Debellis v. Andrew Nash and James Flynn
- Jesse Furman
- 1:19-cv-08730
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Debellis v. City of New York, Judge Furman ordered New York City to provide information needed to serve Defendant Flynn.
Anthony F. Debellis and Defendant James Flynn; the New York City Law Department and the United States Marshals Service were also directed or involved in completing service.
What happened
Anthony F. Debellis v. City of New York is a lawsuit by a person without a lawyer who alleges that New York City police officers violated his constitutional rights. The court had already directed federal marshals to serve Defendant Flynn.
The marshals could not complete service using only Flynn’s last name and part of his badge number. The New York City Law Department had identified Flynn and had reported that he could be served at a New York Police Department location.
Judge Jesse M. Furman ordered the Law Department to provide Flynn’s full name and full badge number to Debellis and the court within 14 days. The order addressed helping complete service; it did not decide whether Debellis’s constitutional claims were valid.
The detailed version
- Debellis v. Andrew Nash and James Flynn · No. 1:19-cv-08730
- Jesse Furman
- Aug. 9, 2022
Background
Anthony F. Debellis, who was proceeding without a lawyer and without paying the filing fee, brought a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. He alleged that officers employed by the New York City Police Department violated his constitutional rights. The opinion does not decide those allegations.
The New York City Law Department told the court that Defendant James Flynn could be served at 1 Police Plaza because the New York Police Department had received a form designating an agent to accept legal papers from Flynn. The court then directed the United States Marshals Service to serve Flynn. The marshals later reported that they could not complete service using the available identifying information: Flynn’s last name and only part of his badge number.
Order
The court relied on Valentin v. Dinkins, which states that a person proceeding without a lawyer is entitled to the district court’s help identifying a defendant. Because the Law Department had already identified Flynn, the court ordered the Law Department to provide enough information for the marshals to serve him, including his full name and full badge number.
The Law Department was ordered to provide that information to Debellis and the court within 14 days of August 9, 2022. The clerk was directed to mail Debellis a copy of the order.
Effect of the Order
This was a procedural order concerning service of process—the formal delivery of the lawsuit to a defendant. It did not determine whether Flynn or any other defendant violated Debellis’s constitutional rights, and it did not resolve the underlying lawsuit.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.