Mallgren v. United States
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-01538
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Mallgren v. United States, Judge Swain dismissed the action without prejudice because Mallgren violated an earlier filing injunction.
Anthony Brian Mallgren's action was dismissed without prejudice, and he remains subject to the earlier injunction requiring court permission before filing a new civil action without paying the filing fee in this court. Fee-free status was also denied for an appeal from this order.
What happened
In Mallgren v. United States, Anthony Brian Mallgren filed a new civil action and sought permission to proceed without paying the filing fee. An earlier order barred him from filing future civil actions in this court without first obtaining permission.
Mallgren did not ask for that permission before filing this case. The court also said that, even if he had asked, it would have denied permission because he alleged no facts showing a valid claim for relief.
The court dismissed the action without prejudice for violating the earlier injunction, and the injunction remains in effect. Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied fee-free status for any appeal, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Mallgren v. United States · No. 1:25-cv-01538
- Laura Swain
- Feb. 26, 2025
Background
In a 2016 order in a prior related proceeding, the court barred Anthony Brian Mallgren from filing future civil actions in the Southern District of New York without paying the filing fee unless he first obtained the court's permission. The court had imposed that filing injunction because of Mallgren's history of litigation that it characterized as frivolous, vexatious, or otherwise lacking merit in that court and other federal courts.
Filing and court's reasoning
Mallgren filed this new action against the United States and sought to proceed without paying the filing fee. He did not ask for permission to file as required by the earlier injunction. The court further stated that it would have denied permission even if he had requested it, because the complaint did not allege facts suggesting a plausible claim for relief.
Ruling
The court dismissed the action without prejudice for failure to comply with the earlier filing injunction. The injunction remains in effect. The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and therefore denied fee-free status for an appeal. It directed the Clerk of Court to enter a civil judgment. The order did not decide the underlying merits of any claim.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.