Corines v. The Westchester County Dept. of Correction
- Kenneth Karas
- 7:22-cv-05179
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 9
In Corines v. The Westchester County Dept. of Correction, Judge Swain extended the amendment deadline 30 days and denied fee-free appeal status.
Peter J. Corines received 30 additional days to file an amended complaint, but was denied permission to appeal the order without prepaying fees. The underlying defendants were not affected by a merits ruling in this order.
What happened
Peter J. Corines filed a civil-rights complaint against The Westchester County Department of Correction and others concerning events during his incarceration at Westchester County Jail from December 2018 through August 2019. The court had ordered him to correct problems in his complaint.
Before the amendment deadline, Corines asked for 60 more days but gave no reason for the request. The court instead extended the deadline by 30 days from the date of the order and provided an amended-complaint form.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied Corines permission to appeal without paying the required fees. The order did not decide whether Corines’s underlying civil-rights claims were valid.
The detailed version
- Corines v. The Westchester County Dept. of Correction · No. 7:22-cv-05179
- Kenneth Karas
- Nov. 16, 2022
Background
Peter J. Corines filed a civil-rights complaint on June 17, 2022. The complaint concerned claims arising from events between December 2018 and August 2019, when Corines was incarcerated at Westchester County Jail. On September 19, 2022, the court directed Corines to amend his complaint to correct deficiencies.
Shortly before the amendment deadline, Corines asked for a 60-day extension. The court received his request on November 16, 2022. The request did not state a reason for seeking the extension.
Ruling
The court extended the deadline for Corines to file his amended complaint by 30 days from the date of the order. The court attached an amended civil-rights complaint form and information about a legal clinic for people representing themselves.
The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. It therefore denied Corines permission to appeal without prepaying the required fees. The order addressed the amendment deadline and appeal-fee status; it did not decide the merits of the underlying civil-rights claims.
Effect of the Order
The case was given additional time for Corines to submit an amended complaint. The opinion does not state what claims or defendants would remain after any amendment, and it does not state the result of any future amended complaint.
Read the full 9-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.