Thomas v. Town of Goshen Municipality

Background

DeShawn Thomas, who was detained at the Orange County Correctional Facility, brought a case without a lawyer under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. He alleged that the defendants failed to protect him from a serious risk of harm. The court had previously allowed him to proceed without prepaying the filing fee.

Screening of the Town-of-Goshen Claims

Because Thomas was proceeding without a lawyer and without prepaying the filing fee, the court screened the complaint under the statutes governing prisoner cases. The court must dismiss claims that are frivolous, malicious, fail to state a legally sufficient claim, seek money from an immune defendant, or fall outside the court’s subject-matter jurisdiction.

Thomas named the Town of Goshen, but the court found that he alleged no facts showing that the Town or its employees were involved in the alleged violation. The events described in the complaint occurred at the Orange County Correctional Facility. Although the facility is located in the Town of Goshen, the court stated that it is a county facility and that its employees are employed by the County of Orange.

The court therefore dismissed Thomas’s claims against the Town of Goshen for failure to state a claim. Because the complaint showed a clear intention to assert claims against the County of Orange, the court construed the complaint as asserting claims against that County and directed the clerk to replace the Town with the County in the case caption. The court stated that this amendment did not prevent the County from asserting defenses.

Service and Discovery

The court ordered the clerk to issue summonses, complete U.S. Marshals Service process forms, and provide the necessary papers to the Marshals Service so that it could serve the County of Orange and Correction Officer Bloise. Because Thomas was proceeding without prepaying the filing fee, the court extended the service deadline to 90 days after the summonses were issued. The court also required Thomas to notify the court in writing of any address change.

The court ruled that Local Civil Rule 33.2 applies. Under that rule, the defendants must respond to specified discovery requests in prisoner cases within 120 days after service of the complaint and must quote each request verbatim in their responses.

Disposition

Judge Cathy Seibel dismissed Thomas’s claims against the Town of Goshen, added the County of Orange as a defendant, and ordered steps for service on the County and Correction Officer Bloise. The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for purposes of an appeal. The order did not decide whether Thomas’s failure-to-protect claims against the remaining defendants would succeed.