King v. White
- Alison Nathan
- 1:20-cv-04527
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In King v. White, Judge Netburn identified a defendant and set service, answer, discovery, and conference requirements without deciding the underlying claims.
Sharif King, Captain Robert Fraser, the other defendants in the § 1983 action, the New York City Department of Correction, the New York City Law Department, and the officials responsible for producing King for the telephone conference.
What happened
King v. White concerns Sharif King’s civil-rights complaint about events during his transport from Downstate Correctional Facility to the Manhattan Detention Complex. King is incarcerated and is representing himself without a lawyer. The court had previously directed the New York City Law Department to identify four people originally listed as John Doe defendants.
The court identified John Doe #2 as Captain Robert Fraser of the New York City Department of Correction’s Emergency Services Unit and ordered that Fraser replace John Doe #2 in the case caption. It requested that Fraser waive formal service, required an answer by December 7, 2020, set April 23, 2021, as the discovery deadline, and scheduled a telephone conference for December 16, 2020.
Judge Sarah Netburn also ordered the official in charge of Great Meadow Correctional Facility to make King available by telephone for the conference. The order addressed service, case administration, and discovery; it did not decide whether King’s underlying claims were valid.
The detailed version
- King v. White · No. 1:20-cv-04527
- Alison Nathan
- Oct. 23, 2020
Background
Sharif King, who was incarcerated at Great Meadow Correctional Facility, filed a complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. He was proceeding without a lawyer and without paying the filing fee. The complaint concerned events beginning November 12, 2019, when King was transported from Downstate Correctional Facility to the Manhattan Detention Complex.
The opinion states that Judge Alison J. Nathan had previously directed the New York City Law Department to identify four defendants initially named as John Does. John Doe #1 and John Doe #3 had already been identified. The Law Department identified John Doe #2 as Captain Robert Fraser, Shield No. 1397, assigned to the New York City Department of Correction’s Emergency Services Unit. The Law Department was still investigating the identity of John Doe #4.
Orders concerning the case
Under Rule 21 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the court directed the Clerk of Court to substitute Captain Fraser for John Doe #2 and amend the caption. The court requested that Fraser waive service of the summons and ordered him to file an answer, if any, by December 7, 2020.
The court also determined that Local Civil Rule 33.2 applied. That rule requires defendants in certain prisoner-rights cases to answer specified discovery requests. Any new defendants were ordered to serve responses to those requests within 120 days of the order. All discovery was required to be completed by April 23, 2021.
Conference and production order
The court scheduled a telephone status conference for December 16, 2020, at 2:00 p.m. It ordered the official in charge of Great Meadow Correctional Facility to produce King at a suitable location with a telephone by 1:55 p.m. that day so he could participate. The order directed defense counsel to send the order to the facility’s warden and directed the Clerk to mail a copy to King.
Disposition and scope
Judge Sarah Netburn issued an order of service and case-management directives. The order substituted Fraser for John Doe #2, addressed service and the answer deadline, imposed discovery requirements, set a discovery deadline, and scheduled a conference. It did not resolve the merits of King’s § 1983 claims or dismiss any claim.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.