Nunez Polanco v. Capra
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-04925
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Nunez Polanco v. Capra, Judge Swain dismissed the duplicate lawsuit without prejudice.
The dismissal affected Claudio Amauris Nunez Polanco’s duplicate lawsuit. His separate case under docket number 22-CV-4475 remained pending, and the court ordered that he not be charged the filing fee for this action.
What happened
In Nunez Polanco v. Capra, Claudio Amauris Nunez Polanco, who was incarcerated and representing himself, sued prison-related defendants under a federal civil-rights law.
The court found that the lawsuit substantially duplicated an earlier case, docket number 22-CV-4475, involving the same defendants and claims. It dismissed this lawsuit without prejudice to that pending case, ordered that no filing fee be charged, and denied the plaintiff permission to appeal without paying court fees.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain issued the order on June 13, 2022. She noted that Physician’s Assistant Martin was named in this complaint but not in the earlier case, and said the plaintiff could seek to change the parties or claims in the pending case through an amended complaint if permitted by the applicable rule.
The detailed version
- Nunez Polanco v. Capra · No. 1:22-cv-04925
- Laura Swain
- June 13, 2022
Background
Claudio Amauris Nunez Polanco, who was incarcerated and proceeding without a lawyer, brought this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The opinion says that the claims arose at Sing Sing Correctional Facility and names Michael Capra and other defendants. The complaint was substantially similar to an earlier complaint that remained pending under docket number 22-CV-4475. The two cases named the same listed defendants and raised the same claims, although this complaint also named Physician’s Assistant Martin.
Ruling
The court dismissed the complaint without prejudice because it duplicated the pending case. The dismissal was without prejudice to the plaintiff’s case under docket number 22-CV-4475, which remained pending. The court directed the Clerk of Court not to charge the plaintiff the $350 filing fee for this action and directed the official holding the plaintiff in custody not to deduct or reserve funds from the plaintiff’s prison trust account for this lawsuit.
The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying the required court fees. Judge Laura Taylor Swain signed the order.
Additional point
The court stated that if the plaintiff wished to change the parties or claims in the pending case, he could file an amended complaint to the extent allowed by Rule 15 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.