Jallow v. The State of New York

Background

Yaya Jallow, appearing without a lawyer, sued the State of New York and the City of New York under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a federal law that allows claims for violations of constitutional rights by state actors. He alleged that the defendants violated his rights while he lived at a shelter operated by the Bowery Residents’ Committee and at other shelters in New York City’s shelter system.

Earlier Related Case

The court said Jallow had already filed a substantially similar complaint in a prior related proceeding, docket number 20-CV-6511. That earlier case involved alleged rights violations at the Bowery Residents’ Committee during the same period covered by this complaint. The court found that the current complaint raised the same claims as the earlier case.

Ruling

The court dismissed the complaint as duplicative. The dismissal was without prejudice to Jallow’s pending case under docket number 20-CV-6511, meaning this order did not bar that earlier case from continuing. The court directed the Clerk of Court to terminate all motions.

The court also certified that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied Jallow permission to appeal without paying court fees. The order did not decide the merits of Jallow’s underlying civil-rights claims.