White v. Department of Corrections

Background

Robert White filed this action without a lawyer while held at the Otis Bantum Correctional Center on Rikers Island. The complaint appears to assert claims arising from an alleged August 29, 2025 incident in which White and 27 other prisoners were allegedly subjected to forced, mandatory, or random strip searches. The complaint named all 28 prisoners as plaintiffs, but only White signed it. White was also the only prisoner who submitted a signed application to proceed without paying filing fees and a prisoner authorization; the court had granted White that status.

Court’s analysis

The court applied Rule 21 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which permits a court to separate claims into different actions. The court explained that multiple plaintiffs may join in one case when their claims arise from the same event or related events and share legal or factual questions, but that courts may still separate claims when doing so promotes fairness and efficient case management.

The court found that managing one lawsuit for 28 prisoners representing themselves would not be fair or efficient. Each person representing himself or herself may act only for that person and cannot represent the other prisoners. Each unrepresented plaintiff would also have to personally sign future filings. Because people held in detention facilities may be released or transferred, some plaintiffs might be unable to sign future documents. The court also cited security limits on communication and face-to-face contact, which could restrict the prisoners’ ability to discuss strategy, share evidence, and exchange court filings, leading to piecemeal filings, delays, and missed deadlines.

Order

The court severed all claims except Robert White’s claims from this action under Rule 21. 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 other 27 named plaintiffs and file a copy of the complaint and this order in each new action. The court stated that the new cases will proceed independently and that the prisoners will not be treated as co-plaintiffs unless the court later orders otherwise.

After the new cases are opened, the court will direct the other 27 plaintiffs to submit signed complaint signature pages and either pay the required fees or submit completed applications to proceed without paying those fees, along with prisoner authorizations. The court did not decide whether the new cases might later be treated as related or consolidated. Judge Laura Taylor Swain also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for an appeal from this order. The order did not decide the merits of the alleged searches or any claim against the defendants.