Pitt v. County of Rockland

Background

Malcolm Pitt, who is incarcerated, brought this action without a lawyer and was allowed to proceed without paying the filing fee. The defendants are Rockland County, Sergeant Ob lenis, Sergeant Lowe, Correction Officer Karney, Correction Officer G. Vandunk, Officer Figueroa, and Officer Spencer.

The court had directed the Clerk and the U.S. Marshals Service to help complete service of the lawsuit on Officer Spencer. The court later extended the deadline for serving Spencer to April 3, 2023. No proof of service for Spencer had been filed by the date of this order.

Patrick Fischer, a Principal Assistant County Attorney for the Rockland County Department of Law, had appeared for all defendants, including Spencer. Fischer stated in the notice of appearance and in a later letter that Spencer had not been served.

Order

The court ordered Fischer to file a letter by April 11, 2023, stating whether the Rockland County Department of Law would accept service on behalf of Officer Spencer. The court gave this direction because Fischer had already appeared for Spencer and because it considered the step useful for efficient case management.

The court also ordered that all defendants’ deadlines to respond to the Local Rule 33.2 Demands and to answer, move, or otherwise respond to the first amended complaint would remain stayed—that is, paused—until a further court order.

Finally, the court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free appeal status for that appeal. The order was signed by United States District Judge Vincent L. Briccetti.