Brown v. New York City
- Laura Swain
- 1:23-cv-05758
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Brown v. New York City, Judge Swain ordered an address update within 30 days and warned that noncompliance would lead to dismissal without prejudice.
Anthony Brown, who must provide the court with a current mailing address within 30 days or face dismissal of the action without prejudice; the order also affects any appeal by denying fee-free status.
What happened
In Brown v. New York City, Anthony Brown had been detained at a New York City jail when he filed the case, but the court could no longer confirm his location. A search found someone with the same name in custody under a different identification number, and it was unclear whether that person was the plaintiff.
The court ordered Brown to provide his current mailing address in writing within 30 days. It warned that failing to do so would result in dismissal of the action without prejudice for failure to prosecute, meaning the case could be filed again.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for an appeal. The court did not dismiss the action in this order.
The detailed version
- Brown v. New York City · No. 1:23-cv-05758
- Laura Swain
- Mar. 13, 2024
Background
Anthony Brown filed this action while detained at the Anna M. Kross Center on Rikers Island under B & C number 3492300547. On March 13, 2024, the New York City Department of Correction’s inmate lookup service showed that he was no longer detained under that number. A search by name found an individual named Anthony Brown detained under B & C number 2412301011, but the court said it was unclear whether that individual was the plaintiff. Brown had not told the court that his mailing address had changed and had not otherwise contacted the court.
Address-update order
The court explained that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) permits a district court to dismiss an action for failure to prosecute after notifying the plaintiff. The court therefore ordered Brown to update his address in writing within 30 days of the order’s date.
The court warned that if Brown did not comply within that period, it would dismiss the action under Rule 41(b), without prejudice, for failure to prosecute. The order itself did not dismiss the action. The Clerk of Court was directed to mail the order to Anthony Brown at the address listed for B & C number 2412301011 at the George R. Vierno Center.
Appeal determination and disposition
Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for the purpose of an appeal. The opinion does not determine whether the Anthony Brown found in the inmate lookup search is the plaintiff who filed the action.
Classification
This is a procedural order because it concerns updating contact information and possible dismissal for failure to prosecute, rather than deciding the underlying claims.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.