Steven Dadaille v. Sing Sing Correctional Facility; John & Jane Does Unknown Authorized DOCCS Staff, Unknown Responsible for Playing Recording on Speakers; and John Doe, Highest Member of Security Department Who Supervises & Authorizes P.A. System to be Utilise

Opinion

DOCUMENT ELECTRONICALLY FILED UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DOC #: SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK DATE FILED: 9/18/2026 STEVEN DADAILLE, Plaintiff, -against- SING SING CORRECTIONAL FACILITY; JOHN & JANE DOES UNKNOWN 26-CV-1266 (NSR) AUTHORIZED DOCCS STAFF, UNKNOWN ORDER RESPONSIBLE FOR PLAYING RECORDING ON SPEAKERS; AND JOHN DOE, HIGHEST MEMBER OF SECURITY DEPARTMENT WHO SUPERVISES & AUTHORIZES P.A. SYSTEM TO BE UTILISE, Defendants.

NELSON S. ROMAN, United States District Judge: Plaintiff brings this pro se action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, for which he paid the filing fees, alleging that Defendants violated his constitutional rights. Plaintiff sues Sing Sing Correctional Facility, as well as an unidentified number of John and Jane Doe defendants who are employed by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (“DOCCS”) in Sing Sing Correctional Facility.

' On January 8, 2026, Plaintiff commenced this action by filing a complaint in the Northern District of New York. (ECF No. 1.) On the next day, that court administratively closed the case due to Plaintiff’s failure to pay the filing fees or submit an appropriate request to proceed in forma pauperis (“IFP”), that is, without prepayment of the filing fees. (ECF No. 2.) Shortly after, Plaintiff paid the filing fees, and the Northern District of New York reopened the action and transferred it to this district under 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a). (ECF No. 5.) By order dated February 17, 2026 (ECF No. 8), the Hon. Laura Taylor Swain directed Plaintiff to sign the complaint, as required by Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. (ECF No. 8.) Plaintiff subsequently submitted a signature page (ECF No. 10), and this action was thereafter re-assigned to this Court’s docket.

For the reasons that follow, the Court: (1) construes the claims against Sing Sing Correctional Facility to be asserted against the State of New York, and dismisses those claims under the doctrine of sovereign immunity; and (2) directs the Office of the New York State Attorney General to assist Plaintiff in identifying the John and Jane Doe employees who he seeks

to sue. 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 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. § 1915A(b); see Abbas v. Dixon, 480 F.3d 636, 639 (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).

DISCUSSION A. Defendant Sing Sing Correctional Facility Defendant names Sing Sing Correctional Facility, which is a DOCCS correctional facility, as a defendant in this action. “[A]s a general rule, state governments may not be sued in federal court unless they have waived their Eleventh Amendment immunity, or unless Congress has abrogated the states’ Eleventh Amendment immunity.” Gollomp v. Spitzer, 568 F.3d 355, 366 (2d Cir. 2009). “The immunity recognized by the Eleventh Amendment extends beyond the states themselves to state agents and state instrumentalities that are, effectively, arms of a state.” Id. Sing Sing Correctional Facility, as a DOCCS correctional facility, stands in the same position as the State of New York. See Bryant v. New York State Dep’t of Corr. Servs. Albany, 146 F. Supp. 2d 422, 426 (S.D.N.Y. 2001) (state correctional facility, as part of DOCCS, “is considered an arm of the state and stands in the same position as the State”) (quoting Jones v. Bishop, 981 F. Supp. 290, 295 (S.D.N.Y. 1997). New York has not waived its Eleventh Amendment immunity to suit in federal court, and Congress did not abrogate the states’ immunity in enacting 42 U.S.C.

§1983. See Trotman v. Palisades Interstate Park Comm’n, 557 F.2d 35, 40 (2d Cir. 1977). Because DOCCS—and by extension, its facilities, including Sing Sing Correctional Facility—are arms of the State of New York, they are protected by sovereign immunity. The Court therefore dismisses Plaintiff’s claims against Sing Sing Correctional Facility under the Eleventh Amendment and as frivolous. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(i), (iii); Montero v. Travis, 171 F.3d 757, 760 (2d Cir. 1999) (“A complaint will be dismissed as ‘frivolous’ when ‘it is clear that the defendants are immune from suit.’” (quoting Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 327 (1989))). B. The John & Jane Doe Defendants Under Valentin v. Dinkins, a pro se litigant is entitled to assistance from the district court in identifying a defendant. 121 F.3d 72, 76 (2d Cir. 1997). In the complaint (and in the

attachments to the complaint, which appear to be Plaintiff’s communications with DOCCS grievance staff), Plaintiff supplies information that may permit DOCCS to identify: (1) the Jane and Jane Doe DOCCS staff members who have access to the public address system that reaches Plaintiff’s housing unit or units and made announcements on the public address system concerning Plaintiff, and (2) the John Doe supervisory officer who is responsible supervising and authorizing the use of the public address system in Plaintiff’s housing unit or units. It is therefore ordered that the Office of the New York State Attorney General, which is the attorney for and agent of DOCCS, must ascertain the identity and badge number of each John and Jane Doe whom Plaintiff seeks to sue here and the address where the defendant may be served. The Office of the New York State Attorney General must provide this information to Plaintiff and the Court within sixty days of the date of this order. Within thirty days of receiving this information, Plaintiff must file an amended complaint naming the John Doe defendant(s). The amended complaint will replace, not supplement, the original complaint. An amended complaint form that Plaintiff should complete is attached to this order. Once Plaintiff has filed an amended complaint, the Court will screen the amended complaint and, if necessary, issue an order directing the Clerk of Court to complete the USM-285 forms with the addresses for the named John Doe Defendants and deliver all documents necessary to effect service to the U.S. Marshals Service. CONCLUSION The Court dismisses Plaintiff’s claims against Sing Sing Correctional Facility under the Eleventh Amendment and as frivolous. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(), (111). The Clerk of Court is directed to mail a copy of this order and the complaint to the New York State Attorney General’ s Office at: Managing Attorney’ s Office, 28 Liberty Street, New York, NY 10005. An amended complaint form is attached to this order. The Clerk of Court is directed to mail an information package to Plaintiff.

5O ORDERED: Dated: March 18, 2026 gf pean White Plains, New York wr oe NELSONS. ROMAN United States District Judge

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

CV TT (clu ber if has b Write the full name of each plaintiff. ened) nummer troneines seen

-against- AMENDED

COMPLAINT □□ Do you want a jury trial? [(1Yes (CINo

Write the full name of each defendant. If you need more space, please write “see attached” in the space above and attach an additional sheet of paper with the full list of names. The names listed above must be identical to those contained in Section Il.

NOTICE The public can access electronic court files. For privacy and security reasons, papers filed with the court should therefore not contain: an individual’s full social security number or full birth date; the full name of a person known to be a minor; or a complete financial account number. A filing may include only: the last four digits of a social security number; the year of an individual’s birth; a minor’s initials; and the last four digits of a financial account number. See Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.2.

Rev. 2/10/17

I. BASIS FOR JURISDICTION Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction (limited power). Generally, only two types of cases can be heard in federal court: cases involving a federal question and cases involving diversity of citizenship of the parties. Under 28 U.S.C. § 1331, a case arising under the United States Constitution or federal laws or treaties is a federal question case. Under 28 U.S.C. § 1332, a case in which a citizen of one State sues a citizen of another State or nation, and the amount in controversy is more than $75,000, is a diversity case. In a diversity case, no defendant may be a citizen of the same State as any plaintiff. What is the basis for federal-court jurisdiction in your case? [] Federal Question L] Diversity of Citizenship A. If you checked Federal Question Which of your federal constitutional or federal statutory rights have been violated?

B. If you checked Diversity of Citizenship 1. Citizenship of the parties Of what State is each party a citizen? The plaintiff , ,is a citizen of the State of (Plaintiffs name)

(State in which the person resides and intends to remain.) or, if not lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the United States, a citizen or subject of the foreign state of

If more than one plaintiff is named in the complaint, attach additional pages providing information for each additional plaintiff.

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If the defendant is an individual:

The defendant, , is a citizen of the State of (Defendant’s name)

or, if not lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the United States, a citizen or subject of the foreign state of . If the defendant is a corporation: The defendant, , is incorporated under the laws of the State of and has its principal place of business in the State of or is incorporated under the laws of (foreign state) and has its principal place of business in . If more than one defendant is named in the complaint, attach additional pages providing information for each additional defendant.

II. PARTIES A. Plaintiff Information Provide the following information for each plaintiff named in the complaint. Attach additional pages if needed.

First Name Middle Initial Last Name

Street Address

County, City State Zip Code

Telephone Number Email Address (if available) B. Defendant Information To the best of your ability, provide addresses where each defendant may be served. If the correct information is not provided, it could delay or prevent service of the complaint on the defendant. Make sure that the defendants listed below are the same as those listed in the caption. Attach additional pages if needed. Defendant 1: First Name Last Name

Current Job Title (or other identifying information)

Current Work Address (or other address where defendant may be served)

County, City State Zip Code Defendant 2: First Name Last Name

Current Job Title (or other identifying information)

Current Work Address (or other address where defendant may be served)

County, City State Zip Code Defendant 3: First Name Last Name

Current Job Title (or other identifying information)

Current Work Address (or other address where defendant may be served)

County, City State Zip Code Defendant 4: First Name Last Name

Current Job Title (or other identifying information)

Current Work Address (or other address where defendant may be served)

County, City State Zip Code III. STATEMENT OF CLAIM Place(s) of occurrence:

Date(s) of occurrence: FACTS: State here briefly the FACTS that support your case. Describe what happened, how you were harmed, and what each defendant personally did or failed to do that harmed you. Attach additional pages if needed. INJURIES: If you were injured as a result of these actions, describe your injuries and what medical treatment, if any, you required and received.

IV. RELIEF State briefly what money damages or other relief you want the court to order. V. PLAINTIFF’S CERTIFICATION AND WARNINGS By signing below, I certify to the best of my knowledge, information, and belief that: (1) the complaint is not being presented for an improper purpose (such as to harass, cause unnecessary delay, or needlessly increase the cost of litigation); (2) the claims are supported by existing law or by a nonfrivolous argument to change existing law; (3) the factual contentions have evidentiary support or, if specifically so identified, will likely have evidentiary support after a reasonable opportunity for further investigation or discovery; and (4) the complaint otherwise complies with the requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11. I agree to notify the Clerk's Office in writing of any changes to my mailing address. I understand that my failure to keep a current address on file with the Clerk's Office may result in the dismissal of my case.

Each Plaintiff must sign and date the complaint. Attach additional pages if necessary. If seeking to proceed without prepayment of fees, each plaintiff must also submit an IFP application.

Dated Plaintiff's Signature

First Name Middle Initial Last Name

Street Address

County, City State Zip Code

Telephone Number Email Address (if available)

I have read the Pro Se (Nonprisoner) Consent to Receive Documents Electronically: OlYes If you do consent to receive documents electronically, submit the completed form with your complaint. If you do not consent, please do not attach the form.

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