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S.D.N.Y.Procedural orderFiled Mar. 14, 2025

Fecteau v. The Department of Defense

Judge
Laura Swain
Docket
1:24-cv-08201
Court
U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
Pages
2
Civil Procedure
In one sentence

Fecteau v. The Department of Defense: Judge Swain dismissed the complaint without prejudice because Fecteau neither paid filing fees nor submitted an IFP application.

Who this affects

The dismissal affected Matthew J. Fecteau's complaint against the Department of Defense, the Secretary of Defense, and the 80th Training Command. The dismissal was without prejudice, and IFP status was denied for an appeal.

What happened

In Fecteau v. The Department of Defense, the court had ordered Matthew J. Fecteau to submit an application to proceed without paying filing fees or pay the required $405 filing fee within 30 days.

Fecteau did neither. Although the court received a check, it returned the check because the payment was improper, and Fecteau did not submit another payment.

The court dismissed the complaint without prejudice and directed the clerk to enter judgment. Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied Fecteau permission to appeal without paying fees, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.

The detailed version

For law students, journalists, and other readers who want the full reasoning

Case
Fecteau v. The Department of Defense · No. 1:24-cv-08201
Judge
Laura Swain
Date
Mar. 14, 2025

Background

By an order dated November 4, 2024, the court directed Plaintiff to either submit a completed application to proceed without paying filing fees, commonly called an IFP application, or pay the $405 required to file a civil action. The court warned that failure to comply would result in dismissal.

The court stated that Plaintiff did not submit an IFP application or pay the required fees. A check received on December 13, 2024, was returned because the payment was improper, and Plaintiff did not resend the payment.

Ruling

The court dismissed the complaint without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914 and 1915. It directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment. The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal.

The authoritative version

Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.

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