Carrion v. Kopp

Background

Gilbert Vartecon Carrion brought this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a federal law allowing claims against state actors for violating constitutional rights. He is incarcerated at Marcy Correctional Facility and alleges that defendants violated his rights while he was incarcerated at Green Haven Correctional Facility. Carrion is representing himself and had previously been allowed to proceed without prepaying filing fees.

The court previously allowed Carrion to amend his complaint to provide more facts concerning claims against Lindsay Lingenious, Sgt. Tasha M. Johnson, C.O. Ricardo Varmor, Ms. S. Martin, Marilyn Kopp, Mangan P. Doulan, Courtney Griffin, and Supt. Mark J. Miller. The court directed the U.S. Marshals Service to serve Johnson and Varmor, but the Marshals Service later reported that it could not complete service.

Court’s Order

The court explained that a self-represented litigant is entitled to the court’s assistance in obtaining a defendant’s proper service address. It ordered the Attorney General of the State of New York to provide the appropriate service addresses for the eight listed defendants to the court and Carrion within 60 days of the order.

Within 30 days after receiving that information, Carrion must file an amended complaint identifying the defendants’ service addresses. The amended complaint will replace, rather than supplement, the earlier complaint. After Carrion files it, the court will screen the amended complaint and issue an order directing service on the defendants.

Judge Kenneth M. Karas also directed the Clerk of Court to mail the order to Carrion and to mail the order and a copy of the complaint to the New York Attorney General. The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for purposes of an appeal. The order addressed service and next steps; it did not decide whether Carrion’s underlying civil-rights claims were valid.