Mescall v. Bronx Residential Center
- Lorna Schofield
- 1:22-cv-04557
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Mescall v. Bronx Residential Center, Judge Schofield ordered Marshals service of the complaint and denied fee-free status for any appeal.
Sean Fitzgerald Mescall, the named defendants, the Clerk of Court, and the U.S. Marshals Service. The order determines how the defendants will be served and denies fee-free appellate status; it does not resolve the underlying claims.
What happened
In Mescall v. Bronx Residential Center, Sean Fitzgerald Mescall sued federal and private defendants over medical treatment and asked for an order requiring relief. He was proceeding without a lawyer and had permission to proceed without paying filing fees in advance.
The court directed the Clerk to issue summonses and prepare service forms for every defendant. The U.S. Marshals Service must serve the federal defendants through the United States, and must serve the remaining defendants individually. The court extended the service deadline to 90 days after the summonses are issued.
Judge Lorna G. Schofield also instructed Mescall to seek more time if service is not completed within that period and to notify the court of any address change. The court denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith. This order addressed service and did not decide the underlying medical-treatment claims.
The detailed version
- Mescall v. Bronx Residential Center · No. 1:22-cv-04557
- Lorna Schofield
- Sept. 21, 2022
Background
Sean Fitzgerald Mescall brought this action seeking injunctive relief related to his medical treatment. The opinion states that the United States Bureau of Prisons had released him to home confinement and that he was proceeding without a lawyer. The court had previously granted him permission to proceed without prepaying filing fees.
Service of the Lawsuit
Because Mescall was allowed to proceed without prepaying fees, the court explained that he could rely on the court and the U.S. Marshals Service to serve the defendants. The court directed the Clerk of Court to issue summonses and complete service forms for all defendants.
For the federal defendants—the United States Bureau of Prisons, the Bureau of Prisons Medical Director, and the Bureau of Prisons Chief Psychiatrist—the Clerk must mark the forms for service on the United States and provide the Marshals Service with the documents needed to serve the United States. For the other defendants—TriCenter, Inc.; Tina Rendini, M.D.; Bronx Community Reentry Center; and Jessica Ortiz—the Clerk must prepare separate service forms and provide the Marshals Service with the documents needed to serve each defendant.
The court stated that service must occur within 90 days after the summonses are issued. If service is not completed by then, Mescall should ask for an extension. The court also instructed Mescall to notify it in writing if his address changes and warned that the action may be dismissed if he fails to do so.
Disposition
Judge Lorna G. Schofield ordered the Clerk to issue summonses, complete the service forms, and deliver the necessary documents to the U.S. Marshals Service. The court also directed the Clerk to send Mescall an information package containing a copy of the order. The court certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The opinion does not decide the merits of Mescall’s medical-treatment claims.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.