Harden v. Doe
- Vincent Briccetti
- 7:19-cv-03839
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Paul Harden v. Sergeant Sahad, Judge Briccetti ordered Harden to update his address by June 16, 2020, or face possible dismissal, and denied fee-free appeal status.
Paul Harden was required to update his address and was warned that noncompliance could lead to dismissal; his fee-free status for an appeal from this order was denied. The defendants were not otherwise ruled against in this order.
What happened
In Paul Harden v. Sergeant Sahad and Lorie Badger, Paul Harden was representing himself and had previously told the court he was incarcerated at several facilities. Court mail was returned marked, “No longer here, Paroled.”
The court ordered Harden to provide his current address in writing by June 16, 2020. It warned that failing to comply could lead to dismissal for failing to pursue the case or follow court orders. The court also denied fee-free status for any appeal from this order.
Judge Vincent L. Briccetti issued the order on May 19, 2020. He did not dismiss the case in this order.
The detailed version
- Harden v. Doe · No. 7:19-cv-03839
- Vincent Briccetti
- May 19, 2020
Background
Paul Harden, who was proceeding without a lawyer and without paying the filing fee, had filed the action in April 2019. The opinion states that he was incarcerated at Fishkill Correctional Facility when he filed the complaint. The docket later reflected address changes to Great Meadow Correctional Facility and then Sing Sing Correctional Facility.
The court had extended Harden’s deadline to respond to the defendants’ motion to dismiss his second amended complaint until June 29, 2020. After the court received another extension request, it reiterated that deadline. A mailing containing the court’s May 5 order and another copy of the April 23 order was returned on May 18 with the notation: “No longer here, Paroled.”
Order
The court noted that its earlier service orders and its instructions for people without attorneys told Harden that he was responsible for notifying the court in writing of any address change. Those documents also warned that the action could be dismissed if he failed to do so.
The court ordered Harden to update his current address in writing by June 16, 2020. It stated that failure to comply could result in dismissal for failure to pursue the action or comply with court orders under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b). The order did not itself dismiss the action.
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 Harden permission to proceed without paying fees for purposes of an appeal. Judge Vincent L. Briccetti signed the order.
Classification basis
This is a procedural order because it addressed address reporting, compliance with court orders, and appeal-fee status rather than deciding the underlying claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.