DeBlasio v. Williams

Background

Philip E. DeBlasio filed the action representing himself. He alleged claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 arising from an incident on December 21, 2018, at the Clinical Alternative to Punitive Segregation program in the Anna M. Kross Center at Rikers Island. The defendants were identified in the complaint as Doctor Williams, Correctional Officer Simon, and two correctional officers identified only as John Doe.

The court had previously allowed DeBlasio to proceed without paying filing fees. It ordered service-related steps and directed Corporation Counsel for the City of New York to identify the John Doe officers. The court later learned that Doctor Williams was Erin Williams, a physician employed by New York City Health + Hospitals Correctional Health Services. Corporation Counsel reported that it could not identify Officer Simon and requested physical descriptions of the John Doe officers. DeBlasio did not provide additional identifying information for Simon or either John Doe officer.

Service on Dr. Williams

Because DeBlasio was proceeding without paying filing fees, the court explained that he could rely on the court and the U.S. Marshals Service to serve the summons and complaint. The court extended the time for service until 90 days after the summons was issued. It stated that, if service was not completed within that period, DeBlasio should request an extension of time.

The court instructed the Clerk to complete a U.S. Marshals Service Process Receipt and Return form, issue a summons, and provide the Marshals Service with the documents needed to serve Dr. Williams. The court also determined that Local Civil Rule 33.2 applied. Under that rule, Dr. Williams had to respond within 120 days of the order to the standard prisoner-case interrogatories and document requests, quoting each request verbatim in the response.

Identifying the Other Officers

Rather than dismissing the claims against the unidentified defendants, the court ordered the City of New York to provide the court and DeBlasio with a list of the names and badge numbers of officers identified in Department of Correction reports or other City or Department investigations as having been involved in the alleged incident. The deadline was February 27, 2020.

Disposition

Judge Katherine Polk Failla ordered the Clerk to prepare service materials for Dr. Williams and ordered the City of New York to provide the requested officer-identification list. The court certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without paying filing fees for an appeal. The order addressed service, discovery, and identifying defendants; it did not rule on the merits of DeBlasio’s underlying civil-rights claims.