Kedra v. City of Philadelphia
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
454 F. Supp. 652 (1978)
Over about eighteen months, Philadelphia police officers, the police commissioner, the city, and others (defendants) allegedly committed a series of unconstitutional acts against members of the Kedra family (plaintiffs), including baseless arrests, a roughly seventeen-hour interrogation, violent beatings, illegal home searches, unlawful detentions, and harassment. Delores Kedra and her children and son-in-law sued under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the Pennsylvania Constitution, and Kedra also sued on behalf of her three minor children. The defendants moved to dismiss, arguing Kedra lacked standing to sue for her minor children and that the defendants were improperly joined given the long time span and variety of incidents.
Whether, for purposes of joinder under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a plaintiff's claims against different defendants can arise out of the same series of transactions or occurrences even though the events took place over a year and a half.