Barry v. Russo
- Kenneth Karas
- 7:22-cv-03835
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Barry v. Russo, Judge Karas ordered service on Ramdeen and denied Barry’s fee waiver for an appeal.
Mamadou Barry, Defendant Sookdew Ramdeen, the Clerk of Court, and the U.S. Marshals Service.
What happened
In Barry v. Russo, Mamadou Barry, who is incarcerated and representing himself, alleges under a federal civil-rights law that defendants failed to protect him from an assault, ignored serious medical needs, imposed unconstitutional confinement conditions, and failed to provide religious meals.
After the New York Attorney General’s Office provided Sookdew Ramdeen’s service address, the court ordered the Clerk to prepare the service paperwork and summons and send them to the U.S. Marshals Service so Ramdeen could be served. The court also explained that service generally must be completed within 90 days after the summons is issued and that Barry must request an extension if needed.
Judge Karas directed the Clerk to mail Barry the order and an information package, and denied fee-waiver status for any appeal because the court certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith. The order did not decide whether Barry’s underlying allegations were true.
The detailed version
- Barry v. Russo · No. 7:22-cv-03835
- Kenneth Karas
- June 24, 2024
Background
Mamadou Barry, who is incarcerated at Green Haven Correctional Facility and is proceeding without a lawyer, brought this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. He alleges that the defendants failed to protect him from an assault, were deliberately indifferent to serious medical needs caused by the assault, subjected him to unconstitutional conditions of confinement, and failed to provide religious meals.
The court had previously granted Barry permission to proceed without prepaying filing fees. In an earlier order, the court directed the New York State Attorney General’s Office to identify an address where Defendant Sookdew Ramdeen could be served. The office provided that address on May 29, 2024.
Service Order
The court directed the Clerk of Court to complete a U.S. Marshals Service Process Receipt and Return form for Ramdeen, issue a summons, and provide the U.S. Marshals Service with the paperwork needed to serve Ramdeen.
The court explained that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(m) generally requires service of the summons and complaint within 90 days after the summons is issued. Barry is responsible for requesting an extension if necessary. The court also stated that Barry must notify the court in writing if his address changes and that the action may be dismissed if he fails to do so.
Disposition
The Clerk was directed to mail Barry a copy of the order and an information package and to deliver the service documents for Ramdeen to the U.S. Marshals Service. The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. The order did not rule on the merits of Barry’s claims. Judge Kenneth M. Karas signed the order on June 24, 2024.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.