Barnar v. New York City Department of Corrections

Background

Maurice Barnar, who was incarcerated at the North Infirmary Command on Rikers Island, filed this action without a lawyer under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a law allowing claims for constitutional violations by government officials. The court had already allowed him to proceed without prepaying the filing fee, a status commonly called proceeding in forma pauperis.

Barnar alleged that in early March 2020, the North Infirmary Command respiratory therapist confiscated his C-PAP machine and provided no alternative treatment. The opinion does not identify the therapist by name. The defendants named in the caption were the New York City Department of Correction, Kisa Smalls, identified as warden of the North Infirmary Command, the City of New York, and the New York State Division of Parole.

Screening standard

Under the Prison Litigation Reform Act, the court screened the complaint because Barnar was a prisoner seeking relief from governmental defendants. The court was required to dismiss claims that were frivolous, malicious, failed to state a legally sufficient claim, sought money from an immune defendant, or fell outside the court’s subject-matter jurisdiction. Although courts read filings by people without lawyers generously, the complaint still had to provide enough facts to make a claim plausible under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8.

Rulings

The court dismissed Barnar’s claims against the New York City Department of Correction because, under New York City law, a city agency generally is not a separate entity that can be sued.

The court also dismissed Barnar’s claims against the New York State Division of Parole. It explained that the constitutional protection known as Eleventh Amendment immunity generally prevents states, state agents, and state instrumentalities from being sued in federal court. The opinion stated that New York had not waived that protection and that Congress had not removed it for claims under Section 1983.

The court directed the Clerk to add “Jane/John Doe, NIC Respiratory Therapist” as a defendant under Rule 21, which allows parties to be added or removed from a case. The court stated that this addition was without prejudice to any defenses the therapist might later assert.

Because Barnar provided enough information to identify the therapist, the court directed the New York City Law Department to determine the therapist’s identity and service address and provide that information to Barnar and the court within 60 days. Within 30 days after receiving the information, Barnar must file an amended complaint naming the therapist. The amended complaint will replace, rather than supplement, the original complaint, and the court will screen it after filing.

The court directed the Clerk to notify the New York City Department of Correction and the New York City Law Department of the order and requested that the City of New York and Warden Kisa Smalls waive service of summons. It also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied Barnar permission to appeal without prepaying fees.

Classification

This is a procedural order because the court screened the complaint and dismissed claims based on a defendant’s inability to be sued and constitutional immunity, without deciding whether the alleged confiscation of the C-PAP machine violated Barnar’s constitutional rights. United States District Judge Katherine Polk Failla issued the order.