U.S. District Court, Western District of N.Y. Case Summaries:

Daily Record (Rochester, NY), Oct 22, 2008

U.S. District Court, Western District of N.Y.

Civil Rights

Swift v. Tweddell

05-CV-6233

Judge Larimer

Background: The plaintiff, a prison inmate, alleges the defendants violated his rights under the U.S. Constitution in a number of respects during 2004 and 2005 while the plaintiff was a pretrial detainee confined at the Steuben County Jail. The defendants include sheriff's deputies and jail employees. Among the plaintiff's allegations is a due process violation during at a prison disciplinary hearing, which followed an event in Jan. 2005. Deputy Fanzo issued an incident report at the hearing, charging the plaintiff with five infractions arising out of an altercation between the plaintiff and another inmate, including disruptive conduct and fighting, among other charges. The defendants moved for summary judgment and the plaintiff failed to respond to the motion.

Ruling: The court notes the plaintiff undoubtedly knew of his obligation to respond to the summary judgment motion as he had requested an extension, which was granted. Taking the defendants' assertions to be true, their motion for summary judgment is granted.

Mark A. Swift, pro se, and Donald S. Thomson of Davidson & O'Mara PC for the defendant