Arnold v. Malchow, 3:23-cv-01374

The case stems from a three-vehicle accident in October 2019, with plaintiff Arnold alleging personal injuries and constitutional violations during related state court litigation.
Arnold initially sued several parties, including Malchow (now deceased), and later substituted Leigh Morton-Morris (Malchow's biological mother) as a defendant in his Fourteenth Amendment claim.
A summons was issued for Morton-Morris, but service was not successful; Arnold returned the summons unexecuted and provided no evidence of proper service.
The court ordered Arnold to show cause why an extension to serve Morton-Morris should be granted; Arnold responded but did not present evidence of any valid service attempt.
The Magistrate Judge recommended dismissal under Rule 4(m) for failure to effect service, noting Arnold failed to allege Morton-Morris is a state actor, making the claim futile.
All other defendants had already been dismissed; the district court was left to decide the claim against Morton-Morris.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Plaintiff properly effected service of process on Morton-Morris	Service on Malchow or her attorney constituted service on Morton-Morris	No valid argument presented; Morton-Morris did not respond	Service was not effected; dismissal appropriate
Whether good cause existed to extend time for service under Rule 4(m)	Morton-Morris refused service upon attorney's advice	No good cause; extension would be futile	No good cause shown; no extension granted
Whether failure to allege Morton-Morris as a state actor rendered the Fourteenth Amendment claim futile	No specific argument on state actor status	Not a state actor; claim is conclusory and unsupported	Claim futile due to lack of state action allegation
Whether objections to the Report and Recommendation (R&R) were valid	R&R is "prejudicial," omitted arguments on service on Malchow/attorney	N/A	Objections overruled; R&R adopted

Lugar v. Edmondson Oil Co., 457 U.S. 922 (1982) (Fourteenth Amendment liability requires state action)
Thomas v. Arn, 474 U.S. 140 (1985) (failure to object to report and recommendation releases court from duty to review)