Acosta v. Otis Bantum Correctional Facility
- Laura Swain
- 1:24-cv-09635
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Acosta v. Otis Bantum Correctional Facility, Judge Swain dismissed the complaint without prejudice because required fees or financial paperwork were not filed.
Jerson Acosta's complaint was dismissed without prejudice because he did not submit the required financial and prisoner paperwork or pay the filing fees. Any appeal would not qualify for fee-free status under the court's order.
What happened
In Acosta v. Otis Bantum Correctional Facility, the court had ordered Jerson Acosta to submit an application to proceed without paying filing fees, along with prisoner authorization, or pay the required $405 filing fees within 30 days.
Acosta did not submit the required application and authorization or pay the fees. The court therefore dismissed the complaint without prejudice, meaning the dismissal did not permanently bar refiling.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment. She also ruled that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for an appeal.
The detailed version
- Acosta v. Otis Bantum Correctional Facility · No. 1:24-cv-09635
- Laura Swain
- Mar. 17, 2025
Background
On December 18, 2024, the court ordered Jerson Acosta to submit a completed application to proceed without paying filing fees, or to pay the $405 required to file a civil action. The order also required a prisoner authorization. It warned that failure to comply would result in dismissal.
Ruling
The court found that Acosta had not submitted the application and prisoner authorization or paid the required fees. It 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 would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for purposes of an appeal. The Clerk of Court was directed to enter judgment.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.