Opinion
No. 1:10-cv-1869
02-21-2013
SHANNON MAYO, SR., Plaintiff v. COUNTY OF YORK, et al., Defendants
(Chief Judge Kane)
(Magistrate Judge Carlson)
MEMORANDUM ORDER
Plaintiff, proceeding pro se, moves the Court for a six-month stay in the above-captioned action. (Doc. No. 150.) For the reasons that follow, the Court will grant the motion in part.
Plaintiff, an inmate at the State Correctional Institute at Forest (SCI-Forest) filed an amended complaint in this Court on August 29, 2011, alleging various constitutional claims against several state actors pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. (Doc. No. 55.) Plaintiff has previously moved the Court for numerous extensions in order to meet his filing deadlines in this action, which the Court has granted in part. (Doc. Nos. 145, 147, 149.)
On February 11, 2013, Plaintiff moved the Court for a six-month stay in this action because he did not have access to his legal paperwork between November 10, 2012 and January 25, 2013 when he was housed in a restrictive housing unit. (Doc. No. 150.) Although Plaintiff's motion indicates that he now has access to his legal paperwork, Plaintiff alleges that his documents were "mixed in with each other" when returned to him and thus needs substantially more time to prepare his responses. (Id. at 1-2.) Plaintiff also requests a stay until he can use a typewriter to prepare his responses. (Id. at 8.)
To the extent that Plaintiff seeks a stay of proceedings based on his alleged inability to consult his legal documents between November 10, 2013 and January 25, 2013, the Court acknowledges that Plaintiff should be granted additional time to prepare his objections to Magistrate Judge Carlson's Report and Recommendation (Doc. No. 142) and Defendants' motion for summary judgment (Doc. No. 136). Accordingly, the Court will grant Plaintiff an additional fifteen days to file any objections to Magistrate Judge Carlson's Report and Recommendation (Doc. No. 142) and respond to Defendants' motion for summary judgment (Doc. No. 136). The Court will not grant Plaintiff any additional time on the grounds that he would prefer to use a typewriter to prepare his responses. See Thomas v. Olander, 877 F.Supp. 242, 243 (E.D. Pa. 1995) ("Access to the courts . . . does not include a federally protected right to use a typewriter or to have one's pleadings typed.") (citation and quotation marks omitted).
ACCORDINGLY, on this 21st day of February 2013, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT Plaintiff's motion for an extension of time (Doc. No. 150) is GRANTED IN PART AS FOLLOWS:
1. Plaintiff shall file any objections to Magistrate Judge Carlson's Report and Recommendation (Doc. No. 142) by March 18, 2013; and,
2. Plaintiff shall file any response to Defendants' motion for summary judgment (Doc. No. 136) by March 18, 2013.
_________________________
Yvette Kane, Chief Judge
United States District Court
Middle District of Pennsylvania