Jackson v. Acevedo

Background

Thomas Jackson, who was incarcerated at Clinton Correctional Facility and was representing himself, brought a federal civil-rights action against 18 defendants. The complaint alleged events at Sing Sing, Shawangunk, Mid-State, Southport, and Clinton Correctional Facilities. Jackson alleged that Sing Sing correction officers assaulted him in retaliation for filing grievances, that a nurse minimized his injuries and denied adequate medical treatment, and that he later received inadequate medical care and reasonable accommodations at other facilities. He also alleged problems involving a disciplinary hearing and sought immediate injunctive relief, including medical treatment and accommodations.

Jackson had been granted permission to proceed without prepaying the filing fee. The court noted that this permission did not eliminate his obligation to pay the full filing fee under the prisoner-fee statute.

Severance of Claims

The court applied Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 18, 20, and 21. Rule 18 permits a plaintiff to join multiple claims against one defendant, but Rule 20 generally requires claims against multiple defendants to arise from the same transaction or series of transactions and to share a common legal or factual question. Rule 21 allows a court to separate claims or parties.

The court concluded that the Sing Sing claims were not logically connected to the claims arising at Shawangunk, Mid-State, Southport, and Clinton. The Sing Sing claims concerned an alleged assault and the immediate medical response, while the other claims concerned later disciplinary proceedings and continuing medical-care and accommodation issues at different facilities. The court therefore severed the claims arising at Shawangunk, Mid-State, Southport, and Clinton. Those claims involved Captain Bertone, Dr. Lee, Hearing Officer A. Polizzi, Superintendent Jamie LaManna, Lieutenant Connors, Dr. Monnova, Nurse Ferguson, Dr. Richard D’Amico, Southport Correctional Facility Nurse Jane Doe, and Director of Special Housing D. Venettozzi.

Transfer

After severing the claims, the court transferred the action involving those defendants under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) to the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York. The court explained that the relevant events at Shawangunk, Mid-State, and Clinton occurred in counties within that district. It also noted that Jackson was incarcerated at Clinton and sought immediate injunctive relief. The court found that transfer was in the interest of justice.

The court stated that Southport Correctional Facility is in Chemung County, within the Western District of New York, but left to the transferee court the decision whether the Southport claims should be severed and transferred to the Western District of New York. The claims arising at Sing Sing against Corrections Officers Acevedo, Santiago, Santos, Brown, P. Bailey, and R. Curry, Sergeant Knight, and Nurse Jane Doe remained in the Southern District of New York.

Request for Preliminary Injunction

Jackson sought a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction directing Clinton Correctional Facility to arrange a specialist appointment, magnetic resonance imaging for his back, and physical therapy. A preliminary injunction is an extraordinary court order issued before final judgment. The court held that Jackson had not shown that he would suffer irreparable harm without that relief. It therefore denied the motion without prejudice to Jackson’s renewing the application in the Northern District of New York.

Identification of Doe Defendants and Service

Because Jackson had permission to proceed without prepaying the filing fee, the court explained that he could rely on the court and the United States Marshals Service to serve process. The court also directed assistance in identifying an unknown defendant, an order commonly called a Valentin order.

The court found that the complaint provided enough information for the New York State Office of the Attorney General to identify the Sing Sing defendants. It ordered that office to determine the identities and badge numbers of each Sing Sing defendant Jackson sought to sue and to provide service addresses to Jackson and the court within 60 days of the order. Within 30 days after receiving that information, Jackson had to file an amended complaint giving the full names and badge numbers of each Doe defendant. The amended complaint would replace, rather than supplement, the original complaint. The court stated that it would screen the amended complaint and, if necessary, direct preparation of service papers.

Other Disposition

The court directed the Clerk of Court to mail Jackson the order, an information package, and an amended-complaint form, and to mail the order and complaint to the New York State Attorney General’s Office. It also required Jackson to notify the court in writing of any address change and stated that the action could be dismissed if he failed to do so.

Finally, the court certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order did not decide the underlying civil-rights claims.