Scales v. Zelle
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-05453
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Scales v. Zelle, Judge Swain dismissed the complaint without prejudice because Scales neither submitted an IFP application nor paid filing fees.
William Scales, whose complaint was dismissed without prejudice, and the other plaintiffs identified in the caption.
What happened
In Scales v. Zelle, the court ordered William Scales to submit an application to proceed without paying filing fees or pay the $405 filing fee within thirty days. The order warned that failing to do so would result in dismissal.
Scales did neither. The court therefore dismissed the complaint without prejudice, meaning the dismissal did not bar refiling. The court also said an appeal would not be considered in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying fees.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment. The order did not address the underlying claims against Zelle.
The detailed version
- Scales v. Zelle · No. 1:25-cv-05453
- Laura Swain
- Aug. 12, 2025
Background
By an order dated July 9, 2025, the court directed William Scales to either submit a completed application to proceed without paying filing fees or pay the $405 required fee for filing a civil action. The order gave him thirty days and warned that failure to comply would result in dismissal.
Ruling
Scales did not submit the application or pay the filing fee. The court dismissed the complaint without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914 and 1915. The dismissal was based on the filing-fee requirement; the opinion did not decide the underlying claims.
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying fees. Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.