Griffith v. Harvey

Background

Brandon L. Griffith brought this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a federal law that allows claims against a person acting under state law for violations of federal rights. He alleged that defendants violated his constitutional rights while he was detained at the Eric M. Taylor Center and George R. Vierno Center on Rikers Island. The court had previously granted his request to proceed without prepaying filing fees. The opinion states that prisoners must still pay the full filing fee over time.

Screening of the GRVC claims

Because Griffith was proceeding without a lawyer, the court was required to read his allegations liberally. It also had to dismiss claims that were frivolous, malicious, failed to state a legally sufficient claim, sought relief from an immune defendant, or fell outside the court’s jurisdiction.

The court dismissed Griffith’s claims against the George R. Vierno Center, or GRVC, for failure to state a claim. The court explained that GRVC is a building facility, not a person acting under state law, and therefore cannot be sued under § 1983. The opinion also states that the New York City Department of Correction, which operates GRVC, generally cannot be sued as a municipal agency.

Replacement of GRVC with New York City

Because of Griffith’s self-represented status and the court’s view that he likely intended to assert claims against New York City, the court ordered the Clerk of Court to replace GRVC with the City of New York as a defendant. The court stated that this amendment was without prejudice to any defenses the City might assert.

Service and discovery

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 requested that New York City, Warden Mrs. Harvey, Captain Payne, Correction Officer Dejesus, Correction Officer Tremarzo, and Warden Davis waive service of summons. The court also directed Griffith to notify the court if his address changes and warned that the action could be dismissed if he failed to do so.

Local Civil Rule 33.2 applies to the action. Under that rule, the defendants must respond within 120 days to specified prisoner-discovery requests and must quote each request verbatim in their responses.

Disposition

The court dismissed Griffith’s claims against GRVC for failure to state a claim, directed the Clerk to add the City of New York as a defendant, and ordered the service and discovery procedures described above. The court certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied Griffith permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal.