Levinson v. Federal Bureau of Prisons Metropolitan Corrections Center-NY Warden

Background

Nikolay Levinson filed an amended complaint against the United States of America, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the Metropolitan Corrections Center–New York, Mandeep Singh, Yoon Kang, and Correctional Officer Torres. He was representing himself and had paid the fees required to begin the case.

The court had previously directed Levinson to serve the defendants. His attempt to use a private process server failed because the Metropolitan Corrections Center did not permit non-law-enforcement personnel to serve papers on its premises. The court therefore directed the U.S. Marshals Service to make service. Government counsel later informed the court that the Marshals Service had not completed service because of a data-entry error by a former employee.

Ruling

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(m) generally requires service of the summons and complaint within 90 days after the complaint is filed. The court extended the time for service to 90 days after the date of this order because Levinson had made good-faith efforts to serve the defendants and clerical errors had caused the delay. The court stated that Levinson should request another extension if service was not completed within that period.

The court instructed the Clerk of Court to prepare a U.S. Marshals Service Process Receipt and Return form for each defendant, issue summonses, and provide the Marshals Service with the papers needed to serve the defendants. The Clerk was also directed to mail the order to Levinson and to mail the order and amended complaint to the Civil Division of the United States Attorney’s Office.

Effect of the Order

This was an order concerning service of process—the formal delivery of a lawsuit and related papers to defendants. It did not decide the underlying claims in the amended complaint.