Salina v. New York State Unified Court System
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-05090
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Salina v. New York State Unified Court System, Judge Swain dismissed the complaint without prejudice because Salina neither paid filing fees nor submitted required forms.
Brian Salina’s complaint was dismissed without prejudice because he did not submit the required fee-waiver and prisoner-authorization forms or pay the filing fees. The court also denied permission to appeal without paying fees.
What happened
Salina v. New York State Unified Court System concerned Brian Salina’s civil complaint against the New York State Unified Court System and other defendants. The court had ordered Salina to submit forms requesting permission to proceed without paying fees and authorizing deductions from a prisoner account, or to pay the required $405 filing fees.
Salina did neither within the required thirty days. The court therefore dismissed the complaint without prejudice. The opinion also noted that public custody records no longer listed Salina, and that he had not provided a forwarding address.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment. She also ruled that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying fees.
The detailed version
- Salina v. New York State Unified Court System · No. 1:25-cv-05090
- Laura Swain
- July 23, 2025
Background
The court had previously ordered Brian Salina to do one of two things within thirty days: submit a completed application to proceed without paying filing fees and a prisoner authorization, or pay the $405 in fees required to file a civil action. The earlier order warned that failing to comply would result in dismissal.
Ruling
Salina did not submit the required application and prisoner authorization, and he did not pay the filing fees. Judge Laura Taylor Swain therefore dismissed the complaint without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914 and 1915. The court directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment.
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. It consequently denied permission to appeal without paying fees. A footnote stated that public records of the New York City Department of Correction no longer listed Salina in custody, but that Salina had not provided a forwarding address.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.