Todie v. Bronx III Parole Division Entire Staff
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-02758
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Todie v. Bronx III Parole Division Entire Staff, Chief Judge Laura Swain denied injunctive relief because Todie’s action had already been dismissed.
Eugene Andrew Todie and the defendants named in the action; the order also restricted Todie’s future filings in this case and denied fee-free appeal status.
What happened
In Todie v. Bronx III Parole Division Entire Staff, Eugene Andrew Todie, representing himself, asked the court for a temporary restraining order. The court had previously dismissed his complaint because it sought criminal charges and imprisonment against the defendants, which the court said was not legally available. Todie did not file an amended complaint, and the court entered a civil judgment dismissing the action.
The court denied Todie’s request for injunctive relief. It found that, because the action had already been dismissed and a later motion challenging that dismissal had also been denied, Todie had not shown a likelihood of success or sufficiently serious legal questions supporting an injunction.
Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered that the action remain closed. The Clerk could accept only documents directed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and the court denied permission to proceed without paying filing fees for an appeal.
The detailed version
- Todie v. Bronx III Parole Division Entire Staff · No. 1:22-cv-02758
- Laura Swain
- June 15, 2023
Background
Eugene Andrew Todie filed the action without a lawyer. The court had dismissed his complaint on August 22, 2022, for failure to state a claim because the relief he sought was criminal prosecution and imprisonment of the defendants, which is not available through this civil action. Although the court found that amendment would be futile, it gave Todie 60 days to file an amended complaint. He did not do so, and the court entered a civil judgment dismissing the action on October 28, 2022.
Todie later filed submissions challenging the dismissal order and civil judgment. The court denied that motion on March 13, 2023, and directed the Clerk of Court not to accept further documents from Todie except documents directed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The court also warned that it could require Todie to explain why he should not be barred from filing further documents in the action if he submitted additional frivolous or meritless documents.
Request for Injunctive Relief
On May 30, 2023, Todie filed a document labeled “T.R.O.” and requested a temporary restraining order based on alleged injuries caused by the defendants. A temporary restraining order is a form of short-term injunctive relief. To obtain injunctive relief, Todie had to show irreparable harm and either a likelihood of success on the merits or sufficiently serious questions for litigation combined with a balance of hardships strongly favoring him.
The court held that Todie failed to show either a likelihood of success on the merits or sufficiently serious questions supporting an injunction. The court relied on the prior dismissal of the action and the denial of Todie’s later motion challenging that dismissal.
Disposition
The court denied Todie’s request for injunctive relief. It stated that the action was closed and limited future filings to documents directed to the Second Circuit. 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 and denied permission to proceed without paying filing fees for purposes of an appeal.
The order was signed by Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.