Carrion v. John Doe
- Paul Engelmayer
- 1:16-cv-09403
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Carrion v. John Doe, Judge Engelmayer dismissed the police-misconduct case because Carrion failed to prosecute it.
Emmanuel Carrion’s civil-rights action was dismissed; the court closed the case after finding that he failed to prosecute it.
What happened
Carrion v. John Doe involved Emmanuel Carrion’s lawsuit claiming that police officers harassed, retaliated against, and beat him. Carrion represented himself and brought the case under a federal civil-rights law.
The case made little progress. The sole named defendant had not been served, Carrion had not communicated with the court for nearly two years, and he did not respond to an order directing him to explain why the case should not be dismissed.
Judge Engelmayer adopted the magistrate judge’s recommendation and dismissed the action for failure to prosecute under Rule 41(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Because Carrion did not object to the recommendation, the court reviewed it for clear error, and the order stated that his failure to object waived appellate review.
The detailed version
- Carrion v. John Doe · No. 1:16-cv-09403
- Paul Engelmayer
- Nov. 18, 2020
Background
Emmanuel Carrion, representing himself, filed a civil-rights action under Section 1983, a federal law allowing claims against people who violate federal rights while acting under state authority. He alleged that police had harassed, retaliated against, and beaten him.
The court stated that the case had made little progress. The sole named defendant had not been served, and neither side had filed submissions since Carrion informed the court in November 2018 that he had been released from custody and provided a new address.
Order to Show Cause and Recommendation
On September 14, 2020, Magistrate Judge Debra Freeman issued an order directing Carrion to explain why the case should not be dismissed for failure to prosecute or failure to timely serve the only named defendant. The order described the court’s earlier warnings that the claims could be dismissed if Carrion did not pursue the action. Carrion did not respond or otherwise contact the court.
On October 20, 2020, Judge Freeman issued a Report and Recommendation recommending dismissal under Rule 41(b), which concerns failure to prosecute, or Rule 4(m), which concerns timely service of process. The recommendation gave Carrion 14 days to object. No objections were filed.
Court’s Analysis
Judge Engelmayer explained that when no timely objection is made to a magistrate judge’s recommendation, the district court reviews the recommendation for clear error on the face of the record. After reviewing Judge Freeman’s recommendation and the order to show cause, the court found no facial error and adopted the recommendation in its entirety.
The court also stated that the parties’ failure to object waived appellate review because the recommendation had warned that failing to object within 14 days would have that effect.
Disposition
Judge Engelmayer dismissed the action for failure to prosecute pursuant to Rule 41(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The Clerk of Court was directed to close the case and mail the order to Carrion at the address on file. The opinion did not decide whether Carrion’s allegations against the police were legally or factually valid.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.