Genao v. City of New York
- Sarah Cave
- 1:20-cv-06507
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Genao v. City of New York, Judge Cave ordered service and discovery responses in Genao’s constitutional-rights case.
Gabino Genao and the named defendants, who were subject to the service requests and discovery deadline; the order also affected Genao’s ability to appeal without prepaying fees.
What happened
Gabino Genao, who was detained at the Manhattan Detention Center, brought this case without a lawyer under a federal civil-rights law, alleging constitutional violations during his detention at the George R. Vierno Center on Rikers Island.
The court asked the defendants to waive formal delivery of the summons and required them to answer standard discovery requests within 120 days under Local Civil Rule 33.2. The order did not decide whether Genao’s allegations were true.
Judge Sarah L. Cave also denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for any appeal, certifying that an appeal would not be taken in good faith. The case otherwise remained pending under the service and discovery procedures described in the order.
The detailed version
- Genao v. City of New York · No. 1:20-cv-06507
- Sarah Cave
- Oct. 21, 2020
Background
Gabino Genao brought a case without a lawyer under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that the defendants violated his federal constitutional rights while he was detained in the George R. Vierno Center on Rikers Island. The defendants named in the caption were the City of New York, CIB Williams, Security Officer Lynch, C.O. Morales, Capt. Lemon, the GRVC Warden identified as Jane/John Doe, Captain Phillips, and C.O. Kristina Ford. The court had previously allowed Genao to proceed without prepaying the filing fee.
Service of the Lawsuit
The court directed the Clerk of Court to notify the New York City Department of Correction and the New York City Law Department about the order. It requested that the City of New York, CIB Williams, Security Officer Lynch, Correctional Officers Morales and Kristina Ford, Captains Lemon and Phillips, and the GRVC Warden waive service of the summons under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(d). The opinion does not state that any defendant had already waived service.
Discovery
The court ruled that Local Civil Rule 33.2 applies to the action. That rule requires defendants in certain prisoner cases to respond to specified court-ordered discovery requests. The defendants must serve responses to the standard interrogatories and document requests within 120 days of the order, quoting each request verbatim in their responses.
Disposition
This was an order addressing service and discovery, not the merits of Genao’s constitutional allegations. The court directed the Clerk to mail Genao a copy of the order and an information package and to electronically notify the relevant city agencies. The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for purposes of an appeal. Judge Sarah L. Cave did not state that the action was dismissed or enter judgment on the claims.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.