Griffin v. Manchester, NH Parole Office et al

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
John R. Griffin, Jr.
v. Civil No. 16-cv-438-JL
Jennifer Walters, Irena Catovic,
Kevin Valenti, Mark Hastbacka,
and Kent Smith
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
Before the court are:
 Griffin’s motion for an order directing the state to
pay for Griffin’s acquisition of a transcript of the
June 21, 2016 New Hampshire Adult Parole Board (“APB”)
hearing (Doc. No. 54);
 the state defendants’ objection to that motion (Doc.
No. 55); and
 Griffin’s “Motion for Sanctions per . . . Rule 37”
(Doc. No. 58), seeking sanctions based on that
objection.
I. Motion for Transcript (Doc. No. 54)
Griffin seeks an order requiring the state to pay for
transcription of the June 21, 2016 APB hearing. Neither the
State nor any of its agencies is a party to this action.
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Further, the record in this case indicates that Griffin had an
opportunity to listen to a recording of the APB hearing at issue
on May 11, 2017, and that prison officials have represented that
he will receive future access upon request. See, e.g., Doc. No.
59-1. Under the circumstances present here, an order directing
the state to pay for transcription of the June 21, 2016 APB
hearing is unwarranted, and Griffin’s motion (Doc. No. 54)
seeking such an order should be denied.
II. Motion for Sanctions under Rule 37 (Doc. No. 58)
Griffin has moved for the imposition of sanctions (Doc. No.
58), including contempt and a default judgment, upon the state
defendants based on their objection (Doc. No. 55) to Griffin’s
motion for a state-furnished APB hearing transcript. Rule 37
authorizes, in pertinent part, the imposition of sanctions for a
party’s failure to serve any answer or objection to certain
discovery requests, and for a party’s failure to comply with a
court order. Neither circumstance exists in this case. The
arguments in the state defendants’ objection (Doc. No. 55)
appear to be appropriately warranted by the facts and law, and
are not otherwise sanctionable. Accordingly, Griffin’s motion
for sanctions (Doc. No. 58) is denied.
Conclusion
For the foregoing reasons, Griffin’s motions, requesting
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that the state pay for transcription of the June 21, 2016 APB
hearing (Doc. No. 54), and for sanctions (Doc. No. 58), should
be denied. Any objections to this Report and Recommendation
must be filed within fourteen days of receipt of this notice.
See Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(b)(2). The fourteen day period may be
extended upon motion. Failure to file objections within the
specified time waives the right to appeal the district court’s
order. See Santos-Santos v. Torres-Centeno, 842 F.3d 163, 168
(1st Cir. 2016).
__________________________
Andrea K. Johnstone
United States Magistrate Judge
November 7, 2017
cc: John R. Griffin, Jr., pro se
Elizabeth A. Lahey, Esq.
Francis Charles Fredericks, Esq.
John A. Curran, Esq.
Robert J. Rabuck, Esq.
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