In P.D. v. Sullivan (S.D.N.Y.), plaintiff alleges:
New York State Mental Hygiene Law 9.39 is used to admit individuals to a hospital solely for emergency observation and evaluation as a person "alleged" to have a mental illness. An admission under MHL 9.39 is not a formal adjudication that an individual suffers from a mental disease or defect. NYS Office of Mental Health Transmission of Mental Health Records to NICS. New York Mental Hygiene Law 7.094 authorizes the Office of Mental Health (OMH) to collect, retain, modify, or transmit data or records for inclusion in the NICS system for the purpose of responding to NICS queries regarding attempts to purchase or otherwise take possession of firearms, as defined in 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(3)….
Plaintiff contends that his Second and Fourteenth Amendment rights were, and are continuing to be, violated by the inclusion of his personal identifying information in the SAFE Act database [which New York maintains to "stop[] criminals and the dangerously mentally ill from buying a gun" -EV] and continued reporting to NICS and other third parties that Plaintiff is a prohibited person….
Plaintiff seeks a declaration from this Court that being "admitted", whether voluntarily or involuntarily, under MHL 9.39 does not constitute an "involuntary commitment to a mental institution" for purposes of terminating the rights protected by the Second and Fourteenth Amendments. Plaintiff seeks a declaration that MHL 7.09(j) is vague and overbroad and violates the Second and Fourteenth Amendments, as applied to Plaintiff….
The case is still in its early stages, so there has been no decision about the merits; but Monday Judge Nelson S. Román held that plaintiff could not litigate pseudonymously:
