Gonzalez v. New York City Department Of Corrections
- Laura Swain
- 1:24-cv-04089
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Gonzalez v. New York City Department of Corrections, Judge Swain dismissed a duplicate civil-rights complaint without prejudice and directed that no filing fee be charged.
Ricky Gonzalez, the New York City Department of Corrections, the other defendants, and officials responsible for Gonzalez’s prison trust account.
What happened
In Gonzalez v. New York City Department of Corrections, Ricky Gonzalez, who is incarcerated and represented himself, sued correctional staff under a federal civil-rights law. He alleged that staff on Rikers Island violated his rights during his detention from 2021 to 2022.
The court said Gonzalez had already filed a pending action against the same defendants. Because this new complaint differed only in its exhibits, the court dismissed it as duplicative, without prejudice to Gonzalez’s pending case under docket number 24-CV-3859. The court also noted that some exhibits contained sensitive information and restricted electronic access to them.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed the Clerk of Court not to charge the filing fee for this action and barred deductions from Gonzalez’s prison trust account for this lawsuit. Judge Swain also denied permission to appeal without prepaying the appeal costs, certified that any appeal would not be taken in good faith, and directed the Clerk to enter a civil judgment.
The detailed version
- Gonzalez v. New York City Department Of Corrections · No. 1:24-cv-04089
- Laura Swain
- July 10, 2024
Background
Ricky Gonzalez, who is incarcerated at Auburn Correctional Facility and proceeded without a lawyer, brought this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a federal law that allows claims against state or local government actors for violating federal rights. He alleged that correctional staff on Rikers Island violated his rights during his detention from 2021 to 2022.
Court’s Reasoning
The court found that Gonzalez had previously filed a duplicate complaint against the same defendants in a pending related proceeding under docket number 24-CV-3859 (LTS). The court stated that the new action differed from the pending action only in its exhibits. It found that the exhibits did not appear relevant to the underlying claims and that no useful purpose would be served by continuing this duplicate lawsuit.
Disposition
The court dismissed the complaint as duplicative, without prejudice to Gonzalez’s pending case under docket number 24-CV-3859 (LTS). The court directed the Clerk of Court not to charge the $350 filing fee for this action, and directed that the official holding Gonzalez not deduct or encumber funds from his prison trust account for this lawsuit.
The court noted that the exhibits contained sensitive information requiring redaction under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.1 and restricted electronic access to them. It certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying the appeal costs. Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed the Clerk to enter a civil judgment.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.