Ramos v. United States Bureau of Prison

Background

In an earlier order in this case, the court dismissed Ramos’s false-arrest and malicious-prosecution claims, as well as claims that he was medicated against his will at Manhattan Psychiatric Center. The court gave him 60 days to file an amended complaint limited to excessive-force claims involving the Manhattan Detention Complex, Rikers Island, or Green Haven Correctional Facility, and to a forced-medication claim involving Mid-Hudson Forensic Psychiatric Center, Bellevue Hospital, or Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Center.

Ramos then filed letters on September 9, September 17, and September 24, 2021. The court said the letters were unclear and did not address the earlier order, but construed them as requests for additional time. The court also discussed Ramos’s earlier related proceeding, No. 18-CV-0890 (S.D.N.Y.), in which claims against the United States Bureau of Prisons, New York State, and the “City Correctional Systems Parole and Health Department” had been dismissed on various grounds. The earlier court had also dismissed without prejudice a claim involving forced medication at Manhattan Psychiatric Center after Ramos did not amend his complaint within the allowed time.

Court’s ruling

The court said it was doubtful that Ramos could correct the deficiencies in his complaint but, as a precaution, granted him an additional 30 days to comply with the July 26, 2021 order. The amended complaint had to replace, rather than supplement, the original complaint, so Ramos had to repeat any facts or claims from the original complaint that he wanted the court to consider.

The court instructed Ramos to provide a short and plain statement explaining who allegedly violated his federally protected rights and how, when and where the violations occurred, the injuries he suffered, and the relief he wanted. It also instructed him to provide defendants’ names, titles, and available addresses. He had to submit the document to the court’s Pro Se Intake Unit, label it “Amended Complaint,” and include docket number 21-CV-1050 (LTS). No summons would issue at that time.

The court warned that, if Ramos did not comply within the 30-day period and could not show a sufficient reason for the delay, the complaint would be dismissed for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free appeal status. Judge Laura Taylor Swain signed the order.