White v. Department of Corrections

Background

Robert White filed this action without a lawyer concerning an alleged August 29, 2025 incident at the Otis Bantum Correctional Center. The complaint appears to allege that White and 27 other prisoners were subjected to forced, mandatory, random, or orchestrated specialized strip searches. Although the complaint listed all 28 prisoners as plaintiffs, only White signed it. White was also the only prisoner who filed an application to proceed without paying filing fees and a prisoner authorization; the court had granted White that status.

Reason for Severance

The court explained that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 20 permits multiple plaintiffs to join an action when their claims arise from the same transaction or occurrence and involve a common legal or factual question. Rule 21 allows a court to separate claims when doing so promotes fairness and efficient case management.

The court concluded that the practical problems of managing a lawsuit brought by multiple unrepresented prisoners justified separation under Rule 21. Each unrepresented plaintiff may appear only for himself or herself, so White could not represent the other 27 plaintiffs. Rule 11 also requires each unrepresented party to personally sign pleadings and other filings. Because prisoners in a detention facility may be released or transferred, some plaintiffs might be unable to sign future documents. The court also cited security concerns that could limit the prisoners’ ability to communicate, share discovery, and coordinate filings, creating delays, piecemeal submissions, and missed deadlines.

Order

The court severed all claims belonging to the 27 plaintiffs other than White from this action. White will proceed as the sole plaintiff in this case. The Clerk of Court must open a separate civil action, with a new docket number, for each of the 27 other plaintiffs and file a copy of the complaint and this order in each new action. The court directed that the other plaintiffs later be instructed to provide signed complaint signature pages and either pay the required fees or submit completed applications to proceed without paying fees and prisoner authorizations.

The newly opened actions will proceed independently, and the prisoners will not be treated as co-plaintiffs unless the court later orders otherwise. The court did not decide whether the new cases might later be treated as related or consolidated. It also did not decide the merits of the alleged searches or any other underlying claims.

Finally, the court certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees. The order was signed by Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain on October 30, 2025.