Pettus v. Clark

Background

James Pettus filed this civil action without a lawyer and asked to proceed without paying the filing fee. The opinion states that Pettus was not currently incarcerated.

An earlier judgment, dated February 4, 2005, and entered February 24, 2005, barred Pettus from filing future civil actions in the Southern District of New York while he was not a prisoner unless he first obtained permission from the court to file. The earlier judgment also recognized a separate restriction under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g) that applied to filing civil actions without paying fees while incarcerated, subject to an exception for imminent danger of serious physical injury.

Ruling

Because Pettus filed this new action without first seeking the required permission, the court dismissed the action without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. § 1651 for failing to comply with the earlier judgment. The court denied all pending requests and motions. It directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment.

Appeal and classification

The court certified that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied Pettus permission to proceed without paying the fee for an appeal. The order resolved the case based on compliance with a prior filing restriction rather than the underlying claims, making it a procedural order.