Martinez v. Otis Bantum Correctional Center
- Laura Swain
- 1:24-cv-09603
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
Judge Swain dismissed Martinez v. Otis Bantum Correctional Facility without prejudice because Martinez neither applied for a fee waiver nor paid the required fees.
Roman Martinez’s complaint was dismissed without prejudice because he did not submit the required fee-waiver materials or pay the $405 filing fee. The court also denied fee-free status for an appeal.
What happened
In Martinez v. Otis Bantum Correctional Facility, the court had ordered Roman Martinez to submit an application to proceed without paying filing fees and prisoner authorization, or pay the $405 filing fees.
Martinez did neither within the required thirty days. The court therefore dismissed his complaint without prejudice, meaning the opinion did not bar refiling on that basis.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied Martinez permission to appeal without paying fees, finding that any appeal would not be taken in good faith, and directed the Clerk to enter judgment.
The detailed version
- Martinez v. Otis Bantum Correctional Center · No. 1:24-cv-09603
- Laura Swain
- Mar. 5, 2025
Background
On December 17, 2024, the Court ordered Roman Martinez to submit a completed application to proceed without paying the filing fee, along with prisoner authorization, within thirty days, 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
The Court found that Martinez had not filed the required application and prisoner authorization and had not paid the filing fees. It therefore dismissed the complaint without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914 and 1915.
The Court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. It denied permission to appeal without paying fees and directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.