Pettus v. Francis

Background

James Pettus filed this civil action while not incarcerated and represented himself. He asked to proceed without paying the filing fee, a status commonly called proceeding in forma pauperis. An earlier judgment had barred Pettus, when he was not a prisoner, from filing future civil actions in the Southern District of New York without first obtaining permission from the court. That earlier judgment also addressed a separate restriction on filing actions without paying fees while incarcerated under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), but the court relied on the non-prisoner filing restriction here.

Ruling

Pettus filed this new action and sought permission to proceed without paying the filing fee, but he did not first seek permission to file the action as required by the earlier judgment. The court therefore dismissed this action without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. § 1651 for failing to comply with that judgment. The court directed the Clerk of Court to enter a judgment dismissing the action for that reason.

Appeal and effect

Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied Pettus permission to proceed without paying the filing fee for purposes of an appeal. The opinion does not decide the underlying claims in the action. Because the dismissal was without prejudice, the order’s stated disposition does not bar refiling, although the earlier permission requirement remains part of the court’s ruling.