Torres v. City of New York
- John Cronan
- 1:23-cv-01674
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 6
In Torres v. City of New York, Judge Cronan ordered service, discovery responses, and identification of unnamed defendants without deciding the claims’ merits.
Ricky Torres, the 23 identified defendants, the unnamed correction officers and assistant commissioner described in the complaint, the City’s Corporation Counsel, and the court clerk are affected by the order’s service, discovery, identification, and filing directives.
What happened
Torres v. City of New York concerns Ricky Torres’s lawsuit, filed without a lawyer, against New York City and Department of Correction officials. The court understood the complaint to raise claims under a federal civil-rights law, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, and state law. Torres had already been allowed to proceed without paying filing fees upfront.
The court asked 23 identified defendants to waive formal service of the lawsuit and required them to answer specified prisoner-case discovery requests within 120 days. It also directed the City’s Corporation Counsel to identify the unnamed correction officers and assistant commissioner described in the complaint, provide service information within 60 days, and assist with identifying badge numbers when necessary. Torres must file an amended complaint naming any newly identified defendants within 30 days after receiving that information.
Judge John P. Cronan also directed the clerk to send the relevant documents to the City and Torres and provided information about a legal clinic for people without lawyers. The order began the service and case-development process; it did not decide whether Torres’s claims were legally valid.
The detailed version
- Torres v. City of New York · No. 1:23-cv-01674
- John Cronan
- Apr. 3, 2023
Background
Ricky Torres, who was being held at the George R. Vierno Center on Rikers Island, brought this action without a lawyer under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The court understood his complaint to assert claims under Section 1983, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, and state law. In an earlier order dated February 28, 2023, the court allowed Torres to proceed without paying filing fees upfront. The opinion notes that prisoners must still pay the full filing fee over time under the applicable statute.
Order Regarding Identified Defendants
The court directed the clerk to notify the New York City Department of Correction and the New York City Law Department of the order. It asked the following 23 identified defendants to waive service of summonses: the City of New York; Commissioner Louis Molina; Mayor Eric Adams; GRVC Warden Cort; Correction Captain Rivera; Correction Officer McNiel or McNeil; Deputy Warden Miller; Correction Captain Mathis; Assistant Commissioner Thomas Griffin; Warden Jean Renee; Deputy Wardens Tiffany Morales, Lisa Barnaby, Jonell Shivraj, and Joanne Matos; Correction Officer Preston Ritter; CIB Captain Fluka; CIB Assistant Deputy Warden Gwinnie; and Correction Officers Farrinas, Orellana, Vu, Pinkney, Troche, and Marden. The order included assignment, facility, and badge-number information for some defendants.
Discovery
The court ruled that Local Civil Rule 33.2 applies. That rule requires defendants in certain prisoner cases to respond to specified court-ordered discovery requests. The identified defendants must serve responses to the standard interrogatories and document requests within 120 days of the order and must quote each request verbatim in their responses.
Unidentified Defendants
The court stated that a person proceeding without a lawyer is entitled to the district court’s assistance in identifying unnamed defendants. It found that Torres had provided enough information to permit identification of several groups: Special Response Team officers identified by numbers and shield or badge information who interacted with him at the West Facility or GRVC between January 3 and January 22, 2023; other Special Response Team officers identified by numbers who interacted with him during that period; and an assistant commissioner who was present with Correction Intelligence Bureau officers during a January 3, 2023 search of the “Sprung Six” unit at the West Facility.
The court ordered the Corporation Counsel of the City of New York to determine the identities and, when necessary, badge numbers of those unnamed defendants and the addresses where they could be served. The Corporation Counsel must provide that information to the court and Torres within 60 days. Within 30 days after receiving it, Torres must file an amended complaint naming the newly identified defendants. The amended complaint will replace, rather than supplement, the original complaint. The court stated that it would screen the amended complaint and, if necessary, issue further service and discovery directions.
Legal Clinic Information and Disposition
The order informed Torres that he may consult the New York Legal Assistance Group’s clinic for limited-scope assistance in civil cases. The court clarified that the clinic is a private organization and is not part of the court, and that filings still must be made by Torres through the court’s Pro Se Intake Unit.
Judge John P. Cronan ordered the clerk to mail Torres an information package, notify the Department of Correction and the New York City Law Department, and send the order and complaint to the City’s Corporation Counsel. The court also attached an amended-complaint form and the legal clinic’s materials. This was an order concerning service, discovery, identification of defendants, and further case processing; it did not decide the merits of Torres’s claims.
Read the full 6-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.