Booker v. Flint
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-04170
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Booker v. Flint, Judge Swain dismissed Booker’s duplicate complaint without prejudice to his pending case.
DiQuan Booker’s duplicate lawsuit was dismissed, while the named defendants—Sergeant Flint, Officer Murphy, and Officer Hubbs—were not subject to a decision on the underlying claims in this order.
What happened
In Booker v. Flint, DiQuan Booker brought a self-represented civil-rights lawsuit under federal law against Sergeant Flint, Officer Murphy, and Officer Hubbs, alleging that they violated his rights at Washington Correctional Facility.
The court said Booker had already filed a substantially similar complaint against the same defendants involving the same claims. That earlier related proceeding had been transferred to the Northern District of New York because the claims arose there.
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain dismissed this complaint as duplicative, without prejudice to Booker’s pending case in the Northern District of New York. The court also directed that Booker not be charged the filing fee and denied fee-free status for any appeal.
The detailed version
- Booker v. Flint · No. 1:22-cv-04170
- Laura Swain
- June 8, 2022
Background
DiQuan Booker, who was incarcerated at Washington Correctional Facility, filed this self-represented action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. He alleged that Sergeant Flint, Officer Murphy, and Officer Hubbs violated his rights at Washington.
Earlier Related Proceeding
The court stated that Booker had previously submitted a substantially similar complaint against the same defendants asserting the same claims. In that earlier related proceeding, No. 22-CV-4024 (S.D.N.Y.), the court directed the Clerk of Court to transfer the case to the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York because the claims arose in that district.
Ruling
The court dismissed the complaint as duplicative and stated that the dismissal was without prejudice to Booker’s pending case in the Northern District of New York. The court also directed the Clerk of Court not to charge Booker the $350 filing fee for this action, and directed that funds not be deducted or encumbered from his prison trust account for this lawsuit.
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and therefore denied fee-free status for purposes of an appeal. The order did not decide the underlying civil-rights claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.