Williams v. Williams

Opinion

psES DISTR Es or BN Sa ‘a oe Lie lk oY SE is Lore” IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF SOUTH CAROLINA COLUMBIA DIVISION ROBERT LEE WILLIAMS, § Plaintiff, § § VS. § Civil Action No. 3:20-02929-MGL § MARLENA H. WILLIAMS, RITA METTS, = § and HENRY MCMASTER, § Defendants. § § ORDER ADOPTING THE REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION AND DISMISSING PLANTIFF’S COMPLAINT WITHOUT PREJUDICE AND WITHOUT ISSUANCE AND SERVICE OF PROCESS Plaintiff Robert Lee Williams (Williams), proceeding pro se, filed this action against the above-named Defendants alleging they conspired to extort funds from him by illegally using his Social Security number in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 408(a)(8). The matter is before the Court for review of the Report and Recommendation (Report) of the United States Magistrate Judge suggesting Williams’s complaint be dismissed without prejudice and without issuance and service of process for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The Report was made in accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 636 and Local Civil Rule 73.02 for the District of South Carolina. The Magistrate Judge makes only a recommendation to the Court. The recommendation has no presumptive weight. The responsibility to make a final determination remains with the Court. Mathews v. Weber, 423 U.S. 261, 270 (1976). The Court is charged with making a de novo determination of those portions of the Report to which a specific objection is made, and the Court

may accept, reject, or modify, in whole or in part, the recommendation of the Magistrate Judge or recommit the matter with instructions. 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1). The Court need not conduct a de novo review, however, “when a party makes general and conclusory objections that do not direct the court to a specific error in the [Magistrate Judge’s] proposed findings and recommendations.” Orpiano v. Johnson, 687 F.2d 44, 47 (4th Cir. 1982); see Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(b).

The Magistrate Judge filed the Report on September 4, 2020. The Clerk of Court docketed Williams’s objections to the Report on September 17, 2020. The Court has reviewed the objections, but holds them to be without merit. It will therefore enter judgment accordingly. Here, Williams has wholly failed to bring any specific objections to the Report. Instead, he merely makes arguments the Magistrate Judge has already considered and rejected. Inasmuch as the Court agrees with the Magistrate Judge’s treatment of those issues, it need not repeat the discussion here. Consequently, because Williams neglects to make any specific objections, and the Court has found no clear error, it need not make a de novo review of the record before overruling Williams’s objections and accepting the Magistrate Judge’s recommendation.

After a thorough review of the Report and the record in this case pursuant to the standard set forth above, the Court overrules Williams’s objections, adopts the Report, and incorporates it herein. Therefore, it is the judgment of the Court Williams’s complaint is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE and WITHOUT ISSUANCE AND SERVICE OF PROCESS. IT IS SO ORDERED. Signed this 22nd day of July 2021, in Columbia, South Carolina. s/ Mary Geiger Lewis MARY GEIGER LEWIS UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

***** NOTICE OF RIGHT TO APPEAL

The parties are hereby notified of the right to appeal this Order within thirty days from the date hereof, pursuant to Rules 3 and 4 of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure.