Satchell v. Molina

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedJune 21, 2024
Docket1:23-cv-11119
StatusUnknown

This text of Satchell v. Molina (Satchell v. Molina) 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
Satchell v. Molina, (S.D.N.Y. 2024).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK JOHN SATCHELL, Plaintiff, -against- 23-CV-11119 (LTS) DEPT OF CORRECTIONS COMMISSIONER – ORDER TO AMEND LOUIS MOLINA; WARDEN OF V.C.B.C. – MS. FORD, Defendants. LAURA TAYLOR SWAIN, Chief United States District Judge: Plaintiff, who currently is detained at the West Facility on Rikers Island, brings this action, pro se, under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that he is being subjected to unconstitutional conditions of confinement. By order dated January 11, 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 Prison Litigation Reform Act requires that federal courts screen complaints brought by prisoners who seek relief against a governmental entity or an officer or employee of a governmental entity. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). The Court must dismiss a prisoner’s IFP complaint, or any portion of the complaint, that is frivolous or malicious, fails to state a claim upon 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), 1915A(b); see Abbas v. Dixon, 480 F.3d 636, 639

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). (2d Cir. 2007). The Court must also dismiss a complaint if the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction. 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 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 Plaintiff, who is a pretrial detainee on Rikers Island, brings this action against Louis Molina, the former Commissioner of the New York City Department of Correction (“DOC”), and Ms. Ford, identified as the former Warden of the Vernon C. Bain Center (“VCBC”). He brings claims with respect to his state court criminal proceeding and his detention in the custody of DOC.2 The following facts are drawn from the complaint. Plaintiff has been in DOC custody since 2019, on unspecified criminal charges. He has not received bail and has lost his job, car,

and residence. During his 51 months in custody, he contracted the Covid-19 virus, has been stripped searched numerous time, and “put in harms ways.” (ECF 1, at 4.)3 Furthermore, the District Attorney’s office has said they “would love to make a deal, ‘on the record,’” but his criminal case keeps getting adjourned. (Id.) Plaintiff asserts that he has been “sit[ting] around not knowing when [he’ll] start [his] life again.” (Id.) He brings this action asserting that his rights have been violated, but does not specify the nature of the relief he seeks. DISCUSSION A. Younger Abstention Plaintiff asserts that his rights are being violated in his ongoing state court criminal case. To the extent he seeks this Court’s intervention in his state court criminal proceeding, such a request must be denied under the doctrine established by Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37 (1971).

In Younger, the United States Supreme Court held that a federal court may not enjoin a pending state court criminal proceeding in the absence of special circumstances suggesting bad faith, harassment, or irreparable injury that is both serious and immediate. See Gibson v. Berryhill, 411 U.S. 564, 573-74 (1973) (citing Younger, 401 U.S. 37); see also Sprint Commc’ns, Inc. v.

2 Plaintiff has another pending action in this court in which he complains of alleged unconstitutional conditions of confinement at Rikers Island since October 2023. See Satchell v. Dep’t of Corr., ECF 1:24-CV-1763, 1 (S.D.N.Y. filed Mar. 15, 2024) (“Satchell II”). He named as defendants in that action DOC, Molina and New York City Comptroller Brad Lander. Id. 3 The Court quotes from the complaint verbatim. All spelling, grammar, and punctuation are as in the original unless noted otherwise. Jacobs, 134 S. Ct. 584, 588 (2013) (“Younger exemplifies one class of cases in which federal- court abstention is required: When there is a parallel, pending state criminal proceeding, federal courts must refrain from enjoining the state prosecution.”). Plaintiff has alleged no facts suggesting bad faith, harassment, or irreparable injury with

respect to his pending state court criminal proceeding. The Court therefore abstains from intervening in that proceeding and dismisses any claims for injunctive relief. B. Strip Searches Plaintiff may be attempting to assert a claim that he was illegally strip searched. Such a claim would arise under the Fourth Amendment. The protections of the Fourth Amendment “extend to prisoners and pretrial detainees.” Holland v. City of New York, 197 F. Supp.3d 529, 542 (S.D.N.Y. June 24, 2016) (citing Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 545 (1979)). “Regardless of who performs the search, a visual body cavity search . . .

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Related

Coppedge v. United States
369 U.S. 438 (Supreme Court, 1962)
Younger v. Harris
401 U.S. 37 (Supreme Court, 1971)
Gibson v. Berryhill
411 U.S. 564 (Supreme Court, 1973)
Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Servs.
436 U.S. 658 (Supreme Court, 1978)
Bell v. Wolfish
441 U.S. 520 (Supreme Court, 1979)
City of Revere v. Massachusetts General Hospital
463 U.S. 239 (Supreme Court, 1983)
Daniels v. Williams
474 U.S. 327 (Supreme Court, 1986)
Carnegie-Mellon University v. Cohill
484 U.S. 343 (Supreme Court, 1988)
Hafer v. Melo
502 U.S. 21 (Supreme Court, 1991)
Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly
550 U.S. 544 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Ashcroft v. Iqbal
556 U.S. 662 (Supreme Court, 2009)
Salahuddin v. Cuomo
861 F.2d 40 (Second Circuit, 1988)
Hill v. Curcione
657 F.3d 116 (Second Circuit, 2011)
Abbas v. Dixon
480 F.3d 636 (Second Circuit, 2007)

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Bluebook (online)
Satchell v. Molina, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/satchell-v-molina-nysd-2024.