Sreedhar v. United States Government
- Laura Swain
- 1:24-cv-07440
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Sreedhar v. United States Government, Judge Swain ordered the pro se plaintiff to stop emailing chambers and use the Pro Se Intake Unit.
Srikant Sreedhar, who filed the action without a lawyer, and the court’s required process for communications from people representing themselves.
What happened
In Sreedhar v. United States Government, Srikant Sreedhar filed the action without a lawyer and repeatedly contacted Judge Swain by email, recently sending six to seven emails per day.
The court noted that its rules require people representing themselves to submit court papers and communications through the Pro Se Intake Unit. It directed Sreedhar to stop contacting chambers by email or any other method and to file documents through that unit instead.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied Sreedhar permission to appeal without paying filing fees. The order did not decide the underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Sreedhar v. United States Government · No. 1:24-cv-07440
- Laura Swain
- Jan. 28, 2025
Background
Srikant Sreedhar filed this action without a lawyer. After filing, he attempted to communicate with Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain by email, recently sending six to seven emails per day. The opinion states that Sreedhar received email notification that he was required to communicate with the court by submitting documents to the court’s Pro Se Intake Unit.
Court’s directive
The court referred to its standing order requiring people representing themselves to file papers with the Pro Se Office. It also quoted Judge Swain’s individual practices, which require pro se parties to submit filings and communications addressed to her through the Pro Se Intake Unit. Those practices state that submissions sent directly to chambers by email, mail, or fax may be disregarded.
Accordingly, the court directed Sreedhar to stop attempting to contact Judge Swain’s chambers by email or by any other method except filing documents with the Pro Se Intake Unit.
Appeal-related ruling
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 filing fees. The order addressed communications with the court and appeal-related filing status; it did not decide the underlying claims in the action.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.