Scales v. Netflix
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-02628
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
Scales v. Netflix: Judge Swain dismissed the action without prejudice after Scales neither paid filing fees nor submitted an IFP application.
Plaintiff William Scales’s action against Netflix was dismissed without prejudice; the court also denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees.
What happened
In Scales v. Netflix, the court required Plaintiff Scales to either pay the fees for filing a civil case or submit an application to proceed without paying them upfront.
The court had given Scales 30 days to comply and warned that failing to do so would lead to dismissal. Scales did not submit the application or pay the fees.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain dismissed the action without prejudice and directed the Clerk to enter judgment. She also denied permission to appeal without paying fees, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Scales v. Netflix · No. 1:25-cv-02628
- Laura Swain
- June 4, 2025
Background
By an order dated April 4, 2025, the court directed Plaintiff Scales to submit a completed application to proceed without paying filing fees upfront, or to pay the $405 required to file a civil action. The court warned that failing to comply would result in dismissal.
Court’s ruling
The court found that Scales had neither submitted the application nor paid the required fees. It therefore dismissed the action without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914 and 1915. The court directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment dismissing the action for that reason.
The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. It therefore denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees. Judge Laura Taylor Swain signed the order.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.