Cummings v. John Doe OMH Provider
- Katherine Failla
- 1:23-cv-11184
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Cummings v. John Doe OMH Provider, Judge Failla ordered Doe identification and an amended complaint, while denying appeal-related fee-waiver status.
Najay Cummings, the unidentified John and Jane Doe defendants, and the New York City Law Department, which must help identify the defendants and provide service information.
What happened
In Cummings v. John Doe OMH Provider, Najay Cummings sued unidentified mental-health providers under a civil-rights law concerning medication prescribed at Rikers Island beginning in May 2019. Cummings is incarcerated and is representing himself.
The court ordered the New York City Law Department to identify the John and Jane Doe defendants and provide service addresses to Cummings and the court within 60 days. Cummings must file an amended complaint naming them within 30 days after receiving that information. The amended complaint will replace the original complaint, and the court will then screen it.
Judge Katherine Polk Failla directed the Clerk to mail the order and complaint to the Law Department and an information package to Cummings. The court also ruled that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without paying fees for an appeal.
The detailed version
- Cummings v. John Doe OMH Provider · No. 1:23-cv-11184
- Katherine Failla
- Mar. 14, 2024
Background
Najay Cummings, who is incarcerated at Mid-State Correctional Facility and is representing himself, brought this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a federal civil-rights law. He alleges that events involving medication prescribed by unidentified mental-health providers occurred at Rikers Island beginning in May 2019. The complaint names unidentified John Doe and Jane Doe defendants.
The court had previously allowed Cummings to proceed without prepaying the filing fee. Under the rule recognized in Valentin v. Dinkins, a person representing himself may receive the court's help identifying an unnamed defendant when the complaint provides enough information to do so.
Court's Orders
The court found that the complaint appeared to provide enough information for the New York City Department of Correction to identify the Doe defendants allegedly involved in prescribing Cummings medication. It ordered the New York City Law Department, acting as the Department of Correction's attorney and agent, to determine each Doe defendant's identity and the address where that person could be served. The Law Department must provide that information to Cummings and the court within 60 days of the order.
Within 30 days after receiving the information, Cummings must file an amended complaint naming the defendants. The amended complaint will replace, rather than supplement, the original complaint. After the amended complaint is filed, the court will screen it and, if necessary, direct the Clerk and the United States Marshals Service to complete service-related steps.
The Clerk was directed to mail the order and complaint to the New York City Law Department and to mail the order and an information package to Cummings. The court certified that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for purposes of an appeal.
Disposition and Significance
This order does not decide whether Cummings's civil-rights claims are valid. It requires assistance in identifying the unnamed defendants and sets deadlines for a replacement complaint. The court also denied appeal-related fee-waiver status.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.