In re: Jesus Torres
- Cathy Seibel
- 7:24-cv-00411
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Jesus Torres v. Jonathan Camacho, Judge Seibel ordered the U.S. Marshals Service to serve Torres’s complaint on four correctional officers.
Jesus Torres, the four named correctional-officer defendants, the Clerk of Court, and the U.S. Marshals Service. The order requires the Clerk and Marshals Service to facilitate service and requires Torres to monitor the 90-day service period and report any address change.
What happened
Jesus Torres, who is incarcerated and representing himself, sued four correctional officers under a federal civil-rights law, alleging violations of his constitutional rights while he was incarcerated. The court had allowed him to proceed without paying filing fees in advance and had received his second amended complaint.
Judge Seibel ordered the Clerk of Court to issue summonses, prepare service forms, and send the necessary papers to the U.S. Marshals Service so it could serve Jonathan Camacho, Francisco Moreira, Riccardo Zamor, and Christopher Bowman. The court said service must occur within 90 days after the summonses are issued, unless Torres requests more time.
In the order, Judge Cathy Seibel addressed service only; she did not decide whether Torres’s constitutional-rights claims were valid. The order also required Torres to notify the court if his address changes.
The detailed version
- In re: Jesus Torres · No. 7:24-cv-00411
- Cathy Seibel
- Feb. 25, 2025
Background
Jesus Torres, who is incarcerated at Clinton Correctional Facility and is proceeding without a lawyer, brought an action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a federal law that allows claims against state actors for violating federal constitutional rights. Torres alleged that the defendants violated his constitutional rights while he was incarcerated at Green Haven Correctional Facility.
The court had allowed Torres to proceed without prepaying filing fees. After Torres identified four defendants through an amended pleading and the New York State Attorney General supplied their names, addresses, and badge numbers, Torres filed a second amended complaint on February 18, 2025. The opinion notes that Torres included “Greenhaven Correctional Facility Superintendent” in the caption, but did not list that person as a defendant or include facts involving that person; the court therefore did not treat the superintendent as a defendant.
Service Order
Because Torres was allowed to proceed without prepaying filing fees, the court determined that he could rely on the court and the U.S. Marshals Service to serve the summons and second amended complaint. The Clerk of Court was instructed to prepare a U.S. Marshals Service Process Receipt and Return form for each defendant, issue summonses, and deliver the required paperwork to the Marshals Service.
The order directed service on C.O. Jonathan Camacho, C.O. Francisco Moreira, C.O. Riccardo Zamor, and C.O. Christopher Bowman. The court extended the service period so that the 90-day period would begin on the date the summonses were issued. If service was not completed within those 90 days, Torres was told to request an extension of time. He was also required to notify the court in writing if his address changed.
Disposition and Scope
The court ordered the Clerk of Court to issue the summonses and arrange for service through the U.S. Marshals Service. This was an order concerning service of process, not a decision on the merits of Torres’s constitutional-rights claims. The court did not determine whether any defendant violated Torres’s rights.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.