Perry v. The City of New York
- Ronnie Abrams
- 1:21-cv-04163
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Perry v. City, Judge Abrams dismissed claims against New York State and its Correction Department, added New York City, and ordered service.
Michael Perry’s claims against the State of New York and the New York City Department of Correction were dismissed. The City of New York was added as a defendant, and the case was directed to proceed with service requested.
What happened
In Perry v. The City of New York, Michael Perry, who was representing himself, alleged that correction officials failed to protect him from COVID-19 while he was held at the Vernon C. Bain Center. He brought the action under a federal civil-rights law.
The court dismissed Perry’s claims against the State of New York and the New York City Department of Correction. Because the Department is a city agency that cannot be sued separately, the court treated the complaint as asserting claims against the City of New York, directed the clerk to add the City as a defendant, and requested that the City waive formal service of the lawsuit.
Judge Ronnie Abrams also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without paying fees for an appeal. The order did not decide whether Perry’s COVID-19 allegations were legally valid on their merits.
The detailed version
- Perry v. The City of New York · No. 1:21-cv-04163
- Ronnie Abrams
- Aug. 13, 2021
Background
Michael Perry, a federal detainee incarcerated at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, brought this lawsuit without a lawyer under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. He alleged that correction officials failed to adequately protect him from contracting COVID-19 while he was housed at the Vernon C. Bain Center under the custody of the New York City Department of Correction.
Perry had been permitted to proceed without paying the filing fee at the outset, although the court explained that prisoners remain responsible for the full filing fee. The Prison Litigation Reform Act required the court to screen his complaint and dismiss claims that were frivolous, malicious, failed to state a legally sufficient claim, sought relief from an immune defendant, or fell outside the court’s jurisdiction.
Rulings
The court dismissed Perry’s claims against the State of New York. It relied on the State’s immunity from lawsuits in federal court unless that immunity has been waived or removed by Congress. The opinion states that Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain had previously dismissed Perry’s claims against the State for the same reason.
The court also dismissed the claims against the New York City Department of Correction because, under New York City law, a city agency generally is not a separate entity that can be sued. Because Perry clearly intended to bring claims against New York City, the court interpreted the complaint as asserting those claims against the City and directed the clerk to replace the Department of Correction with the City of New York in the caption under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 21. The court stated that this amendment was without prejudice to defenses the City might assert.
The court requested that the City waive service of the summons and directed the clerk to notify the Department of Correction and the New York City Law Department. It also directed that a copy of the order and an information package be mailed to Perry. Perry was required to notify the court of any address change, and the court stated that it could dismiss the action if he failed to do so.
Disposition and significance
The order dismissed the claims against the State of New York and the Department of Correction, added the City of New York as a defendant, and addressed service of the lawsuit. It did not decide the merits of whether correction officials failed to protect Perry from COVID-19. Judge Ronnie Abrams also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.