Johnson v. McGunnigle
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-00993
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Johnson v. McGunnigle, Judge Swain dismissed Robert W. Johnson’s action without prejudice because he had not obtained required permission before seeking fee-free filing.
Robert W. Johnson’s action was dismissed without prejudice because he did not obtain the required permission before filing while seeking to proceed without prepaying the filing fee. The court also denied him permission to proceed without prepaying the filing fee on appeal.
What happened
In Johnson v. McGunnigle, Robert W. Johnson filed a civil action without a lawyer and asked to proceed without paying the filing fee. A July 2020 order in an earlier related proceeding barred him from filing future civil actions in this court without first obtaining permission.
Johnson filed this action and requested that fee waiver, but he had not asked for the required permission to file. The court therefore dismissed the action without prejudice for violating the earlier order.
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed the clerk to enter judgment dismissing the action. She also ruled that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied Johnson permission to proceed without paying the filing fee on appeal.
The detailed version
- Johnson v. McGunnigle · No. 1:25-cv-00993
- Laura Swain
- Mar. 7, 2025
Background
Robert W. Johnson filed this civil action without a lawyer and sought permission to proceed without prepaying the filing fee. The opinion states that, in a July 10, 2020 order in an earlier related proceeding, the court barred Johnson from filing future civil actions in the Southern District of New York without first obtaining leave from the court.
Reason for Dismissal
Johnson filed this action and sought permission to proceed without prepaying the filing fee, but he did not first request the leave required by the July 10, 2020 order. Relying on 28 U.S.C. § 1651, the court dismissed the action without prejudice for failure to comply with that order. The opinion does not address the underlying claims against the defendants.
Ruling
Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment dismissing the action. The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying the filing fee for an appeal.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.