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

Background

Robert White filed this action without a lawyer while held at the Otis Bantum Correctional Center. The complaint alleged that White and 27 other prisoners were forced to undergo mandatory, random, or orchestrated strip searches on August 29, 2025. Although the complaint listed all 28 prisoners as plaintiffs, only White signed it. White was the only prisoner who submitted a signed application to proceed without paying the filing fee and a prisoner authorization, and the court had granted his application.

Rules and analysis

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 20 allows multiple plaintiffs to join one lawsuit when their claims arise from the same transaction or series of events and share a legal or factual question. Rule 21 separately gives a court authority to sever claims when doing so promotes fairness, efficiency, or judicial economy, even without finding that the plaintiffs were improperly joined.

The court concluded that managing a lawsuit involving many self-represented prisoners would not be fair or efficient. Each prisoner could represent only himself, and White could not represent the other prisoners. Each unrepresented plaintiff also would have to personally sign future filings. Because prisoners could be released or transferred, some might be unable to sign documents. Security restrictions would also limit their ability to discuss litigation strategy, share discovery, or exchange court submissions, creating a risk of piecemeal filings, delays, and missed deadlines.

Order and effect

The court severed all claims of the 27 plaintiffs other than White under Rule 21. White will proceed as the sole plaintiff in this action. The clerk was directed to open a separate civil action, with a new docket number, for each of the other 27 plaintiffs and to file a copy of the complaint and this order in each new action. Those cases will proceed independently, and the other prisoners will not be treated as co-plaintiffs unless the court later orders otherwise. The court directed the other plaintiffs 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 whether the new actions could later be treated as related or consolidated. It also did not decide whether the alleged searches were unlawful or otherwise reach the merits of the claims. The court certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for an appeal from this order. The order was signed by Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain on October 30, 2025.