White v. Westchester County
- Vincent Briccetti
- 7:18-cv-12048
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In White v. Westchester County, Judge Briccetti ordered pro se plaintiff Dwayne White to update his address or face dismissal for failing to prosecute.
Dwayne White, the self-represented plaintiff, was required to update his address; the action against Westchester County and the other defendants remained subject to possible dismissal if he did not comply.
What happened
White v. Westchester County concerns Dwayne White’s federal lawsuit against Westchester County and several corrections officials and program supervisors. White was representing himself and had previously told the court that he was incarcerated at different facilities.
After White was released from custody, court orders mailed to him were returned as undeliverable. The court had warned him that he had to report address changes and could face dismissal if he did not do so.
Judge Briccetti ordered White to provide his current address in writing by January 21, 2020. The order states that failing to comply will result in dismissal for failure to prosecute or follow court orders; it did not itself dismiss the case. The judge also denied fee-free appeal status after certifying that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- White v. Westchester County · No. 7:18-cv-12048
- Vincent Briccetti
- Dec. 23, 2019
Background
Dwayne White filed the action while incarcerated at the Westchester County Jail and was proceeding without a lawyer and without prepaying filing fees. The court’s January 25, 2019, order and accompanying instructions told White that he had to notify the court in writing if his address changed and warned that the action could be dismissed if he failed to do so.
White filed notices of address changes in April 2019, identifying Downstate Correctional Facility and then Franklin Correctional Facility. The court later learned that White had been released from the custody of the New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision on August 13, 2019. A court order mailed to him was returned as undeliverable because he had been released.
Order to Update Address
On November 14, 2019, the court ordered White to update his address in writing by December 16, 2019. That order warned, in bold and underlined text, that the case could be dismissed for failure to prosecute or comply with court orders. White did not update his address or request more time, and the November 14 order was also returned as undeliverable.
Ruling
Judge Vincent L. Briccetti ordered White to provide the court with his current address in writing by January 21, 2020. The order states that failure to comply will result in dismissal of the action for failure to prosecute or comply with court orders under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b). The court did not dismiss the action in this order.
The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied White permission to appeal without prepaying the required fees. The clerk was directed to mail White a copy of the order at the address listed on the docket.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.