Bush v. City of New York

Background

Oma Bush, proceeding without a lawyer, brought the action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a federal law that allows claims against state or local actors for violating federal rights. The complaint alleged that the City of New York violated Bush’s First Amendment religious rights while he was a pretrial detainee housed at the Manhattan Detention Complex. Bush alleged that he was prevented from attending Islamic services during Ramadan between April 12 and May 24, 2019, including on at least seven occasions. He said the services were called but not announced or recorded in the facility logbook, preventing him from practicing and studying his faith.

Bush filed a grievance about the incidents on May 6, 2019, and signed the complaint on May 28, 2019. The case followed an earlier round in which the court dismissed claims against the New York City Department of Correction, the New York City Board of Correction, the Manhattan Detention Complex, and Sherma Dunbar, and substituted the City as the defendant. Bush later alleged that he had also been placed in a segregated environment housing gang members, which limited his religious practice and led to the denial of certain foods. He sought money damages and injunctive relief.

Motion to dismiss and exhaustion requirement

The City moved to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), which tests whether a complaint states a legally sufficient claim. The court applied the Prison Litigation Reform Act, which requires prisoners to complete available administrative remedies before bringing a federal action about prison conditions. The New York City Department of Correction’s Inmate Grievance and Request Program required four steps: informal resolution, a formal hearing appeal, an appeal to the facility’s commanding officer, and an appeal to the Central Office Review Committee.

The court held that Bush had not exhausted those remedies before filing. Because only 22 calendar days, and 15 business days, passed between his initial grievance and the complaint, the court concluded that he could not have completed the four-step process in time. The court noted that the complaint did not show when Bush gave it to prison officials for mailing, but used May 28, 2019, as the filing date under the prisoner-mailbox rule.

The court did not consider additional allegations in Bush’s opposition affidavit, including his assertion that he requested a grievance hearing on May 20, 2019, because those facts were outside the complaint and its permitted materials. The court stated that, if Bush filed an amended complaint, he should provide evidence showing exhaustion of all available administrative remedies. The court also found that injunctive relief against individual facility officials was moot because Bush represented that he was no longer housed at the Manhattan Detention Complex, and those individual defendants had already been dismissed.

Disposition

The court granted the City’s motion to dismiss. The order directed Bush to file an amended complaint by April 30, 2021, directed the clerk to terminate the motion, and directed that a copy of the order be mailed to Bush. The opinion did not state that the motion was granted with or without prejudice.