Smith v. Miller
- Laura Swain
- 1:23-cv-05811
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Smith v. Miller, Judge Swain kept the original complaint in place, opened the later complaint as a new case, and denied appeal-related fee relief.
Osmondo Dwayne Smith, Superintendent Miller, Jane Doe 1, Jane Doe 2, and the Clerk of Court. The original complaint remains in this case, while the later complaint was opened as a separate civil action.
What happened
In Smith v. Miller, Osmondo Dwayne Smith filed a complaint about delays in receiving his mail while incarcerated. The original complaint named Superintendent Miller and two unidentified mail-room employees, and the court had granted Smith permission to proceed without paying filing fees.
Smith later submitted another complaint naming additional defendants, including New York State, but told the court that he intended it to start a separate case. The court therefore ordered the later complaint removed from this case and opened as a new civil action.
Judge Swain ordered that the original complaint remain the operative complaint here, changed the docket to list Superintendent Miller, Jane Doe 1, and Jane Doe 2 as defendants, and denied permission to proceed without fees on any appeal from the order.
The detailed version
- Smith v. Miller · No. 1:23-cv-05811
- Laura Swain
- Aug. 28, 2023
Background
Osmondo Dwayne Smith brought this action without a lawyer. The original complaint named Green Haven Superintendent Mark Miller and two unidentified mail-room employees. Its allegations focused largely on delays Smith experienced in receiving his mail. The court had granted Smith permission to proceed without paying the filing fee.
Smith later submitted another complaint naming Superintendent Miller, the State of New York, and other Green Haven officials. Because that submission did not include a new fee-waiver application or prisoner authorization and again named Superintendent Miller, the Clerk of Court docketed it as an amended complaint in this case.
Court’s action
Smith then notified the court that he intended the later complaint to begin a new civil action rather than amend this case. The court ordered the Clerk of Court to remove the later complaint from this action and open it as a complaint in a new civil action. The court also directed the Clerk to docket a copy of the order and Smith’s letters in the new action.
The court directed the Clerk to amend the docket in this case to list Superintendent Miller, Jane Doe 1, and Jane Doe 2 as defendants. The original complaint remains the operative complaint in this action.
The court certified that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without paying fees for purposes of an appeal. The order was signed by Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.