Moments v. Warden (John Doe)

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedJune 16, 2025
Docket1:24-cv-07065
StatusUnknown

This text of Moments v. Warden (John Doe) (Moments v. Warden (John Doe)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Moments v. Warden (John Doe), (S.D.N.Y. 2025).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK BETTA MOMENTS, Plaintiff, -against- 24-CV-7065 (LTS) WARDEN (JOHN DOE) RMSC RIKERS ISLAND; GRIEVANCE COMMITTEE ORDER TO AMEND SUPERVISION/STAFF; EHO CLEANING DEPARTMENT SUPERVISOR; INMATE CASHIER, Defendants. LAURA TAYLOR SWAIN, Chief United States District Judge: Plaintiff, who currently is incarcerated at Washington Correctional Facility, brings this action, pro se, under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that, while she was detained in the Rose M. Singer Center (“RMSC”) on Rikers Island following her conviction, Defendants violated her rights. She names as Defendants the RMSC Warden, grievance committee “staff,” “EHO Cleaning Department Supervisor,” and an “inmate cashier.” By order dated November 8, 2024, the Court granted Plaintiff’s request to proceed in forma pauperis (“IFP”), that is, without prepayment of fees.1 For the reasons set forth below, the Court grants Plaintiff leave to file an amended complaint within 60 days of the date of this order. STANDARD OF REVIEW The Court must dismiss an IFP complaint, or any portion of the complaint, that is frivolous or malicious, fails to state a claim on which relief may be granted, or seeks monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B); see

1 Prisoners are not exempt from paying the full filing fee even when they have been granted permission to proceed IFP. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1). Livingston v. Adirondack Beverage Co., 141 F.3d 434, 437 (2d Cir. 1998). The Court must also dismiss a complaint when the Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction of the claims raised. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(h)(3). While the law mandates dismissal on any of these grounds, the Court is obliged to construe pro se pleadings liberally, Harris v. Mills, 572 F.3d 66, 72 (2d Cir. 2009), and interpret

them to raise the “strongest [claims] that they suggest,” Triestman v. Fed. Bureau of Prisons, 470 F.3d 471, 474 (2d Cir. 2006) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted) (emphasis in original). But the “special solicitude” in pro se cases, id. at 475 (citation omitted), has its limits – to state a claim, pro se pleadings still must comply with Rule 8 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which requires a complaint to make a short and plain statement showing that the pleader is entitled to relief. Rule 8 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure requires a complaint to include enough facts to state a claim for relief “that is plausible on its face.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007). A claim is facially plausible if the plaintiff pleads enough factual detail to allow

the Court to draw the inference that the defendant is liable for the alleged misconduct. In reviewing the complaint, the Court must accept all well-pleaded factual allegations as true. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678-79 (2009). But it does not have to accept as true “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action,” which are essentially just legal conclusions. Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555. After separating legal conclusions from well-pleaded factual allegations, the Court must determine whether those facts make it plausible – not merely possible – that the pleader is entitled to relief. Id. BACKGROUND The following facts are drawn from the complaint. From April 25, 2024, through September 9, 2024, while detained at the RMSC, Plaintiff could “not . . . lawfully seek a remedy for my problematic issues by exhausting my rights through grievances.”2 (ECF 1 ¶ V.) Plaintiff contends that “[t]here’s been factual proof of neglect leaving me exposed to unsanitary conditions,” including “molding, bacteria, and fungi that’s built up in the showers.” (Id.) These conditions exist “because there’s barely any officer on our ‘B’ post who[] is responsible for unlocking the cleaning supply closet.” (Id.) Moreover, “[t]he power wash crew has been

terminated due to City budgeting.” (Id.) “Due to these forms of inconsiderable neglect I have develope[d] a open wound in between my right-foot pinky toe as well as a boil which became inflamed on my skin containing pus. (Id.) Plaintiff also alleges that “there’s . . . an unanswered amount of funds extracted from my inmate account.” (Id.) When Plaintiff discussed this matter with correctional staff, and staff informed her that she should file a grievance complaint, Plaintiff “called 311 due to the fact that the grievance committee here in RMSC are not allowing inmates to exhaust our grievance in order to gain a remedial.” (Id. at 9.) Plaintiff seeks treatment for her medical conditions, including antibiotics for her boil and

fungus cream for her open wound. She also seeks $1,400,000 in money damages and the return of the funds missing from her prison account. (Id. ¶ VI.) DISCUSSION A. Conditions-of-confinement claim The Court construes the complaint as asserting a conditions-of-confinement claim under the Eighth Amendment’s Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause. See Darnell v. Pineiro, 849 F.3d

2 The Court quotes from the complaint verbatim. All spelling, grammar, and punctuation are as in the original unless noted otherwise. 17, 29 (2d Cir. 2017) (noting that the Eighth Amendment applies in cases brought by individuals who are incarcerated pursuant to a conviction). To state a conditions-of-confinement claim, a plaintiff must satisfy two elements: (1) an “objective” element, which requires a showing that the challenged conditions are sufficiently serious to pose an unreasonable risk to her health or safety, and (2) a “mental” element, which

requires a showing that a correction official acted with at least deliberate indifference to the challenged conditions. See id. at 29-33. A plaintiff satisfies the objective element by pleading facts that suggest “‘the conditions, either alone or in combination, pose an unreasonable risk of serious damage to [her] health’” or safety, which “includes the risk of serious damage to ‘physical and mental soundness.’” Id. at 30 (quoting Walker v. Schult, 717 F.3d 119, 125 (2d Cir. 2013), and LaReau v. MacDougall, 473 F.2d 974, 978 (2d Cir. 1972)); see also Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 828 (1994) (“A prison official’s ‘deliberate indifference’ to a substantial risk of serious harm to an inmate violates the Eighth Amendment.”). “[O]fficials violate the Constitution when they deprive an inmate of [her]

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Moments v. Warden (John Doe), Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/moments-v-warden-john-doe-nysd-2025.