Lewis v. The People of the State of New York
- Vincent Briccetti
- 7:20-cv-09777
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Lewis v. The People, Judge Briccetti denied Robert Lewis’s habeas petition because he had not exhausted state-court remedies for COVID-19 confinement claims.
Robert Lewis, a state prisoner seeking release because of COVID-19 conditions at Sing Sing Correctional Facility.
What happened
In Lewis v. The People of the State of New York, Robert Lewis, who was representing himself, sought immediate release from state prison because of COVID-19 conditions and his health conditions. The court treated his state-law petition as a federal petition challenging his imprisonment.
The court said Lewis had not first presented his federal claims to New York courts. It found that state remedies were available and that no exception made those remedies ineffective, so it did not decide whether the prison conditions violated his constitutional rights.
The order’s conclusion says the petition was denied, and the court closed the case. Elsewhere, the opinion says the petition must be dismissed without prejudice so Lewis could pursue state remedies. Judge Vincent L. Briccetti also said no certificate allowing an appeal would issue and certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Lewis v. The People of the State of New York · No. 7:20-cv-09777
- Vincent Briccetti
- Feb. 5, 2021
Background
Robert Lewis, proceeding without a lawyer and without paying the filing fee, filed a petition seeking immediate release from imprisonment because of conditions at Sing Sing Correctional Facility during the COVID-19 pandemic. He alleged that those conditions violated his constitutional rights and relied on health conditions as a reason for release. Lewis had pleaded guilty in state court to second-degree murder and was serving an 18-years-to-life sentence.
Lewis’s filing invoked New York’s state habeas procedure and appeared to be intended for New York State Supreme Court. Because he sought immediate release from state custody, the federal court construed the filing as a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, the federal law allowing state prisoners to seek habeas relief.
Reasoning
Section 2254 generally requires a state prisoner to exhaust available state-court remedies before seeking federal relief. Exhaustion means presenting the federal claims to the state courts so they have an opportunity to address and correct the alleged violation. The court found that Lewis did not allege, and the record did not show, that he had exhausted his state remedies.
The court also found that no exception to exhaustion applied. It stated that New York had a process for addressing Lewis’s claims and that the circumstances did not make that process ineffective. The court noted that other prisoners had pursued similar requests for release based on pandemic conditions in New York State Supreme Court. Because the court resolved the matter on exhaustion grounds, it did not decide whether the conditions at Sing Sing violated Lewis’s constitutional rights.
Ruling
The opinion states that the petition must be dismissed without prejudice so Lewis could pursue appropriate remedies in state court. However, the formal conclusion says: “The petition for a writ of habeas corpus is DENIED,” and directs the Clerk to enter judgment and close the case. The court also stated that a certificate of appealability would not issue because Lewis had not made a substantial showing that a constitutional right was denied, and it certified that any appeal would not be taken in good faith. Judge Vincent L. Briccetti signed the order.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.