Bronx Freedom Fund v. City of New York

Background

The Office of the Attorney General of New York requested a stay of the April 12, 2022 initial case-management conference. The request concerned five State Defendants: Lawrence Marks, Deborah Kaplan, Alvin Yearwood, Justin Barry, and William Kalish. The Attorney General’s Office was still analyzing whether it would represent those defendants under Section 17 of the New York Public Officers Law and had until April 1, 2022, to complete that process and respond to the complaint.

The request also relied on a pending motion to dismiss by the City Defendants. The letter stated that Judge Cronan had granted the City Defendants permission to file that motion and that briefing was scheduled to conclude on May 16, 2022. The Attorney General’s Office argued that the motion raised potentially dispositive arguments, including that adequate remedies after an alleged deprivation could bar relief under Section 1983, a federal civil-rights statute. The City Defendants joined the request, and Bronx Freedom Fund consented.

Requested Discovery Stay

The Attorney General’s Office separately argued that discovery could be extensive because the proposed class involved people whose cash bail was allegedly taken by the New York City Department of Finance without a proper judicial forfeiture order. It estimated that the class included thousands of depositors and suretors. The office requested a stay of discovery at least until 30 days after April 1, 2022, and argued for a stay until the City Defendants’ motion to dismiss was resolved. The order excerpt does not state a ruling on the discovery-stay request.

Ruling

Judge Barbara Moses granted the application to the extent that the initial case-management conference was adjourned to May 9, 2022, at 10:00 a.m., in Courtroom 20A of the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse. The excerpt does not show a ruling on the City Defendants’ motion to dismiss or on the requested stay of discovery.