Holmberg v. Boening

Full title: MICHAEL HOLMBERG, Plaintiff, v. RONALD VAN BOENING, DANIEL FITZPATRICK…

Court: United States District Court, W.D. Washington, at Tacoma

Date published: Mar 17, 2011

No. C10-5367 BHS/KLS (W.D. Wash. Mar. 17, 2011)

Opinion

No. C10-5367 BHS/KLS.

March 17, 2011

ORDER GRANTING EXTENSION AND DIRECTING SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION UNDER SEAL

KAREN STROMBOM, Magistrate Judge

On February 14, 2011, Plaintiff was granted leave to amend his complaint. ECF No. 16. Plaintiff was directed to provide the court with service addresses for the newly named Defendants, Lt. Mark Keller and Deba Lavagnino, on or before March 11, 2011. Id. Plaintiff now moves the court for an extension of time to comply with the deadline to provide service addresses. ECF No. 19. Defendants are not opposed to the requested extension. ECF No. 20.

Plaintiff advises the court that he does not have access to a telephone directory or the internet to obtain the needed service addresses. However, he has sought the assistance of the Stafford Creek Corrections Center Contract Attorney and Defendants' counsel. Neither have provided assistance. In his letter to Defendants' counsel dated February 20, 2011, Plaintiff requests whether the Attorney General's Office will accept service on behalf of the defendants or provide current employment or residential addresses so that Plaintiff can comply with the court's Order. ECF No. 19, p. 12.

The foregoing suggests that Plaintiff is diligently seeking further information to complete service on the non-served defendants. If Defendants are in possession of the last known business or last known home addresses of the non-served defendants, a sensible solution is that Defendants submit such information to the court under seal so that the Clerk may attempt to effect service. This solution alleviates two concerns concerning involving prisoner litigation: (1) the security risks inherent in providing prisoners with addresses of people formerly employed by the state; and (2) the reality of prisoners getting the "runaround" when they are attempting to access information through the government. Sellers v. United States, 902 F.2d 598, 603 (7^th Cir. 1990).

Accordingly, it is ORDERED:

(1) Plaintiff's motion for an extension of time (ECF No. 19) is GRANTED. Plaintiff shall provide service information for Mark Keller and Debra Lavagnino by April 15, 2011.

(2) If Defendants are in possession of the last known business or last known home addresses of Mark Keller and Debra Lavagnino, they shall submit such addresses to the Court under seal on or before April 15, 2011.