Dash v. Downstate Correctional Facility
- Lewis Liman
- 1:19-cv-05448
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Dash v. Downstate Correctional Facility, Judge Liman ordered Marcus Dash to update his address within 30 days or face dismissal for failure to prosecute.
Marcus Eugene Dash and the continuation of his action against Downstate Correctional Facility and the other named defendants. The order also concerned identifying and serving the John Doe defendant.
What happened
In Dash v. Downstate Correctional Facility, the court had ordered Marcus Eugene Dash to provide information needed to identify a John Doe defendant. Dash did not file the required letter, and the mailed order was returned because it could not be delivered.
The court explained that a case may be dismissed when a plaintiff fails to move it forward, including when the plaintiff does not notify the court of an address change. The court also stated that the case could not proceed until the John Doe defendant was identified and served.
Judge Lewis J. Liman gave Dash 30 days to update his address. The order warned that the court would dismiss the action for failure to prosecute if he did not do so; the opinion does not state that the action was dismissed at that time.
The detailed version
- Dash v. Downstate Correctional Facility · No. 1:19-cv-05448
- Lewis Liman
- Mar. 25, 2021
Background
Marcus Eugene Dash was the plaintiff. The court had previously ordered him to file a letter by December 13, 2020, providing information that would allow the New York State Attorney General to identify the John Doe defendant. The court had advised that service could not occur and the case could not proceed until that defendant was identified.
Dash did not file the required information. The order directing him to do so was mailed to his listed address but was returned to the court.
Legal Standard
Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b), a district court may dismiss an action for failure to prosecute after considering factors that include notice to the plaintiff. The court cited decisions explaining that a plaintiff must notify the court when the plaintiff's address changes and that failing to do so can justify dismissal.
Order
The court notified Dash that he had 30 days from the date of the order to provide the court with his new address. It stated that, if he failed to do so, the court would dismiss the action for failure to prosecute. Judge Lewis J. Liman directed the Clerk of Court to mail the order to Dash at the address then on record. The opinion does not state that the action was dismissed in this order.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.