Moore v. New York City Police Department

Background

Ali Moore, appearing without a lawyer, brought this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a law allowing claims for certain violations of federal rights by persons acting under state law. Moore alleged violations arising from events on February 11, 2020. The court noted that Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain had previously allowed Moore to file an amended complaint, which Moore filed on July 9, 2023. Moore had also been allowed to proceed without prepaying filing fees.

The court construed the amended complaint as asserting claims arising on February 11, 2020. It dismissed without prejudice any claims arising between October 1 and October 5, 2021, while preserving Moore’s ability to litigate those claims in a prior related proceeding, No. 22-CV-10957 (LGS), which was pending before Judge Lorna G. Schofield.

Screening and Dismissed Claims

Because Moore was proceeding without prepaying fees, the court screened the complaint under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B). That statute requires dismissal of claims that are frivolous, malicious, fail to state a legally sufficient claim, or seek money from a defendant protected from such relief.

The court dismissed the claims against the New York City Police Department, the New York City Fire Department, and the Fire Department’s Emergency Medical Services because New York City agencies generally are not entities that can be sued under the New York City Charter.

The court dismissed the claims against Mount Sinai Morningside and Morningside Heights Housing Corporation because they are private entities and Moore did not allege facts showing that they acted under state law, as required for a claim under Section 1983. The court also dismissed Moore’s federal claims against Karen Eubanks, whom the opinion identifies as Moore’s mother, because alleging that she provided false information to police officers did not show that she acted under state law. The court did not construe the complaint as asserting state-law claims against Mount Sinai Morningside or Morningside Heights Housing Corporation and dismissed those entities entirely from the action.

The court dismissed the claims against Civilian Complaint Review Board Investigator Murgo because Moore did not allege facts showing Murgo’s personal involvement in violating Moore’s rights. The court stated that Moore could ask for permission to amend the complaint again if he wanted to pursue claims against Murgo and could provide sufficient facts showing a federal-law violation.

Service and Identification of Defendants

The court ordered service of the complaint on the City of New York and Karen Eubanks regarding any claims that remained, including potential state-law claims against Eubanks. Because Moore was allowed to proceed without prepaying fees, the Clerk of Court was directed to issue summonses and provide the necessary papers to the U.S. Marshals Service.

The court also ordered the New York City Law Department, Morningside Heights Housing Corporation, and Mount Sinai Morningside to identify unnamed defendants. The requested information included the identities and, when relevant, badge numbers of the police officers who interacted with Moore on February 11, 2020, including “Officer Reese” and “Officer 718”; the Morningside Heights “peace officers” identified as “Montalvo” and/or “Gilmore”; and the Mount Sinai personnel who treated Moore that day. Those entities were required to provide the information to Moore and the court within 60 days.

Within 30 days after receiving the information, Moore was required to file a second amended complaint naming the identified defendants. The second amended complaint would replace, rather than supplement, the existing amended complaint. The court stated that it would screen the second amended complaint and, if necessary, direct service on the newly named defendants.

Other Motions and Disposition

The court denied Moore’s motion to change venue. Although Moore requested transfer because he resided in Baltimore, Maryland, the court concluded that the events occurred in New York County and that the amended complaint did not show that any defendant resided in Maryland. The court therefore found that Maryland was not a proper venue.

The court’s conclusion denied Moore’s motion for an extension of time to file an amended complaint as moot. The order also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied Moore permission to appeal without prepaying fees.

Judge Ramos therefore dismissed all claims against the New York City Police Department, the New York City Fire Department, the Fire Department’s Emergency Medical Services, Mount Sinai Morningside, Morningside Heights Housing Corporation, and Investigator Murgo; dismissed Moore’s federal claims against Karen Eubanks while directing service on her for any state-law claims; directed service on the City of New York; ordered identification of unnamed defendants; denied the venue motion; and denied the extension motion as moot.