Williams, Jr. v. City of New York
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:19-cv-10526
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Williams, Jr. v. City of New York, Judge McMahon remanded the case because the state-court plaintiff could not remove it to federal court.
Alexander Williams, Jr.'s attempt to move his state-court action to federal court was rejected, and the action was returned to the Supreme Court of the State of New York, New York County. The City of New York and the other defendants remain parties to the state-court action.
What happened
Alexander Williams, Jr., acting without a lawyer, tried to move his New York state-court case to federal court. The case was against the City of New York and other defendants.
The federal court explained that federal law allows a defendant, not a plaintiff, to remove a state-court case. Williams had been the plaintiff in the state case, so his removal was improper.
Judge Colleen McMahon remanded the case to the Supreme Court of the State of New York, New York County, and directed the Clerk of Court to close the federal case.
The detailed version
- Williams, Jr. v. City of New York · No. 1:19-cv-10526
- Colleen McMahon
- Dec. 13, 2019
Background
Alexander Williams, Jr., who was incarcerated and represented himself, filed a notice seeking to move to federal court an action he had originally filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, New York County. The federal court had previously granted a request to proceed without prepaying filing fees. Williams also asked that claims in this case be combined with claims in another action pending in the federal court.
Court’s analysis
The court explained that federal law permits removal of a state-court action only when a defendant files the required notice of removal. Williams was the plaintiff in the state-court action, so he could not remove it to federal court. The court therefore found that removal was improper.
Ruling
Judge Colleen McMahon remanded the action under 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c) to the Supreme Court of the State of New York, New York County. The Clerk of Court was directed to send a copy of the order to that state court and close the federal action under this docket number. The court did not decide the underlying claims.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.