Barzee v. Abdulla

Background

Saoi Barzee, who was representing himself, brought this action against Sing Sing C.O. A.M. Abdulla and other defendants. The defendants’ motion to dismiss the complaint was pending. Barzee then filed a motion seeking discovery responses and an order terminating the defendants’ employment and preventing them from working as corrections officers.

Barzee also submitted a proposed order requiring the defendants to provide discovery, directing the New York Attorney General to criminally prosecute them under New York law, and prohibiting the defendants’ counsel from working on the case. In later filings, Barzee requested a pre-motion conference about discovery disputes, asked the court to require changes to the defendants’ motion to dismiss, sought default judgment, asked the court to convert the motion to dismiss into a summary-judgment motion, and requested relief under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(d).

Rulings

The court denied Barzee’s motion to compel discovery because it did not comply with the court’s Individual Practices concerning discovery motions and Local Civil Rule 37.2. The court declined to sign the proposed order to show cause because it was an improper discovery motion and, insofar as it sought an injunction, did not comply with the court’s requirements for requests for injunctive relief.

The court also denied Barzee’s requests to require the defendants to redact or strike arguments about the requested discovery materials and to enter default judgment. It denied the requests for a pre-motion conference as premature because the defendants’ motion to dismiss remained pending.

To the extent Barzee sought an order requiring criminal prosecution, terminating the defendants’ employment, preventing them from working as corrections officers, or prohibiting their counsel from working on the case, the court denied those requests. The court stated that Barzee cited no legal authority for them and that they were improper under the court’s practices, the Southern District of New York’s Local Rules, and the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

The court declined to convert the pending motion to dismiss into a summary-judgment motion. It also denied Barzee’s Rule 56(d) request to delay a ruling on the motion to dismiss, explaining that Rule 56 does not apply to a motion to dismiss brought under Rule 12(b). The court stated that the motion to dismiss would be decided in the ordinary course. The Clerk was directed to mail Barzee a copy of the order and terminate the motion at docket entry 106.