Torres v. Garcia
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-01678
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
Judge Swain dismissed Torres v. Garcia without prejudice because Torres neither submitted the required fee-waiver application nor paid the filing fee.
Nelson E. Torres’s complaint was dismissed without prejudice after he did not submit the required amended fee-waiver application or pay the $405 filing fee. Any appeal would not receive fee-waiver status under this order.
What happened
In Torres v. Garcia, the court had ordered Nelson E. Torres to submit a completed application to waive the filing fee or pay $405 to file his civil case.
The court had warned that failing to do so within 30 days would result in dismissal. Torres did neither.
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain dismissed the complaint without prejudice, directed the clerk to enter judgment, and denied fee-waiver status for any appeal because the court certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Torres v. Garcia · No. 1:25-cv-01678
- Laura Swain
- May 19, 2025
Background
Nelson E. Torres sued Fernandco Garcia and Sandy Garcia. On April 7, 2025, the court ordered Torres to submit a completed amended application to proceed without paying the filing fee, or to pay the $405 fee required to file a civil action in the court. The order gave him 30 days and stated that failing to comply would lead to dismissal.
Court’s Ruling
Torres did not submit the amended fee-waiver application and did not pay the filing fee. Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain therefore dismissed the complaint without prejudice. A dismissal without prejudice does not itself bar refiling.
The court also certified that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-waiver status for purposes of an appeal. The court directed the clerk to enter judgment in the case.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.