McCormick v. Tribune Company
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-04750
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In McCormick v. Tribune Company, Judge Swain dismissed the action without prejudice because McCormick had not obtained required permission to proceed without paying fees.
Joanna Canzoneri McCormick and the other plaintiffs, whose action was dismissed without prejudice; the defendants were not required to litigate the underlying claims in this order.
What happened
In McCormick v. Tribune Company, Joanna Canzoneri McCormick sought to bring a civil action while proceeding without paying filing fees up front.
A 2011 order had barred her from filing any new civil action in the Southern District of New York without first obtaining the court’s permission. She had not requested that permission for this action.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain dismissed the action without prejudice because McCormick did not comply with the earlier order. Judge Swain also denied permission to proceed without paying fees for an appeal, finding that any appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- McCormick v. Tribune Company · No. 1:25-cv-04750
- Laura Swain
- June 16, 2025
Background
Joanna Canzoneri McCormick and other plaintiffs sued Tribune Company and other defendants. McCormick sought to proceed in forma pauperis, meaning without prepaying the filing fee.
Prior Filing Restriction
On December 8, 2011, District Judge Loretta A. Preska ordered that McCormick could not file any new civil action in the Southern District of New York without first obtaining the court’s permission. In this action, McCormick had not requested that permission.
Ruling
The court dismissed the action without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. § 1651 because McCormick failed to comply with Judge Preska’s earlier order. The opinion did not address the underlying claims against Tribune Company or the other defendants.
The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.