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3:26-cv-02570 · U.S. District Court, Middle District of Pennsylvania
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Research status: Source-backed docket record (Justia, read 2026-09-15): caption, both parties, nature of suit, cause of action and all four opening docket entries. The complaint itself is not obtainable free and has not been read; CourtListener/RECAP holds no documents for this case
Research notes: A civil-rights action under 28 U.S.C. 1983 naming two defendants, the City of Carbondale and Douglas Calzola, filed in September 2026. Found 2026-09-09 by a nationwide CourtListener party sweep. Assigned to Judge Phillip J. Caraballo. Update 2026-09-15: the record was wrong in three ways and is corrected here. The caption is “Tufano v. City of Carbondale et al”, not “Tufano v. City of Carbondale”; there is a second defendant, Douglas Calzola, who now appears on the docket’s summons entry alongside the city; and the action is a civil-rights suit, not another RICO one — nature of suit Civil Rights: Other, cause of action 28 U.S.C. 1983. The docket also shows the $405 fee paid under receipt number 333121431, so no 28 U.S.C. 1915(e)(2) screening track applies, and four entries all dated 2026-09-08: the complaint with civil cover sheet, a pro se letter, the summons issued as to both defendants, and the fee receipt. Nothing is docketed after the filing date. Read 2026-09-15 from the Justia docket record (https://dockets.justia.com/docket/pennsylvania/pamdce/3:2026cv02570/153821), whose snapshot is dated 2026-09-08. The earlier identification composite can now be retired. This record previously rested on five circumstantial signals because RECAP held only a docket shell with no party block, so the plaintiff’s identity was not confirmed from the federal record itself. The docket names Frank Tufano as plaintiff, which settles it directly. Nothing is recorded here about who Douglas Calzola is or what role the complaint alleges: the complaint is not obtainable free and has not been read. Update 2026-09-23: Docket metadata confirms the assigned judge as Magistrate Judge Phillip J. Caraballo. No other change; the docket is unmoved since the last pass.
Sequence does not by itself prove motive or causation.
Tufano filed C106, Tufano v. City of Carbondale et al, in the same district, six days after defence counsel appeared in C083 and 41 days after C083 was filed. It names the city itself and Douglas Calzola; C083 names the city’s police department. The fee was paid and summons issued as to both defendants.
Source — dockets.justia.com ↗Frank Tufano Litigation Research. "Tufano v. City of Carbondale et al (3:26-cv-02570)". Research last verified September 23, 2026. https://suedbyfranktufano.com/cases/3-26-cv-02570-tufano-v-city-of-carbondale-et-al/