Witherspoon v. United Nations
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-01535
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Witherspoon v. United Nations, Judge Swain denied Desmond Witherspoon’s request to add documents after dismissal and denied fee-free appeal status.
Desmond Witherspoon’s closed action and any appeal from this order were affected: the court denied his request to add documents and denied permission to appeal without paying the filing fee.
What happened
In Witherspoon v. United Nations, the court had already dismissed Desmond Witherspoon’s action without prejudice because he needed court permission before filing a new action without paying the filing fee and had not obtained that permission.
After judgment, Witherspoon asked to “add an attachment.” The court said the attachment was nearly illegible and denied the request because the action was closed.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also certified that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied Witherspoon permission to appeal without paying the filing fee.
The detailed version
- Witherspoon v. United Nations · No. 1:22-cv-01535
- Laura Swain
- July 8, 2024
Background
On February 4, 2022, the court dismissed this action without prejudice. The court explained that Desmond Witherspoon was barred from filing a new action without paying the filing fee unless he first obtained permission from the court, and that he had not requested or obtained that permission for this action.
Post-Judgment Request
After judgment was entered, Witherspoon filed an application to “add an attachment.” The court described the attachment as a nearly illegible list of numbers and words. Because the action was closed, the court denied Witherspoon’s request to submit additional documents.
Appeal Certification and Disposition
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith. It therefore denied permission to appeal without paying the filing fee. Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered these rulings on July 8, 2024.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.