Alexander v. Groder
- Laura Swain
- 1:24-cv-03857
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Alexander v. Groder, Judge Swain dismissed the duplicate civil-rights lawsuit without prejudice and did not charge its filing fee.
Holmes Alexander’s duplicate lawsuit was dismissed without prejudice; he was not charged the $350 filing fee for this action. The defendants were not required to litigate this duplicate case.
What happened
In Alexander v. Groder, Holmes Alexander, who is incarcerated and representing himself, sued Jeffrey Scott Groder and James E. Dzurenda under a civil-rights law over his state criminal proceedings in Nassau County, New York. The opinion does not describe the underlying alleged rights violations in detail.
The court said Alexander had already filed an identical lawsuit against the same defendants, and that earlier case had been transferred to the Eastern District of New York. Because this case repeated the same claims, the court found that continuing it would serve no useful purpose.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain dismissed the complaint without prejudice as duplicative, terminated all other pending matters, and directed the Clerk not to charge the filing fee. The court also denied free-court-fee status for an appeal, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith, and directed the Clerk to enter judgment.
The detailed version
- Alexander v. Groder · No. 1:24-cv-03857
- Laura Swain
- June 10, 2024
Background
Holmes Alexander, who is incarcerated at Fishkill Correctional Facility and is representing himself, brought an action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Jeffrey Scott Groder and James E. Dzurenda. He alleged that the defendants violated his federally protected rights in connection with his state criminal proceedings in Nassau County, New York. The opinion does not provide further details about those allegations.
Earlier Related Proceeding
The court stated that Alexander had previously submitted an identical complaint asserting the same claims against the same defendants. On May 20, 2024, the court transferred that earlier proceeding, No. 24-CV-3858 (LTS), to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Because the present complaint raised the same claims, the court concluded that litigating this duplicate lawsuit would serve no useful purpose.
Ruling
The court dismissed the complaint without prejudice as duplicative of the pleading in No. 24-CV-3858 (LTS). It terminated all other pending matters and directed the Clerk of Court not to charge Alexander the $350 filing fee for this action. The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied free-court-fee status for an appeal. The Clerk was directed to enter judgment. Judge Laura Taylor Swain signed the order.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.