Edwards v. Mangion

Background

Clint Edwards, proceeding without a lawyer and without paying the filing fee, filed a complaint alleging that Jeremy Mangion, Nathaniel Rawicki, Adam Shaner, Ashlyn Morse, William J. Walsh, and Christopher Meltsakos violated his constitutional rights.

The court had previously directed the Clerk of Court to prepare summonses and forms for the U.S. Marshals Service so the Marshals could serve the six defendants. Those initial service attempts were unsuccessful because the legal department refused to accept the papers at the medical facility and stated that process should be addressed to the physicians’ addresses.

The court then directed service through the Westchester County Law Department. That attempt also failed because none of the defendants was a Westchester County employee. The court later ordered Westchester County Medical Center to provide addresses where the defendants could be served. The Medical Center’s Department of Risk Management stated that it would accept service in this matter for Mangion, Rawicki, Shaner, and Morse, and it provided addresses for Walsh and Meltsakos.

Ruling

To allow Edwards to try service again through the U.S. Marshals Service, the court instructed the Clerk of Court to prepare a U.S. Marshals Service process form for each defendant, issue a summons listing the defendants, and deliver the required paperwork to the Marshals. The order included new service addresses in an appendix.

The court also certified under the statute governing fee waivers in federal cases that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. It therefore denied Edwards permission to proceed without paying fees for an appeal. The order did not decide whether the defendants violated Edwards’s constitutional rights.