Robinson v. Turner
| Decision Date | 06 February 1995 |
| Docket Number | No. TH90-91-C-T/H.,TH90-91-C-T/H. |
| Citation | 886 F. Supp. 1451 |
| Parties | Nathan ROBINSON, Plaintiff, v. Mr. TURNER, Associate Warden, Gene Finley, Unit Manager, Larry Davis, Case Manager, Mr. Ritmer, Lieutenant, Vic Manor, Staff Representative, Mr. Welch, Lieutenant, Gary Huss, Unit Manager, John Doe, Captain, Mr. Lash, Physicians Assistant, Mr. Reardon, Disciplinary Hearing Officer, Mr. Broomerkel, Case Manager, Mr. Woods, Guard, Mr. Kraftan, Guard, Mr. Atteberry, Guard, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Indiana |
John R. Davis, Madison, WI, for plaintiff.
Thomas E. Kieper, Asst. U.S. Atty., Office of the U.S. Atty., Indianapolis, IN, for defendant.
ENTRY DISCUSSING DEFENDANTS' MOTIONS TO DISMISS AND DIRECTING SUPPLEMENTAL BRIEFING
This matter comes before the court on remand from the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. The question on remand is whether Plaintiff, Nathan Robinson, effectuated service of process upon Defendants pursuant to the Indiana Rules of Trial Procedure. After much consideration of the briefs and exhibits submitted by the parties, the court has decided that supplemental briefing and exhibits are necessary on certain issues. Those issues relate to the apparent or implied authority of the penitentiary mail room personnel to receive personal mail and the day-to-day procedures of the penitentiary mail room.
This case poses the dilemma often faced by a prison inmate who wishes to sue his guards. In an extreme case, the practical necessities of service of process may be an insurmountable obstacle precluding a prisoner from obtaining his day in court. The problem is that after a prisoner initiates a lawsuit, he may be required to serve a copy of the summons and the complaint upon the guards pursuant to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.1 It is unlikely that he will be able to direct service to the guards' residences because the guards would be foolish to give a prisoner their home addresses. Unlike the frequently observed exchange between drivers at auto collisions, guards and inmates don't trade addresses and personal data after altercations. Often the prisoner will not be able to effectuate service of process on the person individually, nor would such an outcome be desirable. In fact, after many prison incidents, the involved inmates are transferred to other institutions. Consequently, in many cases, hand delivery of process would be impossible. Moreover, the prison atmosphere could be substantially disrupted by inmates personally serving summonses on guards on prison grounds. Therefore, the only alternative left for the inmate is to direct certified mail service on the guards at their place of employment. However, the guards may assert, as they do in this case, that they cannot receive certified mail at the prison. If the law condones such a position, it would effectively insulate prison guards from suits by prisoners and leave prisoners without access to a court of law.
The facts in this case are as follows. Plaintiff was a prisoner in the United States Penitentiary at Terre Haute. He alleges the guards refused to protect him from an assault by another inmate and failed to provide adequate medical care following the assault. Subsequently, he was transferred to a different federal institution. After the transfer, Plaintiff filed the instant suit in federal court against the thirteen guards who purportedly failed to give him adequate protection and/or medical care.
Plaintiff attempted service of process by certified mail at Defendants' place of employment,2 the Terre Haute Penitentiary. The receipts (green cards) for the certified mail were signed by a Penitentiary mail room clerk on ten of the mailings. These receipts were returned and filed with this court's clerk. Two were not signed at all. None of the receipts were signed by the individual Defendants, nor did any of the Defendants return the enclosed Notice and Acknowledgment Form. Nonetheless, from the Defendants' responses to interrogatories, it is evident that all Defendants eventually received notice of this lawsuit.
The court initially granted Defendants' Motion to Dismiss for improper service of process under federal law.3 Plaintiff appealed and stated that he actually attempted service under Indiana law not federal law. Thus, the Seventh Circuit remanded the case to determine if service was accomplished under Indiana law. Specifically, the Seventh Circuit stated that the court should address the following two issues:
First, whether prison mail room employees are authorized to accept service for another prison employee; and second, if these employees are authorized to accept service, whether, in the context of the prison environment, receipt by another can be said to be adequate notice pursuant to Indiana Trial Rule 4.15(F) and the Due Process clause of the 14th Amendment.
Robinson v. Turner, 15 F.3d 82, 86 (7th Cir.1994). The court will address each of these issues in turn.
Defendants filed a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(5) and 12(b)(2) for insufficiency of service of process and lack of personal jurisdiction. Rule 12(b)(5) provides for dismissal because of failure of service of process. Rule 12(b)(2) provides dismissal for lack of personal jurisdiction. These motions are interrelated and often used interchangeably in this context. See CHARLES A. WRIGHT & ARTHUR R. MILLER, FEDERAL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE Civil 2d § 1351 & § 1353 (West 1990). Some courts do not make a distinction between the two motions because where there has been insufficient service of process, the court does not have personal jurisdiction over the individual. Rabiolo v. Weinstein, 357 F.2d 167, 168 (7th Cir.1966), cert. denied, 391 U.S. 923, 88 S.Ct. 1816, 20 L.Ed.2d 659 (1968); Young v. Internal Revenue Service, 596 F.Supp. 141 (N.D.Ind.1984); Overhauser v. Fowler, 549 N.E.2d 71, 73 (Ind.Ct.App. 1990); Smith v. Tisdal, 484 N.E.2d 42 (Ind. Ct.App.1985).
In order to withstand a motion to dismiss under either of these Rules, the party on behalf of whom service is attempted bears the burden of proving its validity. Saez Rivera v. Nissan Mfg. Co., 788 F.2d 819, 821 (1st Cir.1986). Motions to dismiss are to be granted sparingly so parties are not denied the chance to have their substantive claims heard. Huelsman v. Civic Center Corp., 873 F.2d 1171 (8th Cir.1989).
Plaintiff attempted service pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 4(c)(2)(C)(i) and Indiana Rule 4.1(A)(1). Rule 4.1(A)(1) states:
IND.TR.R. 4.1(A)(1) (1993). Plaintiff sent a copy of the summons and complaint by certified mail to Defendants' place of employment. He received receipts signed by the mail room clerk for most of the Defendants. Therefore, Plaintiff assumed he had properly served those Defendants. As for the Defendants for which no receipt was received,4 the burden was on the Plaintiff to re-serve them. Overhauser, 549 N.E.2d at 73. Because Plaintiff did not attempt to re-serve those Defendants, service of process was never completed and they are dismissed from the lawsuit.
On remand, the Seventh Circuit asks the court to address whether a mail room employee is authorized to receive service of process in the form of certified mail for other prison employees and, if so, whether that method satisfies due process requirements that the process be reasonably calculated to inform the individual.5
On the face of the Indiana Trial Rule, it appears that the remaining Defendants were properly served because they were served by certified mail at their place of employment. However, the Indiana Supreme Court recognized an additional requirement for effective service of process if the process is received by anyone other than the defendant. LaPalme v. Romero, 621 N.E.2d 1102, 1106 (Ind.1993). Pursuant to Rule 4.16(B), a person accepting service for another must have the authority to do so in order to be required to ensure delivery.6Id. Therefore, whether Plaintiff adequately served Defendants depends on whether mail room employees have the authority to accept registered service of process for Defendants.7
Defendants argue that mail room employees are not agents of Defendants because Defendants never made them their agents. Furthermore, Defendants argue that LaPalme, 621 N.E.2d 1102, already decided that service on an employer is insufficient service. Finally, Defendants point to the Bureau of Prisons Mail Management Manual that states that employees should not receive personal mail at work to show that service was inadequate.
Plaintiff responds that LaPalme, 621 N.E.2d 1102, is not dispositive because that decision dealt with copy service as opposed to mail service.8 In addition, Plaintiff states that the mail room employees were authorized to sign for certified mail and that the Bureau policy has no practical relevance because mail room employees cannot differentiate between personal certified mail and official certified mail.
First, although LaPalme is relevant to determining whether service was adequate, it is certainly not dispositive. The plaintiff in LaPalme attempted to serve the defendant by copy service at work. Copy service is serving the individual by personally delivering a copy of the summons and complaint, as opposed to sending the summons and complaint through registered or certified mail. Copy service at the individual's place of employment is not expressly permitted under the Indiana Trial Rules. On the other hand, mail...
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