Ballout v. Benchakroun
- Laura Swain
- 1:24-cv-09893
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Ballout v. Benchakroun, Judge Swain dismissed the complaint without prejudice because Ballout neither sought a fee waiver nor paid the filing fees.
Benjamin Ballout's complaint was dismissed without prejudice after he did not submit the required fee-waiver request or pay the $405 filing fee. The court also denied fee-waiver status for any appeal.
What happened
Ballout v. Benchakroun concerned a complaint filed by Benjamin Ballout. The court had ordered Ballout to submit a completed request to proceed without paying filing fees or to pay the required $405 in fees.
Ballout did neither within the required thirty days. The court therefore dismissed the complaint without prejudice, meaning the dismissal did not bar refiling. The court also directed the clerk to enter judgment.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain said any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied Ballout permission to proceed without paying fees for an appeal.
The detailed version
- Ballout v. Benchakroun · No. 1:24-cv-09893
- Laura Swain
- Feb. 10, 2025
Background
On January 3, 2025, the court ordered Plaintiff Benjamin Ballout to submit a completed request to proceed without paying filing fees or to pay the $405 required to file a civil action. The order warned that failing to comply would result in dismissal of the complaint.
Court's Ruling
Ballout did not submit the request or pay the filing fees. The court therefore dismissed the complaint without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914 and 1915. The court also directed the clerk to enter judgment.
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. It consequently denied permission to proceed without paying fees for purposes of an appeal.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.