McFadden v. Keyser
- Nelson Roman
- 7:23-cv-00802
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In McFadden v. Keyser, Judge Roman ordered New York’s Attorney General to find addresses for nine defendants so the incarcerated plaintiff could be served.
The order directly affects Robert McFadden, the New York State Attorney General’s Office, and the defendants whose addresses must be obtained so service can be attempted.
What happened
In McFadden v. Keyser, Robert McFadden, who is incarcerated, brought a self-represented lawsuit under a federal civil-rights law and a law protecting religious exercise in prisons. He said events at Sullivan Correctional Facility between 2019 and 2022 involved the defendants.
Several defendants could not be served at Sullivan Correctional Facility, and the New York State Attorney General’s Office provided addresses that repeated the earlier service address or did not resolve the problem. The court ordered the Attorney General’s Office to find addresses for Kathleen Buttles, William Elberth, George Gilmour, Sr., Kenneth Letus, Anthony Rizzuto, Gary Sipple, William Keyser, Mark Puerschner, and Edmund Puerschner, and to provide the information to McFadden and the court within 30 days.
Judge Nelson S. Roman also directed the clerk to add Mark Puerschner to the case caption and said the court would issue another service order after receiving the address information. The order dealt with locating defendants for service and did not decide the underlying claims.
The detailed version
- McFadden v. Keyser · No. 7:23-cv-00802
- Nelson Roman
- Sept. 8, 2023
Background
Robert McFadden, who is incarcerated at Mid-State Correctional Facility, filed this self-represented action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. The claims concern events allegedly occurring at Sullivan Correctional Facility between 2019 and 2022. The court had previously allowed McFadden to proceed without paying filing fees in advance and had directed the U.S. Marshals Service to serve the defendants.
McFadden told the court that several defendants might no longer work at Sullivan Correctional Facility and that he did not have their addresses for service. The court then directed the New York State Attorney General’s Office to obtain addresses for those defendants. The Attorney General’s Office responded on September 1, 2023, but identified the same address for some defendants that had already been used for service at Sullivan Correctional Facility.
Service Problems
Some defendants had already been served: Anthony Carminati, Cory Proscia, John Papavasilou, and Hearing Officer Morrow. The U.S. Marshals Service unsuccessfully attempted service at Sullivan Correctional Facility on Kathleen Buttles, William Elberth, George Gilmour, Sr., Kenneth Letus, Anthony Rizzuto, and Gary Sipple. It also attempted service on William Keyser at that facility. The opinion states that the Attorney General’s Office identified Keyser’s address as the Harriman State Campus of the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, while notes from the Marshals Service indicated that Keyser was believed to be retired.
The court’s order was issued under a prior address-finding order based on Valentin v. Dinkins. In this context, the order required the government’s lawyers to help obtain addresses needed to serve defendants whom the plaintiff could not locate.
Ruling
Judge Nelson S. Roman ordered the New York State Attorney General’s Office to ascertain addresses for Buttles, Elberth, Gilmour, Sr., Letus, Rizzuto, Sipple, Keyser, Mark Puerschner, and Edmund Puerschner. The office was instructed to provide the information to McFadden and the court within 30 days. The court stated that, after receiving the information, it would issue a supplemental order directing service on the defendants.
The clerk was directed to amend the caption to include Mark Puerschner and to mail McFadden a copy of the order. The opinion did not decide the merits of McFadden’s civil-rights or religious-exercise claims.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.