Stansberry v. Neal
- Laura Swain
- 1:24-cv-02227
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Stansberry v. Neal, Judge Swain dismissed the action after Stansberry failed to file an amended complaint, finding the federal claims inadequately stated and declining state-law claims.
Damante Stansberry, whose federal-law claims were dismissed and whose possible state-law claims were not considered; Messiah Neal and Orange County Jail, the named defendants.
What happened
In Stansberry v. Neal, Damante Stansberry sued Messiah Neal and Orange County Jail. The court had previously allowed Stansberry to file an amended complaint and warned that failing to do so could result in dismissal.
The court later gave Stansberry an additional 60 days to comply with that order. Stansberry did not file an amended complaint within the allowed time.
Judge Swain dismissed the action. She dismissed the federal-law claims for failure to state a claim and declined to consider any state-law claims under the court’s supplemental jurisdiction. The court also denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees and directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment.
The detailed version
- Stansberry v. Neal · No. 1:24-cv-02227
- Laura Swain
- Jan. 27, 2025
Background
The court had previously granted Damante Stansberry 60 days to file an amended complaint. The August 19, 2024 order warned that the action could be dismissed for failure to state a claim for which relief could be granted if Stansberry did not comply and could not show good cause for the failure.
On October 21, 2024, the court granted Stansberry another 60-day extension to comply. That order repeated the warning. Stansberry did not file an amended complaint.
Ruling
The court dismissed the action. It dismissed Stansberry’s federal-law claims for failure to state a claim under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii). The court declined to consider any state-law claims under its supplemental jurisdiction, which is the authority to hear related state-law claims in a case involving federal claims, citing 28 U.S.C. § 1367(c)(3). The opinion notes that an earlier order had allowed Stansberry to replead the federal claims and therefore had not addressed the merits of any state-law claims he might have asserted against Messiah Neal.
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees. Judge Swain directed the Clerk of Court to enter a judgment dismissing the action.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.