Owens v. Orange County Jail

Background

DeSean J. Owens, who was detained at the Orange County Jail and was proceeding without a lawyer, filed this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. He alleged that Imam Malik Kedar violated his rights under the First Amendment’s protection for religious exercise. Owens also brought claims against E. Colby, identified as a grievance coordinator, based on grievance proceedings. He named the Orange County Jail in connection with the claims against Kedar and Colby.

Owens had been permitted to proceed without paying the filing fee in advance. The court explained that this permission did not eliminate his obligation to pay the full filing fee over time. Because Owens was proceeding without a lawyer, the court read his allegations liberally, but it still required the complaint to state a legally viable claim.

Rulings

The court dismissed the claims against the Orange County Jail because, under New York law, a municipal department or agency does not have a separate legal identity and cannot be sued. Because Owens clearly intended to assert claims against Orange County, the court ordered the Clerk of Court to replace the Orange County Jail with Orange County as a defendant under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 21. The court stated that this amendment was without prejudice to defenses Orange County might assert.

The court directed the Clerk to issue summonses for Orange County and Imam Kedar and to provide the necessary documents to the U.S. Marshals Service for service. The service period was extended to 90 days after the summonses were issued because Owens could not serve the defendants before the court reviewed the complaint and ordered service.

The court treated Owens’s allegations against E. Colby as a procedural due-process claim under the Fourteenth Amendment. It ruled that a prisoner does not have a constitutional right to a particular prison grievance procedure or to have a grievance investigated. Accordingly, the court dismissed the claims against Colby for failure to state a claim on which relief could be granted.

Result and Effect

The claims against the Orange County Jail were dismissed, Orange County was added as a defendant, and service was ordered on Orange County and Imam Kedar. The claims against E. Colby were dismissed. The order did not decide the merits of Owens’s claims against Orange County or Imam Kedar. The court certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal.