Gibson v. St. Elizabeth Medical Center Hospital Executive Director
- Kenneth Karas
- 7:22-cv-04213
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Gibson v. Mount Vernon Montefiore Hospital Executive Director, Judge Karas ordered address assistance for service in Gibson’s medical-care lawsuit.
David Gibson, the named defendants, the New York State Attorney General, and the court clerk. The Attorney General was ordered to provide service-address information for the defendants to Gibson and the court.
What happened
David Gibson v. Mount Vernon Montefiore Hospital Executive Director concerns Gibson’s pro se lawsuit alleging that the defendants were deliberately indifferent to his medical needs. The opinion states that Gibson was incarcerated at Marcy Correctional Facility and sued under a federal civil-rights law.
The court had previously allowed Gibson to proceed without paying the filing fee up front, although the opinion notes that prisoners still owe the full fee. The court’s order focused on helping identify addresses for serving the medical personnel Gibson sought to sue.
Judge Kenneth M. Karas ordered the New York State Attorney General to find the defendants’ service addresses and provide them to Gibson and the court within 60 days. The clerk was also directed to mail the order to Gibson and to send the order and complaint to the Attorney General.
The detailed version
- Gibson v. St. Elizabeth Medical Center Hospital Executive Director · No. 7:22-cv-04213
- Kenneth Karas
- Dec. 1, 2022
Background
David Gibson, who was incarcerated at Marcy Correctional Facility, brought this case without a lawyer under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. He alleged deliberate indifference to his medical needs. The court had previously granted his request to proceed without paying the filing fee up front. The opinion notes that prisoners must still pay the full filing fee even when permitted to proceed this way.
Order
The court cited a decision recognizing that a person representing himself in court is entitled to the court’s assistance in identifying a defendant. The court therefore ordered the Attorney General, described in the opinion as the attorney for and agent of the medical personnel Gibson sought to sue, to determine the addresses where those defendants could be served. The Attorney General was ordered to provide that information to Gibson and the court within 60 days of the order.
Disposition
The court directed the clerk to mail a copy of the order to Gibson. It also directed the clerk to mail the order and complaint to the New York State Attorney General at the address listed in the order. This order addressed identifying service information; the opinion does not state a ruling on whether Gibson’s medical-care allegations were legally or factually correct.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.