Cox v. Morley
- Nelson Roman
- 7:20-cv-07381
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 13
In Cox v. Morley, Judge Román denied two requests, transferred some claims, dismissed claims against three unnamed defendants, and kept Sullivan claims in this court.
Sampson L. Cox’s claims were divided between the Southern and Northern Districts of New York. The Great Meadow, Clinton, and Albany claims were transferred; the Sullivan claims remained in the Southern District; and claims against three unnamed Montefiore Mt. Vernon defendants were dismissed, subject to possible amendment.
What happened
In Cox v. Morley, Sampson L. Cox, who was incarcerated, alleged that medical staff and officials at several correctional facilities failed to provide adequate treatment for his symptoms. He sought medical treatment outside Great Meadow Correctional Facility and money damages.
The court divided the claims because they involved different facilities, events, defendants, witnesses, and evidence. It transferred the claims connected to Great Meadow, Clinton, and Department of Corrections officials in Albany to the Northern District of New York, while claims connected to Sullivan remained in the Southern District. The court also dismissed the claims against three unnamed medical personnel at Montefiore Mt. Vernon, allowed Cox to amend if he had additional supporting facts, and ordered service on the Sullivan defendants.
Judge Nelson S. Román denied Cox’s request for immediate medical treatment and his request to join all defendants in one case. The court also denied permission to proceed without paying fees for any appeal, while certifying that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Cox v. Morley · No. 7:20-cv-07381
- Nelson Roman
- Oct. 6, 2020
Background
Sampson L. Cox brought a civil-rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 while incarcerated at Great Meadow Correctional Facility. He alleged that medical personnel at Sullivan Correctional Facility, Great Meadow, Clinton Correctional Facility, the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision’s Albany offices, and Montefiore Mt. Vernon failed to provide adequate medical care for symptoms associated with a sexually transmitted disease. He requested money damages and immediate treatment outside Great Meadow.
Cox had permission to proceed without paying the filing fee upfront. The court explained that prisoners granted this permission still owe the full filing fee and that the Prison Litigation Reform Act requires screening of prisoner complaints. Screening allows the court to dismiss claims that are frivolous, malicious, fail to state a legally sufficient claim, or seek money from an immune defendant.
Severance and Transfer
The court denied Cox’s motion to join all defendants under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 20(a)(2). That rule permits multiple defendants in one action only when the claims arise from the same transaction or series of transactions and share a common legal or factual question. The court found that the claims involving Sullivan were not sufficiently connected to the claims involving Great Meadow, Clinton, and the Albany officials. Although the claims concerned the same general medical condition, they involved different events, defendants, facilities, witnesses, and evidence over at least a two-year period.
The court therefore severed the claims arising at Great Meadow and Clinton and the claims against the Albany Department of Corrections officials. It transferred the severed action under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) to the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York. The court found that the relevant events occurred in counties within that district, Cox was incarcerated at Great Meadow, and transfer served the interest of justice. The claims against the Sullivan defendants remained in the Southern District of New York.
Request for Immediate Medical Treatment
Cox sought a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction requiring the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision to provide medical treatment outside Great Meadow. A preliminary injunction is an extraordinary court order issued before final judgment. The court found that Cox had not shown that he would suffer irreparable harm without that relief. It denied the order to show cause and the motion for preliminary injunctive relief, without prejudice to Cox renewing the application in the Northern District of New York.
Claims Against Unnamed Defendants
Cox named three unnamed defendants at Montefiore Mt. Vernon, where he underwent an MRI. The court held that the complaint did not allege facts showing that any of them was personally involved in violating his constitutional rights. It dismissed the claims against those defendants for failure to state a claim on which relief may be granted. The court stated that Cox could assert those claims in an amended complaint if he had additional supporting facts.
Service and Disposition
Because Cox had permission to proceed without paying fees upfront, the court directed the Clerk of Court and the United States Marshals Service to prepare and serve the Sullivan defendants: Dr. Mikhail Gusman, Dr. Yelena Korobkova, Nurse Assistant Constance Lescano, Nurse Kyle Henry, Nurse Judith Ann Camara, Nurse Abigail Yerkes, Nurse Administrator Diane Hinton, Nurse Carol Chiocci, and Superintendent William Keyser.
The court denied the order to show cause and the motion for permissive joinder, severed and transferred the specified claims, dismissed the claims against the three Montefiore Mt. Vernon unnamed defendants, and kept the Sullivan claims in the Southern District. It also certified that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without paying fees for purposes of an appeal.
Read the full 13-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.