WIDI v. MCNEIL et al

Filing 221

ORDER dismissing without prejudice 220 Motion for Court Intervention Regarding Mail. By JUDGE JOHN A. WOODCOCK, JR. (MFS)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF MAINE
DAVID J. WIDI, JR.,
Plaintiff,
v.
PAUL MCNEIL, et al.,
Defendants.

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2:12-cv-00188-JAW

ORDER ON PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR COURT INTERVENTION
REGARDING MAIL
On March 10, 2014, David J. Widi, Jr. filed a motion for court intervention,
stating that he has declined to accept general mail because of prison monitoring and
is able to receive only “legal/special mail.”

Pl.’s Mot. for Court Intervention

Regarding Mail at 1 (ECF No. 220). He represented:
The staff at FCI Berlin have said that the mail being sent to me does
not meet the qualifications of legal mail as the defendants do not label
it properly. They also state that the Court is not properly labeling its
mailings and that I have only been provided the most recent orders as
a one-time courtesy.
Id. Mr. Widi attached a copy of an envelope with the Clerk’s Office of the United
States District Court in Bangor, Maine as the return address. Id. Attach. 1. The
envelope contained the following stamp:
SPECIAL MAIL. Open only in the presence of the inmate. LEGAL
DOCUMENT ENCLOSED.
Also affixed to the envelope was the following stamp:

THIS CORRESPONDENCE DOES NOT MEET BOP CRITERIA FOR
SPECIAL MAIL HANDLING!
After receiving Mr. Widi’s motion, the Court asked the United States Marshal’s
Service to check with FCI Berlin to determine why the letter was not received as
special correspondence. FCI Berlin responded that the envelope should have been
treated as special correspondence.
The Court makes the following observations. First, defense counsel should
follow the Clerk’s Office’s example and send correspondence and documents to Mr.
Widi clearly marking the envelope in the fashion indicated above. Second, care
should be taken to clearly display the special mail stamp. Although the Clerk’s
Office in this case stamped the envelope as special mail, the stamp was somewhat
faint and not completely legible and its status may have led to FCI Berlin’s rejection
of the envelope as legal mail. The Court urges the parties to be extra careful in
stamping the envelopes containing legal correspondence or documents sent to Mr.
Widi.
In view of the response of FCI Berlin, the Court DISMISSES David J. Widi,
Jr.’s motion without prejudice. If the problem persists, Mr. Widi is free to bring
another motion.
The Court DISMISSES without prejudice David J. Widi, Jr.’s Motion for
Court Intervention Regarding Mail (ECF No. 220).

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SO ORDERED.
/s/ John A. Woodcock, Jr.
JOHN A. WOODCOCK, JR,
CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Dated this 11th day of March, 2014

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