Idiakheua v. New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision et al
Filing
127
MEMORANDUM & ORDER, Defendants' motion for summary judgment is GRANTED in Partand DENIED in part. The court GRANTS Defendants' motion for summary judgment as to Plaintiff's Section 1983 claim against Defendant Yee-Foon and Plaintiff 39;s negligence claim against Defendants Horan and Yee-Foon. These claims are dismissed. The court DENIES Defendants' motion for summary judgment as to Plaintiff's Section 1983 claims against Defendants Horan, Lahey and Morton, and Plaintiff's negligence claims against Defendants Baker and Lahey. The Parties are DIRECTED to contact the chambers of Magistrate Judge Sanket J. Bulsara regarding next steps in the case. So Ordered by Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis on 2/5/2024. (TLH)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
MARITZAIDIAKHEUA,
MEMORANDUM & ORDER
20-CV-4169 (NGG) (SJB)
Plaintiff,
-againstROBERT MORTON, RYAN LAHEY, PETER
HORAN, CHESNEY BAKER, and RENE YEEFOON,
Defendants.
NICHOLAS G. GARAUFIS, United States District Judge.
Elvin Suarez was incarcerated in Downstate Correctional Facility ("Downstate") in the summer of 2017, after pleading guilty
to second-degree assault with intent to injure a police officer.
While at Downstate, Mr. Suarez was not taking medication for
his bipolar and schizoaffective disorders, and, after a few
months, he committed a disciplinary violation and was placed
in SHU and keeplock. He remained in segregated confinement
(commonly referred to as solitary confinement) 1 and keeplock
1 This court generally uses the term "segregated confinement" which is the
term used under New York law for what is generally referred to as solitary
confinement. See New York State Co/1". Officers & Police Benevolent A.ss'n,
Inc. v. Hochul, 607 F. Supp. 3d 231, 236 (N.D.N.Y. 2022) (using both "solitary confinement" and "segregated confinement" when discussing New
York's Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement ("HALT")
Act). Then-existing New York law defined segregated confinement as "the
disciplinary confinement of an inmate in a special housing unit or in a separate keeplock housing unit" and stated that "[s]pecial housing units and
separate keeplock units are housing units that consist of cells grouped so
as to provide separation from the general population[.]" N.Y. Correct. Law
§ 2(23) (2017). This definition has was amended in 2022. See N.Y. Correct.
Law § 2(23). This court thus generally refers to segregated or solitary confinement to mean confinement in a special housing unit ("SHU") and not
1
for the four weeks leading up to his release, at which time he
was taken to live with his mother, the Plaintiff Maritza Idiakheua.
A day after his release, Mr. Suarez experienced a psychotic episode and violently attacked Plaintiff, causing her significant
injuries. Mr. Suarez was arrested for the attack, was permitted
by the State to plead "not responsible by reason of mental disease or defect," and was then civilly committed to Kirby
Psychiatric Facility.
Plaintiff alleges that Defendants, officers employed by the State
of New York's Office of Mental Health ("OMH") and the State's
Department of Corrections and Community Supervision
("DOCCS"), recklessly increased the risk of Mr. Suarez's mental
decompensation and psychotic episode, and, by extension, recklessly increased the risk that Mr. Saurez would injure Plaintiff.
Plaintiff focuses, in particular, on Mr. Suarez's prolonged confinement in segregated confinement and keeplock immediately
prior to his release, given the well documented harms that prolonged periods of solitary confinement have on individuals with
serious mental illnesses.
Accordingly, Ms. Idial
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