Lewis v. The People of the State of New York, County of Nassau

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
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SHAQUAN LEWIS,
Plaintiff,
-against-
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK,
NASSAU COUNTY,
Defendant.
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MEMORANDUM & ORDER
25-CV-3176 (EK)(AYS)
ERIC KOMITEE, United States District Judge:
Shaquan Lewis is a defendant in a criminal action
pending in New York State Supreme Court, Nassau County. 	He has
filed an application to remove that case to this Court. 	See
Notice of Removal, ECF No. 1. 	Lewis’s request to proceed in
forma pauperis pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915 is granted. 	ECF No.
4. 	For the reasons set forth below, however, the criminal case
is remanded.
In the underlying criminal action, Lewis is charged
with weapons possession and a controlled substance offense.
Notice of Removal 1. 	He seeks to remove the action pursuant to
28 U.S.C. § 1443, which governs the removal of state-court
actions, civil and criminal, against people who are unable to
enforce rights under “any law providing for the equal civil
rights of citizens.” 	Lewis claims numerous constitutional
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rights deprivations. 	He is currently in pretrial detention.
Id.
A party seeking to remove a criminal prosecution under
Section 1443 must satisfy the two-part test established by the
Supreme Court in Georgia v. Rachel, 384 U.S. 780 (1966).
“First, it must appear that the right allegedly denied the
removal petitioner arises under a federal law providing for
specific civil rights stated in terms of racial equality.”
Johnson v. Mississippi, 421 U.S. 213, 219 (1975).1 	“Claims that
prosecution and conviction will violate rights under
constitutional or statutory provisions of general applicability
or under statutes not protecting against racial discrimination,
will not suffice.” 	Id. 	Lewis has not satisfied this
requirement. 	Though his notice of removal alleges violations of
the Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments, he has set out no
facts sufficient to allow the Court to construe his claim as
alleging racial discrimination. 	This is true even on the
liberal reading that a pro se party is due.
Nor has Lewis satisfied Rachel’s second requirement —
that the removing party adequately allege that he “cannot
enforce the specified federal rights in the courts of the
State.” 	Id.
1 Unless otherwise noted, when quoting judicial decisions this order
accepts all alterations and omits all citations, footnotes, and internal
quotation marks.
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Given the foregoing, this action is remanded to New
York State Supreme Court, Nassau County. 	See 28 U.S.C.
§ 1455(b)(4). 	The Clerk of Court is respectfully directed to
mail a copy of this order to plaintiff and note the mailing on
the docket. 	The Clerk of Court is further directed to mail a
certified copy of this order to the Clerk of the New York State
Supreme Court, Nassau County, to note that mailing, too, on the
docket, and to close this case.
In the view of this Court, this order is not
appealable. 	See Crown Asset Mgmt., LLC v. Cunningham, No. 22-
938, 2022 WL 17660543, at *1 (2d Cir. Dec. 14, 2022) (“An order
remanding a case . . . is not reviewable on appeal unless the
removal was pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1442 or 1443. 	To trigger
the exception, the removal notice must make a colorable claim,
not a bare or frivolous invocation, under one of those
provisions.”). 	In the event that Lewis does appeal, this Court
certifies pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that the in forma
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pauperis appeal from this order would not be taken in good
faith. 	Coppedge v. United States, 369 U.S. 438, 444-45 (1962).
SO ORDERED.
/s/ Eric Komitee
ERIC KOMITEE
United States District Judge
Dated: 	November 21, 2025
Brooklyn, New York
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