Johnson v. Brown

Background

Angelo D. Johnson, who was incarcerated at Five Points Correctional Facility and was proceeding without a lawyer, filed a federal civil-rights action against 25 defendants. The complaint concerned events at Downstate Correctional Facility, Great Meadow Correctional Facility, and Five Points Correctional Facility. The court had already granted Johnson permission to proceed without prepaying the filing fee.

At Downstate, Johnson alleged that nurse practitioner Kosseff-Salchert ignored his requests for replacement contact lenses even though he had glaucoma and a corneal defect. He also alleged that Reverend Brown revoked permission for him and other Rastafarian inmates to attend the annual commemoration of Haile Selassie and routinely favored Protestant inmates over inmates practicing other religions.

At Great Meadow, Johnson alleged assaults, harmful treatment by prison staff, denial of medical care, inhuman conditions in a special housing unit, racial insults, retaliation, and denial of due process during disciplinary proceedings. At Five Points, he alleged that he was placed in the special housing unit because of earlier disciplinary proceedings, that property including medications and contact-lens supplies was lost during a transfer, and that medical staff denied him supplies, medications, sick calls, and treatment.

Severance and transfer

The court applied Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 18, 20, and 21. Rule 18 allows a plaintiff to bring multiple claims against one defendant, but Rule 20 generally does not allow unrelated claims against multiple defendants in one action. Rule 21 permits a court to separate claims against a party.

The court concluded that the Downstate claims were not logically connected to the Great Meadow and Five Points claims. The Downstate claims concerned contact lenses and access to a religious service, while the other claims concerned alleged assaults, medical-care issues, retaliation, and disciplinary proceedings at later facilities. The court therefore severed the claims arising at Great Meadow and Five Points.

The court also concluded that transferring the severed claims was appropriate under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a), which allows transfer for the convenience of the parties and witnesses and in the interest of justice. The events underlying those claims occurred primarily at Great Meadow, which is in Washington County and within the Northern District of New York, and most of the defendants were employed there. The court transferred the severed action to the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York. A footnote stated that whether the Five Points claims should instead be transferred to the Western District of New York was left for the receiving court to decide.

The claims arising at Downstate remained in the Southern District of New York. The order did not decide whether Johnson would ultimately prevail on any of his civil-rights claims.

Service and appeal status

Because Johnson was allowed to proceed without prepaying the filing fee, the court directed the Clerk to prepare forms and summonses so the U.S. Marshals Service could serve Reverend Brown and Kosseff-Salchert. The court extended the service period until 90 days after the summonses were issued and stated that Johnson should request more time if service was not completed by then.

The court also certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for purposes of an appeal. Judge Kenneth M. Karas signed the order on June 3, 2020.