Thompson v. Smith, 2:24-cv-00378

Lawrence R. Thompson, Jr. filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 against Nelson Smith, Commissioner of Virginia’s Department for Behavioral Health and Developmental Services.
The Commissioner moved to dismiss the petition, arguing Thompson had failed to exhaust administrative remedies.
Thompson also filed a Motion for Judgment.
Magistrate Judge Robert J. Krask issued a Report and Recommendation (R&R) recommending dismissal of Thompson’s petition without prejudice.
Neither party filed any objections to the R&R within the time allowed.
The District Court reviewed the R&R, found no clear error, adopted it, dismissed the petition with prejudice, and denied a certificate of appealability.

Issue	Thompson's Argument	Smith's Argument	Held
Dismissal for failure to exhaust	Petition should proceed	Petitioner failed to exhaust	Dismissed for failure to exhaust remedies
Motion for Judgment	Judgment should be granted to Thompson	Should be denied	Denied Thomson's Motion for Judgment
Adoption of Magistrate's R&R	No specific argument	No specific argument	R&R adopted, no clear error found
Certificate of Appealability	Entitled to appealability certificate	Not warranted	Denied certificate of appealability

Thomas v. Arn, 474 U.S. 140 (explains requirement to timely object to magistrate recommendation to preserve appeal rights)
Carr v. Hutto, 737 F.2d 433 (4th Cir. 1984) (addresses effect of failing to object to a magistrate’s recommendation)
United States v. Schronce, 727 F.2d 91 (4th Cir. 1984) (failure to object waives appellate review)
Orpiano v. Johnson, 687 F.2d 44 (4th Cir. 1982) (appellate review standards for magistrate recommendations)
Diamond v. Colonial Life & Accident Ins. Co., 416 F.3d 310 (4th Cir. 2005) (adoption of magistrate’s recommendations without de novo review in absence of objections)
Miller-El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322 (standard for certificate of appealability)
Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473 (standard for certificate of appealability)