Casiano v. Smalls

Background

Anthony Casiano, who is incarcerated and proceeding without a lawyer, filed a lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. He alleges that defendants violated his constitutional rights while he was detained by the New York City Department of Correction. The court had previously allowed him to proceed without prepaying the filing fee. Casiano filed a Third Amended Complaint, and the court issued an order directing that the defendants be served.

The New York City Department of Correction returned unexecuted waivers of service for Warden Kisa Smalls and Correctional Officer K. Shepard, stating that it no longer employed them. The opinion relies on a rule requiring a district court to assist a self-represented litigant in identifying a defendant.

Order

The court ordered the New York City Law Department, as attorney for and agent of the New York City Department of Correction, to provide Casiano and the court with Smalls’s and Shepard’s last known residential addresses. The Law Department was required to provide that information within 30 days of the order’s date.

The Clerk of Court was directed to mail the order to Casiano at his address of record and to mail the order and complaint to the New York City Law Department.

Disposition

Judge Katherine Polk Failla certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. The court therefore denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The opinion does not decide the merits of Casiano’s constitutional claims.