McGee v. Doyle
- Philip Halpern
- 7:24-cv-04772
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 6
In McGee v. Doyle, Judge Halpern ordered service and dismissed McGee’s release claims without prejudice for failure to exhaust state remedies.
Rondell McGee’s claims seeking release from confinement were dismissed without prejudice until he exhausts available state-court remedies. His other claims were directed to be served on Police Officers Terrenc Doyle, Shaban Khan or Khan Shaban, Nee Lauren or Lauren Nee, Mark Mendelson, and “Doe” Spano.
What happened
In McGee v. Doyle, Rondell McGee, who says he is a pretrial detainee held at the Westchester County Jail, sued five police officers for damages and other relief. He also sought release from confinement.
The court treated McGee’s claims other than his release request as claims under a federal civil-rights law and related state law. It directed the Clerk and the United States Marshals Service to serve the complaint and summonses on the defendants.
Judge Halpern dismissed McGee’s claims seeking release under the federal detention-review law without prejudice because McGee did not allege that he had first used all available state-court remedies. The court did not issue a certificate allowing an appeal and denied permission to proceed without paying fees for an appeal.
The detailed version
- McGee v. Doyle · No. 7:24-cv-04772
- Philip Halpern
- Aug. 26, 2024
Background
Rondell McGee, who is held at the Westchester County Jail and alleges that he is a pretrial detainee, filed this action without a lawyer. He sued Police Officers Terrenc Doyle, Shaban Khan or Khan Shaban, Nee Lauren or Lauren Nee, Mark Mendelson, and “Doe” Spano. The opinion states that the defendants appear to be members of the Yonkers Police Department.
McGee seeks damages and injunctive relief, including termination of the defendants’ employment or their retraining. He also seeks release from confinement. The court had previously granted McGee permission to proceed without prepaying the filing fee.
Service of the Civil Claims
The court treated McGee’s claims other than his requests for release as claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a federal law that allows certain civil-rights claims, and also understood the complaint to assert related state-law claims. Because McGee was allowed to proceed without prepaying the filing fee, the court directed the Clerk of Court and the United States Marshals Service to serve the summonses and complaint on the five defendants.
The Clerk was directed to issue summonses, complete service forms with the defendants’ service addresses, and provide the necessary documents to the Marshals Service. The court stated that if service is not completed within 90 days after the summonses are issued, McGee should request an extension. It also directed McGee to notify the court in writing of any address change and stated that the action may be dismissed if he fails to do so.
Release Claims Under Section 2241
The court treated McGee’s requests for release as claims for pretrial detention review under 28 U.S.C. § 2241. The court explained that a state pretrial detainee generally must first exhaust available state-court remedies, including seeking relief in state court and, if necessary, appealing to New York’s highest court.
The opinion states that McGee alleged nothing showing that he had exhausted those remedies before filing this action. The court therefore dismissed his Section 2241 claims without prejudice to filing a Section 2241 petition after exhausting all available state-court remedies.
Disposition
The court directed service on the defendants and dismissed McGee’s Section 2241 claims without prejudice. It also stated that a certificate of appealability would not issue and certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith; permission to proceed without prepaying fees was therefore denied for purposes of an appeal. Judge Philip M. Halpern signed the order.
Read the full 6-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.