Davis et al v. The City of New York et al

Filing 340

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER: This short Memorandum Opinion and Order accompanies the Final Order of Approval of Settlement and Dismissal with Prejudice filed together with this Order. I write solely to note that I am ordering the transfer of this c ase to Judge Analisa Torres - at the request of all parties - because this case is undoubtedly related to two other cases now pending before her - Floyd v. City of New York, and Ligon v. City of New York. (See Order.) (Signed by Judge Shira A. Scheindlin on 4/28/2015) (ajs)

USDCSDNY
DOCUMENT
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
\ ELE~ONICALLY FILED I
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
.
1
l
-------------------------------------------------------)( I DOC#.
\l DATE FILED: j/z~.~~~ J~
KELTON DAVIS, WILLIAM TURNER,
(

EDWIN LARREGUI, ANTHONY
ANDERSON, SHA WNE JONES, HECTOR
SUAREZ, ADAM COOPER, DAVID
WILSON, GENEVA WILSON, ELEANOR
BRITT, ROMAN JACKSON, KRISTIN
JOHNSON, LASHAUN SMITH, ANDREW
WASHINGTON, PA TRICK LITTLEJOHN,
RAYMOND OSORIO, VAUGHN
FREDERICK, and R.E., by her parent D.E.,
individually and on behalf of a class of all
others similarly situated,

~~~~·~:~.-::::::::::::=====:-_

. _____ . . . . "·-.

MEMORANDUM OPINION
AND ORDER
10 Civ. 0699 (SAS)

Plaintiffs,
- against THE CITY OF NEW YORK and NEW
YORK CITY HOUSING AUTHORITY,
Defendants.
-------------------------------------------------------~

SHIRA A. SCHEINDLIN, U.S.D.J.:
This short Memorandum Opinion and Order accompanies the Final
Order of Approval of Settlement and Dismissal with Prejudice filed together with
this Order. I write solely to note that I am ordering the transfer of this case to
Judge Analisa Torres - at the request of all parties - because this case is
undoubtedly related to two other cases now pending before her - Floyd v. City of
New York, and Ligon v. City ofNew York.
1

A brief history is in order. Daniels v. City ofNew York was filed in
1999. 1 That ca:se re:sulted ln the entry of' a Stlpubtlon of' Settlement, ln whlch the

City agreed to maintain a written anti-racial profiling policy that complies with the
U.S. and New York State Constitutions, to audit officers who engage in stop and
frisks, and to provide the results of these audits to plaintiffs' attorneys. This Court
retained jurisdiction over the performance of the Stipulation for four years. Near
the end of that period, the Daniels plaintiffs alleged that the City was not
complying with the Stipulation. Their complaint could have been heard as a
contempt proceeding or as a new and related lawsuit challenging the City's
compliance with this Court's order in Daniels. The latter course was chosen and
Floyd was filed in 2008. 2 Davis was filed two years later in 2010, 3 and Ligon two
years after that in 2012. 4 All three cases challenged the City's allegedly
unconstitutional implementation of stop and frisk policies by the New York City
Police Department. Floyd and Ligon were resolved after a trial and a preliminary
injunction hearing respectively, in which certain remedies were ordered. These

No. 99 Civ. 1695 (filed March 8, 1999).
2

No. 08 Civ. 1034 (filed January 31, 2008).

3

No. 10 Civ. 699 (filed January 28, 2010).

4

No. 12 Civ. 2274 (filed March 28, 2012).
2

remedies are now known as the "Joint Remedial Process." The City initially

ordered the cases reassigned to a new judge. 5 While the appellate court suggested
that the cases were improperly accepted as related to Daniels, 6 it nonetheless
reassigned the two cases in tandem. 7 The City announced its intent to withdraw its
appeals when a new administration took office in January 2014. When the
withdrawal of the appeals was finalized, the Joint Remedial Process began.
Now that the Davis case has been settled, and this Court has found
that the settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate, the parties have jointly
requested that the Davis case be transferred to Judge Torres as it is related to Floyd
and Ligon and all parties believe that the three related cases should be part of one
remedial process. 8 I, too, believe that there should be one remedial process as the

5

Ligon v. City ofNew York, 736 F.3d 118 (2d Cir. 2013).

6

See id. at 124-26.

7

See id. at 129.

8

See Stipulation of Settlement and Order at 10 [Dkt. 330]. See also
Transcript of Fairness Hearing, April 22, 2015, Remarks of Jin Hee Lee, counsel
for Plaintiffs, at 7-8 ("And, perhaps most importantly, this settlement calls for the
plaintiffs' participation as equal parties in the court monitoring process that was
ordered in the related case of Floyd v. City of New York.") (emphasis added). See
also id. at 8 ("And through this court monitoring process plaintiffs will work in
collaboration with the City, the court monitor and the plaintiffs in both Floyd and
also the other related case, L[i}gon v. City of New York, to implement systemic
3

cases all challenged the same conduct and the remedies imposed by this Court will
benefit the p1airnLL'i's ln a11 three cases.

I am transferring the Davis case with regret as it would have been
most appropriate for the judge that supervised this case - and the related cases for more than five years to supervise the implementation of the remedies imposed
by the Court or agreed to by the parties. Nonetheless, I do so because it is most
important that the parties work together in one Joint Remedial Process to repair the
damage that was done during the years that the defendants in these cases violated
the plaintiffs' constitutional rights. The Joint Remedial Process is underway and
like all New Yorkers I have the highest hopes for its success.
SO ORDERED:

Dated:

New York, New York
April 28, 2015

reform of the NYPD.") (emphasis added).
4

Appearances
For Plaintiffs:

Elana R. Beale, Esq.
Erin E. Elmouji, Esq.
Jason L. Meizlish, Esq.
Julia Tarver-Mason Wood, Esq.
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton &
Garrison LLP
1285 Avenue of the Americas
New York, New York 10019
[phone]

William Gibney, Esq.
Marlen S. Bodden, Esq.
Amanda C. Moretti, Esq.
The Legal Aid Society
199 Water Street, 6th Floor
New York, New York 10038
[phone]

Christina Swarns, Esq.
Jin Hee Lee, Esq.
Rachel M. Kleinman, Esq.
NAACP Legal Defense &
Educational Fund, Inc.
99 Hudson Street, 1600
New York, New York 10013
[phone]
For Defendant City of New York:

For Defendant NY CHA:

Judson K. Vickers
Lisa M. Richardson
Linda Donahue
Assistant Corporation Counsel
New York City Law Department
100 Church Street, 3-174
New York, New York 10007
[phone]

Donna M. Murphy, Esq.
New York City Housing Authority
250 Broadway, 9th Floor
New York, New York 10007
[phone]

5