Campbell v. Annucci

Background

Byron K. Brown and 29 other incarcerated plaintiffs jointly filed a complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. They alleged that prisoners at Sing Sing Correctional Facility had been denied the ability to attend religious services. The complaint was styled as a class action, but the court noted that the allegations after the description of the April 14, 2023 incident concerned only Brown.

Only Brown requested permission to proceed without prepaying the filing fee and submitted a prisoner authorization. The complaint was signed by 20 of the 30 plaintiffs. The plaintiffs also jointly presented a motion seeking appointment of counsel, but that motion was signed by only 19 plaintiffs, while the supporting memorandum and declaration were signed only by Brown.

Severance analysis

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 20 generally permits multiple plaintiffs to join one case when their claims arise from the same occurrence or series of occurrences and share a legal or factual question. Rule 21 permits a court to separate claims or parties, including when keeping them together would cause prejudice, expense, delay, or administrative problems.

The court concluded that the claims did not arise from one common set of facts. Although the plaintiffs asserted similar claims about denial of religious services, each person would need to provide individual facts about when the denial occurred, how it affected that person, and what steps that person took to challenge it.

The court also found that the practical realities of a joint case involving unrepresented incarcerated plaintiffs supported separation. Each plaintiff would have to personally sign motions and other filings, and none could act as an attorney for the others. Transfers, releases, security restrictions, and limited opportunities to communicate could lead to piecemeal filings, delays, missed deadlines, and difficulty sharing discovery and litigation materials.

Order and effect

The court severed the plaintiffs’ claims from each other under Rule 21. Brown was to proceed as the sole plaintiff in this action. The other 29 plaintiffs—Carlos Arriago, Terrence Turner, David Louime, Dennis Antwon, Robert Campbell, Gregory White, Shantee Brooks, Eligidio Lind, Teddy Williams, Hector L. DeJesus, Apolinar Roque, Ricardo Corbin, Terel Overton, Alex Martinez, Deshard Wright, Clayton Scott, Michael A. Crane, Kevin Bussey, Eric Pek, Vaughn Campbell, Ivan T. Ramos, Daniel Jones, Dwayne Reed, Ivan Seabrooks, James Scott, Alen Haymon, Alfonso A. Howard, Stephen Robinson, and Trevor Price—were each to receive a new case number. The complaint, the motion for appointment of counsel, and the order were to be docketed in each new case.

The new cases were to proceed independently, and each plaintiff was directed to pay the $402 filing fee or submit an application to proceed without prepaying it and a prisoner authorization. The court stated that the cases could later be treated as related or consolidated if appropriate. The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.

The order addressed case management and joinder; it did not decide whether the alleged denial of religious services violated the plaintiffs’ rights.