Holman, Larry v. Loyda, Loria et al

Filing 22

ORDER that the U.S. Marshal shall make reasonable efforts to locatedefendants Cada and Dunnett and, if his efforts are successful, to serve them with a copy of the summons and complaint in this case. Signed by Magistrate Judge Stephen L. Crocker on 5/6/2011. (jef),(ps)

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

LARRY HOLMON,
Plaintiff,

ORDER

v.
11-cv-234-slc
DR. LORIA LOYDA, JAN KRUEGER,
DAVID BARNEY, PAT MCCULLOUGH,
MARIO CANZIANI, CAROLYN CADA
and DONNA DUNNETT,
Defendants.

In an order entered on April 21, 2011, I directed plaintiff to advise whether he wanted
to continue his lawsuit against defendants Cada and Dunnett or whether he would prefer to file
an amended complaint substituting Ann Semrow in place of defendants Cada and Dunnett.
Plaintiff has responded that he would prefer to continue his lawsuit against defendants Cada and
Dunnett.
In the April 21 order, I told plaintiff that Jane Doe would be substituted for defendant
Dunnett because the Attorney General's Office indicated that the name Donna Dunnett could
not be identified for service. However due to plaintiff’s adamant response that defendant
Dunnett is the correct entity he wishes to proceed against, I will direct the United States
Marshal to attempt to serve both defendants Cada and Dunnett.
In completing the Marshals Service forms for these defendants, the clerk has not provided
a forwarding addresses because this information is unknown. It will be up to the marshal to
make a reasonable effort to locate defendants Cada and Dunnett by contacting their former
employer or conducting an Internet search of public records for the defendants’ current addresses
or both. See Sellers v. United States, 902 F.2d 598, 602 (7th Cir. 1990) (once defendant is
identified, marshal to make reasonable effort to obtain current address). Reasonable efforts do

not require the marshal to be a private investigator for civil litigants or to use software available
only to law enforcement officers to discover addresses for defendants whose whereabouts are not
discoverable through public records.
Also, for plaintiff's information, in Sellers, the court of appeals recognized the security
concerns that arise when inmates have access to the personal addresses of former or current
prison employees. Sellers, 902 F.2d at 602. For this reason prison employees often take steps
to insure that their personal addresses are not available in public records accessible through the
Internet. If the marshal is successful in obtaining the defendants’ personal addresses, he is to
maintain that information in confidence rather than reveal it on the marshals service forms,
because the forms are filed in the court's public file and mailed to the plaintiff after service is
effected.
Finally, pursuant to an informal service agreement between the Wisconsin Department
of Justice and this court, the Department has agreed to accept electronic service of documents
on behalf of the defendants it represents. This means that for the remainder of this lawsuit,
plaintiff does not have to send a paper copy of each document he files with the court to the
Department or defendants Loyda, Barney, Krueger, McCullough and Canziani. The Department
will access the document through the court’s electronic filing system.
However, because the Department is not representing defendants Cada and Dunnett,
plaintiff will still be required to send counsel for defendants Cada and Dunnett paper copies of
each document he files with the court. If, at some later time, the Department agrees to represent
these two defendants, plaintiff will not have to send those defendants a copy of each document
he files..

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Discovery requests or responses are an exception to the electronic service rule. Usually,
those documents should be sent directly to counsel for the opposing party and do not have to
be sent to the court. Discovery procedures will be explained more fully at the preliminary
pretrial conference.

ORDER
IT IS ORDERED that the U.S. Marshal shall make reasonable efforts to locate
defendants Cada and Dunnett and, if his efforts are successful, to serve them with a copy of the
summons and complaint in this case. If the Marshal is unsuccessful in locating defendants Cada
and Dunnett despite making reasonable efforts to locate these defendants, he may file an
unexecuted return on which he describes the efforts he made.

Entered this 6th day of May, 2011.
BY THE COURT:
/s/
STEPHEN L. CROCKER
Magistrate Judge

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