Adams v. NYC Department of Corrections
- John Cronan
- 1:19-cv-05009
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Adams v. City of New York, Judge Cronan ordered Adams to update his address or face dismissal without prejudice for failing to prosecute.
The order directly affected pro se plaintiff Corwin Adams by requiring him to update his address by March 5, 2021. It also directed the Clerk's Office to send the order and an address-change form to the Brooklyn 3 Parole Office. The case was not dismissed in this order.
What happened
In Adams v. City of New York and Correction Officer Cooper, the court could not deliver two earlier orders to pro se plaintiff Corwin Adams at the correctional facility address in its records.
The court ordered Adams to provide a current address by March 5, 2021. The order said public records indicated that Adams had been paroled and was supervised by the Brooklyn 3 Parole Office, so the court sent that office the order and an address-change form.
Judge John P. Cronan did not dismiss the case in this order. He warned that if Adams failed to update his address, the court would dismiss the action without prejudice for failure to prosecute, without further notice.
The detailed version
- Adams v. NYC Department of Corrections · No. 1:19-cv-05009
- John Cronan
- Feb. 8, 2021
Background
The docket showed that orders dated October 22, 2020, and January 21, 2021, mailed to pro se plaintiff Corwin Adams at Collins Correctional Facility, were returned as not deliverable. The opinion does not describe the underlying claims.
Legal standard
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) allows a district court to dismiss an action for failure to prosecute after notifying the plaintiff. The court cited decisions recognizing that dismissal may be appropriate when a plaintiff effectively disappears by failing to provide a current address.
Order and effect
The court directed Adams to update his address of record by March 5, 2021. It stated that, if he failed to comply, the court would dismiss the action without prejudice for failure to prosecute without further notice. The court did not dismiss the action in this order.
Because public records indicated that Adams had been paroled and was under the supervision of the Brooklyn 3 Parole Office, the court directed the Clerk's Office to send that office a copy of the order and a Notice of Change of Address form. Judge John P. Cronan signed the order on February 5, 2021.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.