Terry v. Stamford
- Jesse Furman
- 1:20-cv-03847
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In Terry v. Stamford, Judge Furman granted defendants’ extension request and ordered service steps for newly named defendants.
Duwayne L. Terry, the defendants named in the amended complaint, the New York State Attorney General’s Office, the Clerk of Court, and the U.S. Marshals Service.
What happened
In Terry v. Stamford, Duwayne L. Terry alleges under a federal civil-rights law that defendants arbitrarily denied him parole. The court had allowed him to proceed without paying the filing fee in advance, and he later filed an amended complaint naming additional defendants.
The court granted defendants’ request for more time to respond. It directed the Clerk and the U.S. Marshals Service to serve Yasmin Garcia, Renell Hamilton, and Jennifer Armstrong, and directed the Attorney General’s Office to identify and provide a service address for Defendant Crangle. The order did not decide whether Terry was improperly denied parole.
Judge Jesse M. Furman also denied fee-free status for any appeal, directed defendants to serve Terry with the order, and terminated the extension motion from the docket.
The detailed version
- Terry v. Stamford · No. 1:20-cv-03847
- Jesse Furman
- Oct. 30, 2020
Background
Duwayne L. Terry brought this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a federal law that allows claims for violations of constitutional or federal rights by officials acting under state law. He alleges that the defendants arbitrarily denied his release to parole. The opinion states that Terry was previously incarcerated at Washington Correctional Facility and notified the court that he was released on August 14, 2020.
The court had allowed Terry to proceed without prepaying filing fees. The court previously directed the Clerk, through the U.S. Marshals Service, to serve the complaint and directed the New York State Attorney General’s Office to identify unnamed defendants. After the Attorney General’s Office identified three previously unnamed defendants, Terry filed an amended complaint. Defense counsel then asked for more time to respond so that all named defendants could respond together. Terry agreed to that request.
Rulings
The court granted defendants’ extension motion. The court presumed that all previously named defendants except Defendant Crangle had been served with the original complaint, while asking counsel to notify the court if that was incorrect.
Because Terry was proceeding without prepaying fees, the court directed the Clerk and the U.S. Marshals Service to handle service of the amended complaint on Yasmin Garcia, Renell Hamilton, and Jennifer Armstrong. The court extended the service deadline to 90 days after summonses were issued. It stated that Terry should ask for an extension if service was not completed by then. The court also reminded defendants that failing to return the required acknowledgment form could result in service costs being entered as a judgment against them.
For Defendant Crangle, the court directed the New York State Attorney General’s Office to determine Crangle’s identity and the address where Crangle could be served, then provide that information to Terry and the court within 30 days.
The court directed defendants to serve Terry with the order and file proof of service. It certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied Terry permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. The Clerk was directed to terminate the extension motion from the docket. The order did not reach the merits of Terry’s claim that he was arbitrarily denied parole.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.