King v. White
- Alison Nathan
- 1:20-cv-04527
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In King v. White, Magistrate Judge Netburn substituted two identified defendants, extended identification deadlines, and ordered information-sharing without deciding the claims.
Sharif King, the New York City Law Department, the New York City Department of Correction, Captain Flemens, Correction Officer Lin, and the still-unidentified John Doe defendants.
What happened
Sharif King, who was incarcerated and representing himself, brought a civil-rights lawsuit under a federal law allowing claims against state officials. The case concerned events beginning November 12, 2019, during his transport to Bronx County Supreme Court. Earlier, Judge Alison J. Nathan had directed the New York City Law Department to identify four unnamed defendants.
The Law Department identified John Doe #1 as Captain Flemens and John Doe #3 as Correction Officer Lin. It requested more time to identify John Doe #2 and asked for more information about John Doe #4. The order also addressed service of the lawsuit and required discovery responses from newly identified defendants.
Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn directed the clerk to replace John Doe #1 and John Doe #3 with Captain Flemens and Correction Officer Lin, requested that they waive service, granted the Law Department 30 additional days to identify John Doe #2, and required King to provide more information about John Doe #4 by October 2, 2020. The order did not decide the merits of King's claims.
The detailed version
- King v. White · No. 1:20-cv-04527
- Alison Nathan
- Sept. 18, 2020
Background
Sharif King, who was incarcerated at Great Meadow Correctional Facility and was proceeding without a lawyer and without paying the filing fee, filed a complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The complaint concerned events beginning November 12, 2019, when King was transported from Downstate Correctional Facility to Bronx County Supreme Court.
On July 17, 2020, Judge Alison J. Nathan directed the New York City Law Department to identify four defendants whom King had named as John Does. Judge Nathan referred the matter to Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn for general pretrial supervision.
On September 15, 2020, the Law Department identified John Doe #1 as Captain Flemens, Shield No. 1800, assigned to the New York City Department of Correction Emergency Services Unit, and John Doe #3 as Correction Officer Lin, Shield No. 17797, assigned to the Manhattan Detention Complex. The Law Department said it had requested but not yet received documents concerning John Doe #2. It also said it could not determine the identity of John Doe #4, whom King described as the Department of Correction's Chief of Security and Executive Officer of the Operations Security Intelligence Unit.
Court's Actions
Under Rule 21 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the court directed the clerk to substitute Captain Flemens for John Doe #1 and Correction Officer Lin for John Doe #3 and to amend the case caption accordingly.
The court directed the clerk to notify the New York City Department of Correction and the New York City Law Department of the order. It requested that Captain Flemens and Correction Officer Lin waive service of the summons.
The court granted the Law Department an additional 30 days from the date of the order to identify John Doe #2 and provide that information to King and the court. King was required by October 2, 2020, to provide the Law Department with as much additional information as possible about John Doe #4, including possible physical descriptions or descriptions of that person's job title or responsibilities.
The court also ruled that Local Civil Rule 33.2 applied. That rule requires defendants in certain prisoner-rights cases to respond to specified court-ordered discovery requests. Any newly added defendants were required to serve responses to those requests within 120 days of the order and to quote each request verbatim in the responses.
Disposition and Effect
The clerk was directed to mail the order to King and note service on the docket. The Law Department was required by October 19, 2020, to provide the court and King with identifying information for John Doe #2. After all John Doe defendants were identified, King was required to file an amended complaint naming the individual defendants in the caption.
This was a procedural order concerning identification of defendants, service, deadlines, and discovery. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn did not decide whether King's underlying claims were legally or factually valid.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.