Knight v. City of New York
- Valerie Caproni
- 1:22-cv-10755
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Knight v. City of New York, Judge Caproni adopted the recommendation and denied Knight’s requests for emergency and preliminary relief.
Cavalier Knight’s request for emergency and preliminary relief was denied. The order also affected the City of New York and Edward Caban, the defendants, and stated that appellate review was precluded because no party objected to the magistrate judge’s recommendation.
What happened
In Knight v. City of New York, Cavalier Knight, representing himself, asked the court to stop the New York City Police Department from requiring him to surrender his handguns when his residence-premises license was expected to expire. The defendants were the City of New York and Edward Caban, who replaced Keechant Sewell as the named official defendant.
A magistrate judge recommended denying Knight’s request for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction. Neither side objected within the time allowed, so the court reviewed the recommendation only for a clear error in the record and found none.
Judge Valerie Caproni adopted the recommendation in full and denied Knight’s motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction. The court also stated that the lack of objections prevented appellate review and denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees.
The detailed version
- Knight v. City of New York · No. 1:22-cv-10755
- Valerie Caproni
- Nov. 29, 2023
Background
Cavalier Knight, proceeding without a lawyer, filed a motion for a temporary restraining order (an emergency court order) and a preliminary injunction (an order intended to preserve the situation while a case continues). He sought to prevent the New York City Police Department from requiring him to surrender his handguns because his residence-premises license was approaching expiration.
The motion initially named the City of New York and Keechant Sewell as defendants. The opinion states that Edward Caban replaced Sewell as New York City Police Commissioner, and Caban was substituted as a party because Sewell had been sued in her official capacity. At a March 16, 2023 conference, Knight stated that he had received a license to carry a firearm and still had a residence-premises license because he had timely applied for renewal.
Report and recommendation
The court had referred the case to Magistrate Judge Valerie Figueredo for reports and recommendations on dispositive motions. On November 9, 2023, Judge Figueredo recommended denying Knight’s motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction. The recommendation informed the parties that they had fourteen days to file written objections and that failing to object would waive objections and prevent appellate review.
Neither party filed an objection. Because there were no objections, Judge Caproni reviewed the recommendation for clear error on the face of the record. The opinion states that this review found no clear error, but it does not provide the recommendation’s underlying analysis.
Ruling
Judge Valerie Caproni adopted the report and recommendation in full and denied Knight’s motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction. The order does not state that the motion was denied with or without prejudice.
The court also stated that Knight’s failure to object precluded appellate review of the decision. It certified that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without paying filing fees for an appeal. The clerk was directed to change the case caption, mail the order to Knight, and record the mailing on the docket.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.