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S.D.N.Y.Procedural orderFiled May 29, 2024

Hayes v. ASCAP

Judge
Laura Swain
Docket
1:24-cv-01883
Court
U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
Pages
1
Civil Procedure
In one sentence

In Hayes v. ACAP, Chief Judge Swain dismissed the action without prejudice after Hayes submitted an illegible, unsigned fee-waiver application and did not pay filing fees.

Who this affects

Arika A. Hayes’s action against ACAP (NFPO) was dismissed without prejudice because her amended fee-waiver application remained illegible and unsigned and she did not pay the filing fees. Any appeal must proceed without permission to proceed without paying filing fees.

What happened

In Arika A. Hayes v. ACAP (NFPO), the court had ordered Hayes to submit a legible, originally signed application to proceed without paying filing fees or to pay the filing fees within 30 days.

Hayes submitted an amended application on April 18, 2024, but it was still illegible and unsigned. She also did not pay the filing fees.

Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain dismissed the action without prejudice, meaning Hayes may refile it. Judge Swain also denied permission to proceed without paying fees for any appeal because the court determined that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.

The detailed version

For law students, journalists, and other readers who want the full reasoning

Case
Hayes v. ASCAP · No. 1:24-cv-01883
Judge
Laura Swain
Date
May 29, 2024

Background

The court had previously ordered Plaintiff Arika A. Hayes to resubmit the signature page of her application to proceed without paying filing fees, known as an in forma pauperis application, within 30 days. The court required the page to be legible and to contain an original signature. The order stated that failure to comply would result in dismissal of the complaint.

The court received Hayes’s amended application on April 18, 2024. The court found that the amended application was also illegible and unsigned. Hayes did not pay the filing fees.

Ruling

The court dismissed the action without prejudice, allowing Hayes to refile it. The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. As a result, the court denied permission to proceed without paying filing fees for an appeal.

Classification

This was a procedural dismissal based on failure to comply with filing requirements. The order did not decide the underlying claims.

The authoritative version

Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.

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