Golding v. DHS/ICE

Background

Karim Golding brought this action while being held at the Etowah County Detention Center in Gadsden, Alabama. He is representing himself and alleges that Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent Max Gorelick violated his federal constitutional rights when Golding was at ICE’s Varick Street facility in Manhattan.

The action originally began in the Northern District of Alabama. In an earlier round of this case, an Alabama magistrate judge recommended transferring Golding’s claims against Gorelick to the Eastern District of New York and dismissing Golding’s remaining claims for failure to state a claim. The Alabama district judge adopted that recommendation. The Eastern District later transferred the action to the Southern District of New York, where Golding’s amended-complaint claims against Gorelick were before the court.

Golding had been allowed to proceed without prepaying the filing fee. In such cases, federal law and the civil procedure rules require the court to direct the U.S. Marshals Service to serve the defendant. The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York had informed the court that Gorelick consented to service through a United States Attorney’s Office.

Ruling

The court extended the time for service until 90 days after the summons was issued. It directed the Clerk of Court to complete the U.S. Marshals Service process forms with Gorelick’s service address, mark the forms for service on the United States, issue a summons, and provide the necessary documents to the U.S. Marshals Service.

The court also instructed Golding to notify the court in writing if his address changes and stated that the action could be dismissed if he failed to do so. The Clerk was directed to mail Golding a copy of the order and an information package. This order addressed service of the lawsuit; it did not decide whether Golding’s constitutional claims were valid.