ROBERT WHITE, et al. v. DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, et al.

Background

Robert White, who the opinion says was being held at the Otis Bantum Correctional Center on Rikers Island, filed this action without a lawyer. The complaint listed White and 27 other prisoners as plaintiffs and alleged that they were forced to undergo mandatory, random, or orchestrated strip searches at the facility on August 29, 2025. White was the only prisoner who signed the complaint. He was also the only prisoner who had filed a signed application to proceed without paying the filing fee and a prisoner authorization; the court had granted him that status.

Reason for Severance

The court applied Rule 21 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which allows a court to separate claims into different lawsuits. The court explained that multiple plaintiffs may join one lawsuit under Rule 20 when their claims arise from the same event or related events and involve common legal or factual questions. But even when joinder is allowed, Rule 21 gives the court discretion to separate claims when doing so promotes fairness and efficient case management.

The court found that managing this case as a lawsuit involving 28 prisoners would not be fair or efficient. Because the plaintiffs were representing themselves, White could not act as a lawyer for the other prisoners. Each unrepresented plaintiff also had to personally sign future filings. The court was concerned that prisoners could be released or transferred and therefore might be unable to sign documents. It also cited security restrictions that could limit the prisoners’ ability to discuss strategy, share evidence, or exchange court filings, potentially causing delays and missed deadlines.

Order

The court severed all claims belonging to the 27 plaintiffs other than White from this action under Rule 21. White will proceed as the sole plaintiff in the original case. The Clerk of Court was directed to open a separate civil action, with a new docket number, for each of the other 27 plaintiffs and to place a copy of the complaint and this order in each new case. The newly opened cases will proceed independently unless the court later orders otherwise. The court did not decide whether the cases could later be treated as related or consolidated.

The court stated that, after the new cases were opened, the other plaintiffs would be directed to submit signed complaint signature pages and either pay the required fees or submit completed applications to proceed without paying the filing fee and prisoner authorizations. The order did not decide the merits of the alleged strip searches or any other underlying claim.

The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying the filing fee. Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain signed the order on October 30, 2025.