 1120 Pike Street Huntingdon, PA 16652