Jackson v. Acevedo
- Cathy Seibel
- 7:20-cv-06655
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Jackson v. Acevedo, Judge Seibel ordered service and standard discovery responses in Thomas Jackson’s pro se civil-rights action.
Thomas Jackson, the eight named defendants, the Clerk of Court, and the U.S. Marshals Service. The defendants must respond to the standard discovery requests within 120 days, and the Marshals Service is directed to serve them.
What happened
Jackson v. Acevedo concerns Thomas Jackson’s civil-rights lawsuit against eight correctional employees. The court had allowed Jackson to proceed without prepaying the filing fee and had received an amended complaint identifying defendants previously listed by placeholder names.
The court directed the Clerk to prepare summonses and service forms and give the required papers to the U.S. Marshals Service so the defendants could be served. The court also ruled that a local discovery rule applies and required the defendants to answer standard discovery requests within 120 days.
Judge Cathy Seibel entered this order on November 20, 2020. The order arranged service and early discovery but did not decide whether Jackson’s constitutional claims were valid.
The detailed version
- Jackson v. Acevedo · No. 7:20-cv-06655
- Cathy Seibel
- Nov. 20, 2020
Background
Thomas Jackson, who was incarcerated at the time, brought this action without a lawyer under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a federal law allowing claims against state actors for violating constitutional rights. The court had previously allowed him to proceed without prepaying the filing fee, although the opinion notes that prisoners must still pay the full filing fee over time under the federal filing-fee statute.
In an earlier order, the court severed and transferred some claims, directed service on identified defendants, and asked the New York State Attorney General’s Office to identify defendants previously named only as John or Jane Doe. After the Attorney General’s Office supplied names, Jackson filed an amended complaint on November 19, 2020.
Service ruling
The court directed the Clerk of Court to prepare a U.S. Marshals Service Process Receipt and Return form for each of these defendants: Sgt. Thomas Knight, Nurse Anne Basil, Sgt. Carlos Acevedo, C.O. Vincente Santiago, C.O. Edwin Santos, C.O. Lawton Brown, C.O. Patrick Bailey, and C.O. Renee Curry. The Clerk was also directed to issue summonses and deliver the paperwork needed for the Marshals Service to serve the defendants.
Discovery ruling
The court ruled that Local Civil Rule 33.2 applies. That rule requires defendants in certain prisoner cases to respond to specified, court-ordered discovery requests. The defendants must serve responses to the standard interrogatories and document requests within 120 days of the order. Their responses must quote each discovery request verbatim.
Disposition and effect
The order instructs the Clerk to complete the service forms using the defendants’ addresses, provide the documents to the Marshals Service, mail Jackson a copy of the order, and note service on the docket. It also states that Local Civil Rule 33.2 applies to the action. This order concerns service and discovery and does not decide the merits of Jackson’s constitutional claims.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.