Callaghan v. Otis Bantum Correctional Facility
- Laura Swain
- 1:24-cv-09611
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Callaghan v. Otis Bantum Correctional Facility, Judge Swain dismissed the complaint without prejudice because Callaghan neither paid filing fees nor submitted required forms.
The dismissal affected Shakeem Callaghan's complaint against Otis Bantum Correctional Facility and the other defendants. Because the dismissal was without prejudice, the opinion states that it did not bar refiling. The court also denied fee-free status for any appeal.
What happened
In Callaghan v. Otis Bantum Correctional Facility, the court had ordered Callaghan to submit a completed request to proceed without paying the filing fee or pay the required $405 in fees within 30 days.
Callaghan did neither. He did not submit the required request, prisoner authorization, or filing fees, so the court dismissed the complaint without prejudice, meaning the dismissal did not bar refiling.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied Callaghan permission to proceed without paying fees on appeal. The court directed the clerk to enter judgment.
The detailed version
- Callaghan v. Otis Bantum Correctional Facility · No. 1:24-cv-09611
- Laura Swain
- Mar. 14, 2025
Background
On December 18, 2024, the court directed Shakeem Callaghan to submit a completed application to proceed without paying the filing fee, along with prisoner authorization, or to pay the $405 required to file a civil action. The order warned that failing to comply would result in dismissal.
Ruling
Callaghan did not submit the application or prisoner authorization and did not pay the filing fees. The court therefore dismissed the complaint without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914 and 1915. The court also certified that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without paying fees for an appeal. Finally, it directed the clerk to enter judgment.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.