Parker v. New York State Division of Parole
- Laura Swain
- 1:23-cv-10267
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Parker v. New York State Division of Parole, Judge Swain ordered Parker to update his address within 30 days or face dismissal without prejudice.
Gilbert Parker and the pending case against the New York State Division of Parole and the other named defendants; the case could be dismissed if Parker did not update his address within 30 days.
What happened
Gilbert Parker sued the New York State Division of Parole and other defendants under a federal civil-rights law. The court had previously allowed him to proceed without paying the filing fee, but a mailed court order was returned as undeliverable.
The court told Parker to provide his new address within 30 days of the order. It warned that failing to do so would result in dismissal of the case without prejudice for failure to prosecute, meaning he could refile the action.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain did not dismiss the case in this order. She directed the Clerk to mail the order to Parker’s last known address and denied fee-free status for any appeal, certifying that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Parker v. New York State Division of Parole · No. 1:23-cv-10267
- Laura Swain
- Feb. 1, 2024
Background
Gilbert Parker, who is representing himself, brought an action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a federal law allowing claims for violations of constitutional rights by state actors. He filed the case in the Eastern District of New York on May 3, 2023, and that court transferred it to the Southern District of New York on November 9, 2023.
On November 28, 2023, the court granted Parker permission to proceed without paying the filing fee. The Clerk’s Office mailed him the order granting that permission, but the United States Postal Service reported on December 21, 2023, that the mailing could not be delivered.
Court’s Analysis
The court explained that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) permits dismissal for failure to prosecute when a plaintiff does not keep the court informed of a current address and the court cannot contact the plaintiff. The court also stated that a plaintiff must notify the court when the plaintiff’s address changes.
Order
The court ordered Parker to update his address within 30 days of February 1, 2024. It stated that failure to comply would result in dismissal of the action under Rule 41(b) for failure to prosecute, without prejudice to Parker’s refiling the case. Thus, this order warned of a possible future dismissal; it did not itself dismiss the action.
The Clerk was directed to mail a copy of the order to Parker’s last known address. The court also provided a form allowing Parker to consent to receiving court documents electronically. Finally, the court certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for purposes of an appeal.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.