Hixson v. State of Tennessee et al

Filing 16

ORDER TO ISSUE THIRD-PARTY SUBPOENA. Signed by Judge James D. Todd on 4/16/15. (Todd, James)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE

TIMOTHY SHANE HIXSON,
Plaintiff,
VS.
STATE OF TENNESSEE,
et al.,
Defendants.

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No. 14-1087-JDT-egb

ORDER TO ISSUE THIRD-PARTY SUBPOENA

Plaintiff filed this action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for the alleged violation of his
constitutional rights. On April 15, 2015, the summons as to Defendant Dr. John Hochberg
was returned as “no longer at this facility” and with the notation “he was a contract employee
with the company Corizon” [DE# 15].
When an indigent plaintiff has taken reasonable steps to identify and locate a
defendant, the court is responsible for ensuring that service is properly effected:
[Twenty-eight] U.S.C. § 1915(c) provides that the officers of the court “shall
issue and serve all process” when a plaintiff is proceeding in forma pauperis.
Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(c)(2) dovetails with § 1915(c) by providing that the court
must appoint a United States Marshal to serve plaintiff’s process “when the
plaintiff is authorized to proceed in forma pauperis pursuant to 28 U.S.C.
§ 1915.” Together, Rule 4(c)(2) and 28 U.S.C. § 1915(c) stand for the
proposition that when a plaintiff is proceeding in forma pauperis the court is
obligated to issue plaintiff’s process to a United States Marshal who must in
turn effectuate service upon the defendants, thereby relieving a plaintiff of the
burden to serve process once reasonable steps have been taken to identify for
the court the defendants named in the complaint.

Byrd v. Stone, 94 F.3d 217, 219 (6th Cir. 1996). In the present case, Plaintiff has sufficiently
identified Defendant.
The court hereby DIRECTS the Clerk to prepare a third-party subpoena for Corizon
Health, Inc., Corizon Health Corporate Office, 103 Powell Court, Brentwood, TN 37027 and
deliver it to the Marshal for service, along with a copy of this order. The subpoena shall
direct Corizon to supply the last known home address and telephone number of Dr. John
Hochberg, a Corizon contract employee who worked at Northwest Correctional Complex
in Tiptonville, Tennessee, on or around July 2013.
This information should be provided on or before June 1, 2015. Due to security and
privacy concerns, information provided in compliance with the subpoena shall not be made
available to Plaintiff but shall be filed by the Clerk ex parte and under seal. A summons shall
then be re-issued and provided to the Marshal for service.
IT IS SO ORDERED.

s/ James D. Todd
JAMES D. TODD
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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