Alava v. Lamanna
- Cathy Seibel
- 7:20-cv-10276
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 7
In Alava v. Lamanna, Judge Seibel ordered service and discovery steps for Plaintiff’s constitutional-rights suit without deciding its merits.
Princess Debbie Alava, the 19 named defendants, the Clerk of Court, and the U.S. Marshals Service. The order requires the Clerk and Marshals Service to facilitate service, requires the defendants to respond to specified discovery, and imposes address-notification and service-deadline requirements on Alava.
What happened
In Alava v. Lamanna, Princess Debbie Alava, who is incarcerated and representing herself, alleges that the defendants violated her federal constitutional rights and seeks money and court-ordered relief. The court had already allowed her to proceed without paying court fees upfront.
The court ordered the Clerk of Court to issue summonses, prepare service forms, and send the necessary papers to the U.S. Marshals Service so the defendants could be served. It extended the service deadline to 90 days after the summonses are issued and told Alava to notify the court if her address changes.
Judge Seibel also ordered the defendants to answer specified discovery requests within 120 days after service. The court did not decide whether Alava’s constitutional claims were valid, and it denied fee-free status for any appeal from this order.
The detailed version
- Alava v. Lamanna · No. 7:20-cv-10276
- Cathy Seibel
- Feb. 1, 2021
Background
Princess Debbie Alava, who was incarcerated at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, brought this action without a lawyer. She seeks damages and injunctive relief, alleging that the defendants violated her federal constitutional rights. The opinion states that the court had already granted her permission to proceed without prepaying filing fees, commonly called proceeding in forma pauperis (IFP).
Service of process
Because Alava was proceeding IFP, the court directed the U.S. Marshals Service to serve the defendants. The court extended the time for service to 90 days after the summonses are issued, explaining that Alava could not serve the summonses and complaint before the court reviewed the complaint and ordered the summonses issued.
The court instructed the Clerk of Court to issue summonses for the 19 listed defendants, complete U.S. Marshals Service process forms with their service addresses, and provide the Marshals Service with the documents needed to serve the complaint. The court also stated that Alava must notify the court in writing if her address changes and that the action may be dismissed if she fails to do so.
Discovery requirement
The court determined 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 within 120 days after service and must quote each discovery request verbatim in their responses.
Disposition
The court ordered service on the defendants and ordered them to comply with Local Civil Rule 33.2. It did not rule on the merits of Alava’s constitutional claims. The court certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal.
Read the full 7-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.