Alexander v. The City of New York
- Ronnie Abrams
- 1:25-cv-00284
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Alexander v. The City of New York, Judge Abrams ordered New York City’s Corporation Counsel to identify three correction officers.
Zion Alexander; the City of New York; NYC Health + Hospitals; the unidentified Correction Officers DeJesus, Jackson, and Thompson; and the City’s Corporation Counsel.
What happened
Alexander, who is representing himself, sued the City of New York, NYC Health + Hospitals, and unidentified individuals under a federal civil-rights law. He alleges that the defendants violated his rights while he was held on Rikers Island.
The court found that the complaint provided enough information to identify three correction officers connected to Alexander’s suicide-watch assignments in December 2024. It ordered the City’s Corporation Counsel to provide their names, ranks, badge numbers, and service addresses within 60 days.
Alexander must file an amended complaint naming those individuals within 30 days after receiving the information. Judge Ronnie Abrams stated that the amended complaint will replace the original complaint and will then be screened by the court.
The detailed version
- Alexander v. The City of New York · No. 1:25-cv-00284
- Ronnie Abrams
- May 29, 2025
Background
Zion Alexander brought a self-represented action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a federal law allowing claims for violations of constitutional or other federal rights by people acting under state law. He sued the City of New York, NYC Health + Hospitals, and several unidentified individual defendants. The opinion says Alexander was being held at the Otis Bantum Correctional Center on Rikers Island. It does not describe the specific rights violations alleged in the complaint.
The court had previously allowed Alexander to proceed without paying the filing fee. Under a Second Circuit procedure requiring court assistance in identifying unknown defendants in a self-represented case, the court determined that the complaint gave enough information for the City to identify Correction Officers DeJesus, Jackson, and Thompson. The information concerned their assignments or presence during Alexander’s suicide watch at the George R. Vierno Center on specified dates in December 2024.
Order
The court ordered the Corporation Counsel, identified in the opinion as the attorney for and agent of the City of New York, to determine those defendants’ names, ranks, badge numbers, and addresses where they could be served. The Corporation Counsel must provide that information to Alexander and the court within 60 days after May 29, 2025.
Alexander must file an amended complaint within 30 days after receiving the information. The amended complaint must name the newly identified individuals and provide their service addresses. The court stated that the amended complaint will replace, rather than supplement, the original complaint. After it is filed, the court will screen it and, if necessary, issue an order directing service on the newly identified defendants.
Disposition
Judge Ronnie Abrams issued an identification and amendment order. The opinion does not decide the merits of Alexander’s civil-rights allegations or state whether any defendant violated his rights.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.