Mallgren v. JOHN DOE PRO SE COURT CLERKS
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-02253
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Mallgren v. JOHN DOE PRO SE COURT CLERKS, Judge Swain dismissed the action without prejudice for violating a filing injunction.
Brian Mallgren’s new civil action was dismissed without prejudice because he did not obtain the permission required before filing without paying the filing fee. The court also denied permission to appeal without paying that fee.
What happened
In Mallgren v. JOHN DOE PRO SE COURT CLERKS, an earlier order barred Brian Mallgren from filing a new civil case in this court without paying filing fees unless he first obtained the court’s permission. That restriction was based on his history of frivolous, vexatious, or otherwise nonmeritorious litigation.
Mallgren filed this new case without paying the filing fee, so the court treated him as seeking permission to proceed without paying. He had not asked for the required permission before filing. The court also noted that any request for relief from an earlier case had to be made in that earlier case, not through a new complaint.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain dismissed the action without prejudice for failing to follow the filing restriction. She also denied permission to appeal without paying the filing fee, certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith, and directed the clerk to enter a civil judgment.
The detailed version
- Mallgren v. JOHN DOE PRO SE COURT CLERKS · No. 1:25-cv-02253
- Laura Swain
- Mar. 19, 2025
Background
In a prior related proceeding, the court barred Mallgren from filing any future civil action in the Southern District of New York without paying the filing fee unless he first obtained the court’s permission. The court had imposed that prefiling injunction because of Mallgren’s history of frivolous, vexatious, or otherwise nonmeritorious litigation in federal courts.
Reason for Dismissal
Mallgren submitted this civil action without prepaying the filing fee. The court therefore assumed that he sought to proceed without paying the fee. Because he did not obtain the required permission before filing, the court dismissed the action without prejudice for failure to comply with the prefiling injunction.
The court’s footnote stated that Mallgren appeared to seek relief related to an earlier suit. It explained that any request for relief in that matter under Rule 60(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, or otherwise, had to be submitted in that earlier action rather than in a new complaint.
Disposition
Judge Laura Taylor Swain dismissed the action without prejudice. The court 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 paying the filing fee for an appeal. The court directed the clerk to enter a civil judgment.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.