Dana Gallop v. Adult Correctional Institutions

Syllabus

The plaintiff, Dana Gallop, appealed from a Superior Court judgment in favor of the defendants following the entry of an order, after remand by this Court, denying his motion to file a second amended complaint. On appeal, the plaintiff argued that the trial court erred in failing to address his argument that G.L. 1956 § 13-6-1, Rhode Island's civil death statute, violates the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution in failing to allow his longstanding state law tort claims to proceed and in denying his motion for leave to file a second amended complaint. The Supreme Court held that the trial justice did not abuse her discretion and that she properly denied the plaintiff's motion to amend. The Court concluded that the record reflected that the trial justice properly weighed all relevant factors in arriving at her decision and did not allocate weight to any improper factors. The Court also determined that the plaintiff's arguments that Rhode Island's civil death statute is unconstitutional are barred by the Court's \raise-or-waive\ rule and procedural law. Accordingly, the Court affirmed the judgment of the Superior Court.